Scooter riders should regularly clean their helmets, especially in summer, to prevent dirt and sweat from accumulating and causing scalp problems, such as hair loss and permanent baldness, a dermatologist has warned.
Poor hygiene practices by helmet wearers often lead to scalp problems, such as bacterial folliculitis, tinea capitis and seborrheic dermatitis, Lu Pei-hsuan (呂佩璇) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital said on Aug 31.
The first step to maintain good scalp care is proper hair washing, as shampoo residues can easily cause dandruff and itchy scalps, while improper scratching will cause inflammation, Lu said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The best way to wash your hair is to pour shampoo about the size of a NT$10 coin on the palm of the hand, rub it with a little warm water to create foam, and gently rub it on the scalp with your fingertips, and rinse with warm water, she said.
When using conditioners or other products, it is important to avoid direct scalp contact by applying them more than 3cm away from the roots of your hair, otherwise they can cause extra oil production, she said.
Many people put their helmets on wet hair, causing the scalp to get stuffy and become a hotbed of bacteria and mold, she said, adding that a helmet should only be put on fully dry hair.
People with scalp inflammation should refrain from using hair spray or other styling products, and those with overly active sebaceous glands can wash their hair more than once a day, she said.
Some oral medications, such as isotretinoin, can treat excessive oil production, but the fundamental treatment is keeping a healthy lifestyle, because such problems are likely to reoccur once patients discontinue their medication, she said.
Riders should choose a helmet that has a removable and washable inner lining, and clean it with laundry detergent at least once a week, she said.
Putting tissue or a piece cloth on the inner edge of a helmet can also improve scalp health, she said.
People with scalp disorders should have sufficient sleep and a regular lifestyle, and avoid greasy food, spices and alcoholic beverages, she said.
People with serious scalp conditions can use medicinal shampoo about two or three times a week, based on their doctor’s instructions, she said, adding that if the conditions are mild, normal or anti-dandruff shampoo will do.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
POLICE INVESTIGATING: A man said he quit his job as a nurse at Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital as he had been ‘disgusted’ by the behavior of his colleagues A man yesterday morning wrote online that he had witnessed nurses taking photographs and touching anesthetized patients inappropriately in Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital’s operating theaters. The man surnamed Huang (黃) wrote on the Professional Technology Temple bulletin board that during his six-month stint as a nurse at the hospital, he had seen nurses taking pictures of patients, including of their private parts, after they were anesthetized. Some nurses had also touched patients inappropriately and children were among those photographed, he said. Huang said this “disgusted” him “so much” that “he felt the need to reveal these unethical acts in the operating theater