The scalp inflammation/itchy/burning/tingling thread

[Ziggyz123]

Yeah I definitely had TE, but now my hairline is screwed and I had to quit minox due to irritation so I have a double whammy there. Dench, you should try topical finasteride. James, saw you posted on Desmond's thread. I always thought topical fin didn't work? If it indeed does work, Dench this would help the both of us.

[Dench57]

Another thing was, the doctor that did the biopsy test on men that took fin before/after and found increased AR also did a study that showed increased receptor levels in the front of the scalp. I actually don't think testosterone is the cause of this. Your body in fact could have made more receptors. I know that retin-A downregulates them over time, but when I saw my general doc she told me that people's hormones cycle differently and that some have a change every year. That would explain me and also, your body might downregulate them when your hormones cycle. Could be another 4 months. It definitely won't last forever.

Bad thing for me is I stayed on and now I could have even worse of a shed at 2 year mark. I think I may experiment and see lol. I already lost so much and get random shooting pains with hair loss in those spots. I actually might get a biopsy and test it again when I hit the two year mark. We need something that downregulates receptors quickly. You might respond extremely well to Ru, but of course that's experimental. This sucks. I'm developing like a new part that shows thinning all the way back to my spiral. It's like I'm developing an outline for guys that only keep the ring of hair around there heads. It's bull shit because my dad has a full head of hair and my brother had a receding hairline that I always tried to avoid getting and now mine is getting worse!

Increased ARs in the scalp is definitely the culprit and the reason that many people actually get worse when they try Fin. Like you said, we need something to downregulate/degrade ARs in the scalp (Fluridil claims this but I call bullshit), but thats easier said than done. RU just blocks ARs and I've read it will just cause the same increased sensitivity for when you ever come off it. And it certainly doesn't look like something you can stay on forever.

I'm in the same boat with the receding man, it's gone so far past what it should've been at this stage. One of my friends has had a receding hairline for years, I remember looking at him and thinking how much worse his was than mine, now 6 months later I've overtaken him. All my relatives have exactly the same NW3 frontal recession in their 50s, but I'm going to surpass all of them within the next 5 years due to this.

[Dench57]

Yeah I definitely had TE, but now my hairline is screwed and I had to quit minox due to irritation so I have a double whammy there. Dench, you should try topical finasteride. James, saw you posted on Desmond's thread. I always thought topical fin didn't work? If it indeed does work, Dench this would help the both of us.

I can say I definitely haven't had TE. Never experienced a noticeable increase in shedding. I have no signs of redness, inflammation, sebum buildup, flakiness or dandruff, so it's just a mega "androgenetic itch" I have internally as DHT destroys my hair follicles.

As for topical finasteride, I was interested in Desmond's threat. But I wouldn't even know where to begin concocting that kind of formula, and as far as I'm aware topical Fin isn't very effective, otherwise surely it would be a mainstream topical along with Rogaine, for the millions of people who won't take oral Fin due to the sides? I'm sceptical as to why it's never taken off, there must be a reason. I'm also wondering if, like RU, by inhibiting DHT even locally I'd still get the same "upregulation" of androgen receptors, rendering the treatment useless, and harmful if I came off it, same as oral Fin.

[MancBoy]

along with itchy scalp do any of you guys get yellow puss spots in your hairline?

This itch is horrid but it is definitely related to my hairloss as it moves backwards with my hairline

[Dench57]

No, I have no physical signs of inflammation.

That sounds like it could be a fungal infection. Seb derm, folliculitis, demodex or something. Suggest you see your GP.

[mic28]

How are you going Ziggy and Dench?

[Ziggyz123]

Hey mic, I'm in the same spot pretty much. I think most of my shedding is from the cessation of minoxidil 6 months ago. I actually have a question for you.. Did you try oral minox yet? I'm really thinking of trying it to see if I can regrow some minox hair I lost. As for the scalp pain, I get random soreness once in a while but I'm living so that's a good thing. Besides that, how are you holding up?

[mic28]

Hey Ziggy,

I haven't started oral minoxidil yet as I've only been prescribed 100 tablets at the moment of 0.5mg and I don't want to run out prior to seeing my dermatologist again. I will start in a couple of weeks.

As far as shedding is concerned, I have good and bad days. I'm seeing hair fall and getting some itching but not as bad as a month ago. Perhaps I was just going through a horrendous shed but maybe I'm just being hopeful. What I don't understand though is that I diffused so quickly, surely those hairs which fall out should miniaturise rather than completely fall out never to regrow?

Still unsure what to do with regards my finasteride dose. Still trying the 1.25mg every other day. Also started using tricolimus for the past week. Doesn't seem to be doing much except for maybe making my scalp itchier but I don't believe a week is long enough to assess.

[Ziggyz123]

Yeah I hear you on the shedding aspect.. My hair got bad rather fast when the shedding started for me. I have a strong feeling the stopping minox is the cause for my shedding currently though. I was recently reading some threads at hair loss talk and a couple of guys went on DUT and had some itching, but they're regrowth was terrific regardless.

Some things that you could do would be to try and have the test done that tells you if you will respond to FIN, try dutasteride (I know it seems scary), and lastly you might just have a dry scalp that you think isn't dry. My derm gave me aveeno Nourish+dandruff control and it does kind of restore your hair. However, I think I have seb. Dermatitis now so it can only use it for like 2 days and then I switch to JJ baby shampoo.

[Ziggyz123]

I'm with you though man. I definitely am not responding to fin. It's almost like my body was trying to fight it and then when it came time for me to naturally shed seasonally, I had so much upregulation that it just wasted my hair. I actually did notice increased body hair growth to on my legs and my knuckles which was odd. Unfortunately I still haven't gotten blood work for any of this. Just had it done for anemia, thyroid, etc.. No hormone panel