Sore scalp

[James]

I have a problem with a sore, painful scalp.

I use natural shampoos but I still experience this scalp discomfort... sometimes it is very evident and sometimes it is not.

I believe that I have this scalp problem because I have Male Pattern Baldness... I experience the pain in the areas where there is hair loss (the crown).  I definitely cannot use topicals for treating my hair loss because they make it worse.

I saw equiclear on your page and was wondering if it may help improve my scalp's health.  I don't know if I should bother because everything seems to bother it.

Do you think that Equiclear would be beneficial?

[DrYechiel]

Hello James,

If you experience pain in your scalp, you must see your physician and listen carefully to whatever advice you receive. You described what you are feeling as pain rather than itching sensations, and therefore it is very important that you find out what it is before you venture your capital on topicals which may or may not be compatible with the underlying problem. People with itching or flaking scalp used our topicals with reasonable degrees of success. However, pain is another matter, not one of the complaints we generally hear from our customers who discuss their male-pattern baldness, and I strongly believe that you should consult your physician first to learn where this is coming from.

Just to raise your interest to some interesting possibilities, please read an article discussing a case of a person with scalp pain and hairloss. The pain was treated with botox; when the pain subsided, surprisingly also the hairloss was reversed to a large degree. This was a female patient, definitely not male-pattern baldness, but perhaps the idea of hairloss as a response to pain, stopping when the pain stops, is worth further study. There was another case similar to that which was described in the late 19th century, but it seemed in the experience of those researchers, too, pain and hairloss are not a usual combination. The article is
FM Cutrer, MR Pittelkow (June 2006)
Cephalalgic alopecia areata: a syndrome of neuralgiform head pain and hair loss responsive to botulinum A toxin injection
Cephalalgia Volume 26  Issue 6, pages 747–751.
doi:10.1111/j.1468-2982.2006.01098.x
Whatever the connection, if any, between your hairloss and your pain, please seek a physician’s assistance in addressing your body’s most urgent complaint (the pain) first. After you feel better, you can resume your quest to also look better.