Sore Scalp and Hair Thinning?

[Dwemeri]

Hello! I've been having some scalp trouble lately and I was hoping maybe someone here had some idea of what was going on.

On the crown of my head in a...say....3-4 in. diameter area my scalp has been sore off and on the past few months. At first I thought it was from wearing my hair too often in a ponytail, so I started leaving my hair down a lot more often. It seemed to help at first, but as the soreness came back I realized it's not just mechanical stress.

I took a closer look the other day and realized that not only does my scalp look red there, looking at the part it seems like my hair is thinning in that area too. I had my mom look and there's also a very small area (maybe half a cm in diameter) that's bald. Doesn't sound like much, but my hair is pretty thick so that's abnormal. My scalp isn't itchy and nothing else seems different.


Any ideas about what could be going on? Does it sound like some kind of fungus overgrowth or something? I've been putting some coconut oil on, and I'm going to start shampooing more often to see if that helps.

Doesn't Tea Tree Oil kill fungus/bacteria? Maybe I should get some of that.

Don't know if it's relevant but I've also always had a lot of scalp flaking.

[akurah]

Go to the doctor! Do not self treat! If you apply an antifungal and that's not the cause, you could lose more hair in the meantime.

My coworker got stress hair loss once from just plain old stress, he needed steroid shots in his scalp to resolve.

Don't take shots in the dark unless you're potentially okay with losing a lot more hair. Consult a doctor.

[lapushka]

Yes go to the doctor. We can't help you with this, sorry! :flower: This has to be *seen* by someone knowledgeable, preferably sooner rather than later. Good luck!

[Borgessa]

Do you have much contact with animals could it be ring worm or something? My boys had that when they were younger, yes pls get the doctor to check, if a fungus like ring worm is in the hair folical it can be harder to get rid of it. My kids caught it off a nieghbour kid yrs ago and with three boys, it took a full year to get it out of our house and they were all on oral medication as, as I say when its in the hair folical and topical ointment won't help.. Or didn't back then we are talking 20 yrs ago now. Never forgave that neighbour kid lol

Its prob not that but better to get it checked. Good luck.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

Yes go to the doctor and have it checked.
Good luck and try not to stress yourself as well :blossom:

[Anje]

Yeah, there's a number of things it might be. Get a doctor to look at it, rather than doing a bunch of guesswork.

[Cherriezzzzz]

I had these symptoms before but not redness... don't take chances with your health or beautiful hair :) keep us updated please! Mine was after pregnancy and I ended up using a new shampoo line that has kept my scalp pain and thinning away. Did you switch anything in your hair routine?

[Dwemeri]

No it's not ringworm, I looked up the symptoms and it really doesn't match. Which is good, I was panicking for a minute there. :P


I stopped using the new conditioner I just got, and it's now clearing up. I think it was just an allergic reaction, I have both sensitive skin and skin allergies but haven't had troubles with my scalp before. :/ Guess it's time to see what hypoallergenic products are out there. Thinking back, I think the soreness I had a few months ago lined up to when I was more frequently using my old conditioner too.

I definitely appreciate the advice, but due to some personal things making it difficult and not seeing any extra shedding/the irritated area didn't spread at all; I decided to wait and see what it did before going to the doctor.

[Wreckinbelle]

I know my scalp is tender and I experience some thinning when my blood sugar is not under control. Maybe that's something you could look into?