Undiagnosed

I have been having trouble with my scalp/hair for about 14 years. I have very thick hair so it has not been very noticable until now. I get nodules/bumps on the top of my head which hurt and itch. These get so painful that I have pulled out a lot of my hair. These seem to be very deep pimples which do not drain unless the hair is out. I have circular bald patches right now which look like they are filling back in. I have been to many dermatologists, an endoctrinologist, internist. No one seems to have a treatment that works. They think it is acne. I am very clean and wash my hair at least once per day but had cystic acne on my face only when I was younger. I used acutane. The only thing that came close to working on my scalp was a steroid cream that one dermatologist prescribed. It left me with open, bald hole-like areas filled with pus which eventually healed. I also have a chronic sore throat and sore ear only on my right side. I can not help but think that there is something else wrong. I have been tested for Lupus, as well as bacterial and fungal infections. The dermatologist says that all the tests came back negative. She thinks it is acne and that I am somewhat intollerant to antibiotics due to long-term use of tetracycline for acne when I was younger. Do these symptoms sound like anything you have heard of? I think I will end up losing a lot of hair permanently.

Welcome to the forum LoriT.

Inflammatory conditions of the scalp can certainly cause hair loss and in some cases scaring alopecia.

Dr. Alan Feller of New York just answered a question about chronic inflammation of the scalp and PRP therapy.

You can read the entire thread here:
http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=3209


Excellent question.
And the answer is yes.
I had a patient come for intractable inflammation of the scalp that caused endless itching. He tried everything without success, including prescription medication.
We performed PRP on him about 6 months ago. He reported back to us about 2 weeks after we treated him that he had complete relief. With only one patient as a sample size I can't say conclusively that it was the reported anti-inflammatory effect of the PRP or just a placebo effect. But it's certainly encouraging.
__________________
Dr. Alan Feller
Feller Medical, PC
287 Northern Blvd., Suite 200
Great Neck, NY 11021
516-487-3797
www.fellermedical.com