Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Borax for Scalp Infection

5 star (11)		92%
4 star (1)		8%

Miss M (New York) on 05/03/2020:
5 out of 5 stars

I’m glad I found Earth Clinic.

Was at my wits end battling itchy, scratchy scalp. Like others I spend a fortune on shampoos, and deems and had zero luck. My scalp was always irritated and it actually made me feel sick. What worked for me as last treatment I mixed baking soda and borax into a paste and massage into my scalp and left on for ten minutes, then diluted it some in shower massaging mixture into skin. After rinsing followed up with Apple cider vinegar. Miracle! No peeling skin, or flakes. Amazing. I have a habit of touching my scalp from this affliction of a year, and there are no plaques! Ecstatic that such a simple remedy actually works. I have have also been using one part vinegar, one part 3 percent peroxide, pinch of borax, then the rest water as spray during the day, but what really worked was the baking soda and borax mixture. I did try just borax but it didn’t give me the results. I am taking anti candida fungal herbals pau darco, caprylic acid, probiotics. Coconut yogurt.

Poppy (Alabama) on 04/03/2017:
5 out of 5 stars

You can do it like that. I had scalp sores so tried borax. My recipe was borax in water to make a paste, then add dish liquid. Apply to hair, lather it up, and let it sit for about 5 minutes. That helped a lot, but now I do this: stir borax into water, no need to measure because you want to dissolve as much as you can. Then you let the solid borax that cannot dissolve settle onto the bottom. Pour off the borax-saturated water, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide and mix. Apply to your head, being careful not to let it drip into your eyes. I do this while standing in the shower and just keep my head out of the water. I leave it on long enough to get the rest of me clean, so 5-10 minutes, and then rinse.

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Lisa ( Syracuse, Ny ) on 04/26/2015:
5 out of 5 stars

I've been suffering with a fungal infection on my scalp and skin for 15 plus years. It took me 14 of those years to actually get a proper diagnosis, that a fungus was actually the culprit. I get what looks almost like mosquito bites on my scalp, skin-mainly neck, back, upper shoulders and occasionally legs.I start with an intense itch that burns and feels prickly. I scratch until it bleeds .A scab forms and it constantly itches.The scabs take a very long time to heal. So at any given time I usually have 100 or more of these in various stages. I went through total hell. At one point I was putting high heat on my head and skin thinking it would help. It made it ten times worse. Hence heat spreads fungus. Unbeknownst to me, it got so bad I thought it was scabies.

Went to every Emergency Room and urgent care as well as family practice docs. None were helpful at all.They looked at me as if I were dirty and crazy! To the contrary I am extremely obsessively clean. Finally had one doc scrape a small inflamed area and analyze it under a microscope.I have tried everything from lindane to nix, creams, topical and oral benadryl, calamine, apple vinegar, tea tree oil, Alcohol, bleach...

Borax was the only thing that has worked! It's amazing! 3Tb borax with 1 liter of aloe vera(100%). Massage into affected areas after shower and at bed.I am 85% healed.Some of my scalp was severe. So it's going to take a bit to completely heal. Literally spent thousands and dealing with an itch that has kept me from sleeping some nights. For under $5 and about 5mins to massage borax I am almost all healed! I recommend this to anyone suffering with itching/skin inflammation. It's truly a miracle. Finally after 15 years, almost completely healed! It's been a long time coming!

Jon Cynthia (Connelley Springs, Nc) on 06/22/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

Scalp sores, bumps and itching: I too have had problems with this condition. I purchased the Borax, peroxide and dish detergent put in small bowl mix to a runny consistancy, wet my hair then, slathered the mixture on my head while in shower(don't get hair wet).

After bathing, I then rubbed mixture like shampoo into hair/scalp rince complety. I woke up this A.M. and no itch, bumps reduced in size and open spots were closed with scabs. I will do this 2-3 times a week and I believe this will end my scalp problem. Thanks for the heads up. (no pun intended).

Amy (Bangalore, India) on 02/09/2013:
4 out of 5 stars

Hi, I am having a scalp problem and hair fall from past 6 year. I have tried all medicated shampoo and steriod etc but still didn't get the scalp fungus cured. Recently, I found some article about borax. So, I tried to apply it on scalp by mixing it with water or curd. It relieved me from itching a bit but my scalp infection is not cured and I can still see thick scales coming out, itchness and hair fall. Please help me as I am really worried what should I do further :-(

Shaun (Olde York, Uk) on 02/19/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

Hi James from Waterford, I had this same issue for about the same length of time as I have variously reported here on EC. I too am cured! Anyway, what you may find you also have to do is wash/rinse your hair with Milk of Magnesia from time to time. This really helped me 'nail it' in the end. Good luck, Shaun

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James (Waterford, Mi) on 02/18/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I am a 57 y/o male and have had scalp problems my whole life which seemed to be increasingly worse the last 20 years. I have been to doctor(s) dermatologists, tried all of the dandruff shampoos, creams, etc .. I had really given up and figured I had to just live with this scourge. I would develop welts or zits on my scalp which would itch , ooze / bleed and crust over, eventually heal and then the process would start all over again. I would spend everyday picking the irritating crusts and scabs off my scalp. It WAS miserable.

After finding this site I decided to give the BORAX a try. OMG, I can't believe it. My scalp is completely healed and for the first time I know what it is like to have a normal scalp. The kicker is (as others have stated) my hair comes out so soft and manageable it is amazing, better than any shampoo / conditioner ever. I will never use shampoo again.

Simply dissolve the borax in water. I would use 1/2 to 2/3 cup per gallon ( if its too much you will get some borax crystals in the bottom of the jug no big deal) Soak your hair in it and shampoo into the scalp. I leave it in while I shower, and then rinse it out. I have been following that with the ACV / H202 solution that TED recommends and rinse again. I may discontinue the ACV rinse but so far I haven't wanted to mess with a good thing.

It has been about eight weeks and my problem is cured. It only took about two or three shampoos to cure it but I wanted to wait and make sure before posting here. Thanks to everyone who is supporting this website, it is like a miracle to me. My only regret is that I didn't know this 40 years ago.!

PS and the dandruff is next to zero too!

Patti (Babylon, New York, Usa) on 03/09/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

This site is really pretty cool, thanks for all the suggestions! For many years I suffered from a VERY itchy scalp and I could no longer take it and was very close to just ripping it all out!! Then I read all this stuff about Borax and I gave it a try for the first time last night and I used 1/2 a cup of Borax with a half gallon of water and scubbed my scalp and rinsed it off with warm water, and I did the same tonight, and my scalp feels great! But after doing all this do I then Shappoo it or just use Borax??I want to do this for at least a week and then once aweek, but it does make my hair look dull, unless I'm doing it wrong or too much, but NO MORE ITCHING!! and that's what counts, Praise God for your site, Thanks, but please let me know if I'm supose to shampoo after this treatment with the borax, Thanks :)

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Shelly (Mesa, Az) on 01/14/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

Wow! I am totally thrilled with Ted and his borax suggestion! My daughter came home from camp with head lice and I ended up with them also-June 09. I bought Nix and killed the lice, but... I was still having that "crawly" feeling. I used the Nix 2 more times as well as about 6 different remedies and shampoes but I got itchier and itchier. Little did I know that all of these treatments messed up the Ph of my scalp and that was the cause of all the itching and the pin prick feeling. Last Sunday night I mixed a couple of tablespoons full of borax in some warm water and used it as a hair rinse in the shower. Monday I was about 85% better! In the morning I applied a little Borax water to my scalp and massaged in. I have been repeating this process everyday and today (Thursday) and I am probably 95%. My hair looks and feels great too!! I can't believe something I have been cleaning my carpets with and adding to my dishwasher detergent cured my scalp problem. So much for the health food stores $12 shampoe! This remedy REALLY works~~

NANCY (ANDERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA) on 02/21/2009:
5 out of 5 stars

I used the 20 mule team borax last night as a shampoo ... It is the best my head has felt in 32 years. And now I know trichotillomania is not a condition of bad nerves, I believe this is either a mite under the skin or a fungus. And dr.s wont help .they don't want to admit there is no cure. They just keep you coming back and shoving more money in their pockets.I have 5 sores on my head,4 of them have been ther for 2 or more years 1 of them for about 1 year their always sore or half heald and sore underneath. After using the borax last night. 3 are healed and no soreness under neith, and 2 are very slightly sore this morning. My scalp feals like scalp and my hair feels like normal hair ...... Absolutly amazing. If it is a mite.. I'm getting rid of all the pillows. I just recently moved here and and bought a water bed, so that is new and no mites in the mattress. I will continue this treatment on mon .wed and fri. For a month and then go to the acv and peroxide if needed.i have also used tea tree shampoo for about 10 years it has helped but not cured.. I did use tea tree oil straight about 6 weeks ago 1 time maybe that did help some. But nothing has worked like the 20 mule team borax and my hair is soft and shining and manageable today first time in 32 years, amazing.

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