I’ve personally suffered from scalp acne and had this cured. It took me a while to figure it out, but I just followed the four steps detailed below to clear up my scalp acne.

Backstory

Because I have an oily scalp, I tend to develop acne on the back part of my head. I used to have a bad habit of scratching my scalp subconsciously, and so this would cause those affected acneous areas to bleed. And everyone knows how when something is almost about to heal/”scabbing up”, it tends to itch more? Well, this happened, and so I was stuck in an endless Catch 22 cycle, scratching it again and causing it to bleed once more.

This went on for many years and I thought “wow is there no end in sight?”

Thankfully, there is.

Here we go: the 4 easy steps that I followed (or just through trial and error with myself as the guinea pig) that worked for me. Hopefully this works for you as well!

Step 1: Get Ketoconazole Shampoo 2%

Request this shampoo from your family doctor/skin doctor. This along with the Benzoyl Peroxide (detailed below) will replace whatever shampoo that you’re currently using.

I will try to look for a version that you can purchase over the counter but I can not find any as of now. (Feel free to suggest brands if you have seen or used any).

The discounted shampoos that you purchase at Costco/Walmart/Target, such as Pantene, Herbal Essences, Head & Shoulders, Pert, Garnier etc. all have one thing in common: Superfluous chemicals that irritate the acne or create acne on your head.

Step 2: Get 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Medical Acne Wash

I currently use the Dr. Song one, since it is the cheapest. Other alternatives with high ratings that I see are the Replenix one and this Claridad one (I think this one is a gel and not a shampoo though).

If someone wants to try the Replenix one or has already tried it, please let me know if it is worth the extra dollars or not – your feedback would be very helpful!

Step 3: Alternate

Assuming you shower every day, alternate between the two shampoos when you wash your hair. 

For example, on Monday use the Ketoconazole Shampoo 2%. On Tuesday, use the 10% Benzoyl Peroxide.

Some people say that you shouldn’t shower every day because it damages your hair. While this is true, those people are not suffering from scalp acne like we are. Therefore, I would advocate for washing hair / taking a shower every day to get rid of the oil on your scalp. Oily scalp = acne on the scalp. Therefore, the less you wash it the more oil accumulates.

A doctor out there could probably counter me on why this is bad for you, but again just wanted to share what has been working for me.

Step 4: Change your pillow and pillowcase regularly

Especially if you have scalp acne towards the back of your head, it might very well be due to irritation from your pillow and pillowcase.

There is plenty of evidence to show that you should change your pillow and pillowcase regularly. According to NBC News, you should replace your pillow every one to two years:

As for your pillowcase, The Cut suggests you should be changing your pillow every week. This might seem often, but the article even says explicitly that not changing your pillowcase causes acne:

Here is the link to the silk pillowcase that I purchased.

I have been using cheap pillowcases all my life, and definitely did notice that this one is less irritating. 

It is much softer and smoother than any of the other pillowcases that I have been using.

Amazon says that I apparently purchased the pillowcase on October 28, 2017, and I am still using it to this day.

No complaints, so far, and my acne has definitely diminished.

Conclusion

This is the bulk of it. Taking all these steps will not yield results immediately – it took about 1 week for me to start noticing results, and about 3-4 weeks for the scalp acne to clear up by 95%.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a comment especially if this helped!