The scalp inflammation/itchy/burning/tingling thread

[Not giving up]

Just read up on that stuff, I really hope it works for you Dench. Honestly I do.

My scalp pain continues to be kept at bay by cold water showers. If I use head and shoulders or tricomin I shed less than 5 hairs, if I use regenpure however, must be about 20-30. It's really strange. Either way, my scalp continues to feel okay 95% of time, the other 5% is a mild itch in a specific area that quickly goes.

Keep us posted with your progress Dench, I've got my fingers crossed for you.

[Dench57]

My GP gave me the go ahead to start on Sulfasalazine tomorrow boys. Wish me luck.

[Sizzling]

I have my own thoughts about diffuse thinning. I think the diffuse thinning happens to everyone.

Everyone lose density with age, even those with a full head of hair. Those who have thick head of hair to start with may never see any scalp till the day they die. People like me who have little to start with succumb quickly. But in my case, it is quite obvious the inflammation had a big part to play in the last couple of years.

By the way, do you guys ever shed grey hair? I think grey hairs are resistant to MPB. And they dont lose thickness. If there is a way to convert black to grey hair just to keep it, i will be first in line

[Soonbald]

well I never have any itchyness or burning feeling my scalp is in perfect condition, I have no problems with my scalp at all..no tingling feeling either...and im norwood 2.5 and diffuse thinning all over the scalp...so thats that...

[burtandernie]

We know MPB isnt as simple as DHT. If its an onion DHT and androgens are the outermost layer, but its a problem with many deeper layers to it. It is a largely androgen mediated problem though, but current treatments do not perfectly stop androgens. We know androgens cause MPB though its pretty well established at this point and castration proves that is the case. Timing though is also important, and stuff like fin actually raises T and I dont know how much proof there is that T is harmless.

[Dench57]

I truly hope you find a good solution Dench, I know how much this effects you and I know you're going travelling soon. Your hair still looks good, so enjoy the travelling as much as you can, life is too short, I hope your scalp pain becomes a distant memory sooner rather than later bro.

Thanks man. Like you said, this isn't normal MPB, this is something much worse, and it's really scary when no doctors seem to know or care what is happening. I know my hair still looks okay, for me the scalp pain is my number 1 priority. Millions of men manage to live with hairloss but I'd wager not many people in the world experience this level of pain and inflammation with their hairloss.

Does anyone know if the inflammation stops when the follicle is dead or does it continue to cause pain, itch and discomfort? Has anyone gone bald and totally relieved of this inflammation thereafter?

This is a good question. I'd say the pain/itching stops when the follicle is dead. I don't have any pain or itching on my slick bald temples - there's nothing left to "attack".

The itchy scalp thing is odd. A lot of men with MPB complain of it but some say propecia made it go away. Then you have some that say it made it worse or had no effect. If its an immune thing its odd why some men get it and some dont. Other people with bad MPB dont have any itching at all.
Ive tried a lot of stuff over the years nothing helps. Shampoo might but its back the next day pretty much

This is why the simplified explanation that it's just DHT attacking follicles doesn't add up. People with super-aggressive hairloss go from NW2-NW6 in the space of a few years and yet claim they never had any itching, despite the fact DHT is obviously raping their follicles. It's frustrating that there is literally no medical literature or explanation on this hellish component of MPB in 2015 for christ's sake. When I went to see that private hairloss "specialist" in Harley Street, I explained to him about all the people on the forums reporting pain/itching/burning, and he just looked at me with a blank expression, clearly had no idea. The pathology of MPB is incredibly complex and there is so much stuff going on downstream from DHT attaching to the follicle.

[burtandernie]

The itchy scalp thing is odd. A lot of men with MPB complain of it but some say propecia made it go away. Then you have some that say it made it worse or had no effect. If its an immune thing its odd why some men get it and some dont. Other people with bad MPB dont have any itching at all.
Ive tried a lot of stuff over the years nothing helps. Shampoo might but its back the next day pretty much

[Sizzling]

Does anyone know if the inflammation stops when the follicle is dead or does it continue to cause pain, itch and discomfort? Has anyone gone bald and totally relieved of this inflammation thereafter?

[jamesst11]

I not only wash my head with freezing cold water now, I apply an ice pack to it at the end of the day for 15-20 minutes. I just bought one of those with an elastic strap and strap it around my chin... I don't care what any one will say, it honestly relieves any itch and burning. The other thing is that, FOR ME, scalp exercises and massage work wonders. I will be sitting still and feel the tingle and burning occasionally and I will place my palm on my head and move my entire scalp around and it KILLS it dead in it's tracks. I do this every so often throughout the day.

[Not giving up]

Thanks Dench, I follow most of your posts on this subject and I know you suffer just as much if not more than anyone else with this pain. It's not normal MPB and it needs more attention.
Anyway, I tend to shower and wash my hair seperately now. I use a mixer tap, so I shower my body in the bath (I don't have a standing shower) with normal warm water.
I then get out, dry off, lean over the bath and put my drain catcher in to give me an idea of what I'm shedding. I rinse my hair through with cold water for about a minute (I don't really count) and then apply whatever shampoo in using that day (regenepure Dr every 3 days, and then tricomin or head and shoulders on my off days)
I then rinse with cold water for slightly longer, probably about two straight minutes until I can tell my scalp has really felt the brunt of the cold. It's not overly pleasant first thing in the morning, but it certainly wakes you up. I will say I do still notice greater shedding when using regenepure than on the other days. Tricomin and head and shoulders now produce 3-4 hairs, regenepure can still produce a fair amount, not sure why that is tbh.
Either way. After that my scalp feels pretty decent the rest of the day.

I truly hope you find a good solution Dench, I know how much this effects you and I know you're going travelling soon. Your hair still looks good, so enjoy the travelling as much as you can, life is too short, I hope your scalp pain becomes a distant memory sooner rather than later bro.

[Dench57]

Not giving up - I can see by the tone of your post you're extremely happy to have relieved your symptoms ,it must be a great feeling and I'm glad for you! This burning scalp is hell. I've tried doing the cold shower thing but it didn't help much, though I just rinsed my hair with cold water for like a minute at the end of the shower. Did you do your full shower, shampoo etc with cold water or just blast it at the end?

[Soonbald]

I have to agree on this, I had Little itching near my neck area at the back of my head.."not the Crown" but further down...anyway I did the Cold shower and it helped to get rid of that "irritating scalp" problem...it deffo helps...I Think heat in the scalp is making the blood "boil" therefor making the scalp itch..lol kidding but it probably reduces inflammation in the scalp skin...also it kills off all DHT in the scalp too "the Cold water" no but its a nice thought haha

[Not giving up]

Okay, right, guys, I have posted on this thread before, spoke to some of you briefly, you may know my story - steroid induced hairloss back in March with heavy shedding and very painful burning scalp with dandruff since.
I have posted on this before so you know I'm not some snake oil dude. You may have tried this but honestly it might have just bought me some serious time in the fight against hairloss and it scares me how ruddy easy and quick it was. I'm so frightened in fact I've delayed saying anything because I've been certain something would go wrong and it would get bad again but It hasnt.

The other day a guy posted about reducing sebum. He wanted to lower the amount on his scalp as it was making his hair flakey (a problem I relate)
A guy popped up with the simple solution of using freezing cold water to wash his hair.
I assumed this would do nothing for my hairloss but figured it might help with the dandruff.
The first day I did it nothing really happened, my scalp just felt really tight.
The second day though my shedding had gone from around 50+ hairs down to about 15-20.
The third day, I had 4 hairs in my drain catcher thing. I haven't shed such few hairs since before the steroids. Best moment ever.

Anyway, great news if you're a shedder, if you're not, here's the better news. My burning pain, severely lessened. My scalp feels good. It's not gone 100% throughout the day, but for the most part it's back to normal and it hasn't bothered me at work or throughout my day like it normally constantly did.

Now obviously I'm not saying cold water is a cure to hairloss and the burning, I don't doubt DHT is still attacking the hair and reeking havoc, but It has provided serious relief.

I can't desrcibe how amazing it felt to wash my hair, look in the drain catcher and see 4 hairs, it nearly made me cry with happiness. (Such an emotional guy seen i)

This isn't a cure, but if it makes your life more bearable it's surely worth a shot, so give it a try. If it doesn't work then you've lost nothing. I really didn't think it would do anything but I just googled cold shower benefits and apparently it's not an uncommon thing to slow hairloss that way, a fair few cases.

So yeah, I hope it works for you and eases this bloody scalp pain either way. Do it for a week and see what happens, if the scalp responds well it could be a simple solution to a very upsetting problem.

Fingers crossed it continues to work for me.

[Dench57]

My Sulfasalazine has arrived, but I'm waiting to see my endo next week and basically telling them I'm going to use it with or without their permission but ask if I can have regular blood tests at my local GP. I should also get my DHT results back next week so will update you guys next week.

[Sizzling]

That was a good post, sizzling. I and probably everyone else in this thread experienced hyper androgenicity. The weird thing for me is it happened after a year on fin. Supposedly it happens much sooner to people. My shedding was a massive one though wth increased libido, oily scalp, the whole 9. The wieird thing for me is it really only hit the left side of my hairline and it like blew a hole where my temples meet the sides of my hair.

I actually ran out of finasteride for the pat three days so I'm trying to see how things are going to go. I'll tell you this though, reflex hyper androgenicity DEFINITELY triggers sebborrheic dermatitis. I became and still am sensitive to certain foods I eat. Not sure if there is anyway for this to stop, but I'm hoping setipiprant will be the answer.

Hi Ziggyz123

I hope this is really seb Derm. At least we have a diagnosis that we can work on. Still I think this seb derm is not your average case. I read that people don't have thinning or hairloss directly because of seb derm. I guess for us it is kind of an auto immune reaction causing our immune system to flare up and burning off the follicles.
I have read in some cases even ladies get the same problem, after taking a long course of anti biotics. I have also read that psoriasis, eczema and seb derm are all triggered by auto immune problem.

All these conditions are bitches and can be life long. Many people can't seem to get a cure and can just rely on medication to curb the symptoms

Some people have had success controlling eczema with steroid cream but this only suppresses the immune system instead of getting it back to the right balance. Stuff like hydrocortisone can provide relief but in the long run thins out the skin. I am quite sure I do not want to thin out my scalp. Thin hair is bad enough