BlackSheep
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Hello all,
Every story needs a beginning.
I am a 21 year old college student. Exactly one year ago, while staying up doing some coursework, my scalp became intensely itchy. I've never had a problem with dandruff before in my life. At 17, I did have a problem of having a mildly itchy scalp with sebum collecting under my fingernails.
My first remedy was a mixture of olive oil, honey and vinegar. This seemed to keep the dandruff at bay on and off for 2 months. The itching scalp returned with a vengeance later. Saw a doctor, stopped using hair products, and he prescribed me some Nizoral. It seemed to work, but I immediately noted the vertex scalp hairs became permanently drier ever since. The itch then returned.
Then I resorted to coal tar. Temporary help, but itch returned. I'd itch so much the little raised bumps on my scalp would bleed.
It wasn't until half a year later, following a very stressful life experience, I got another short haircut and noticed how thinned out my vertex region was.
A year on, I have noticed the itch and dandruff become worse in the winter, when I stay up late, or if I've eaten a lot of sugary foods.
I've seen several doctors over the past year. The verdict is unanimous; there is no scarring, some scaling, and sometimes inflammation.
At present, most of my hair loss is diffuse around the vertex region still, with a continuous persisting itch all along this region. The raised bumps are still there. Vinegar now makes the itch worse. I feel sandy lumps of (presumably) sebum over my scalp occasionally. My hair line has not receded at all. There is some evidence I believe of new hair growth. When I part my hair (now roughly 7 inches long), I see numerous small hairs protruding, and they're as thick as the others. However, I do see random small bald spots. I'm currently on a cycle of Nizoral, Alepecin (that caffeine stuff) and coal tar.
It's obviously not traditional male pattern baldness, isn't tinnea capitis (no scarring)... I don't know what's going on. I read online that scalp itch may precede androgenetic alopecia.
Am visiting a GP once more tomorrow and demanding a referral for biopsy. Until then, I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone here may have. I've attached a recent picture. Thank you.
AS OF 21-03-2013, following the self-analysis below, I'm keeping a diary of my progress in improving my diffuse hair loss. Will update this original post whenever I feel is necessary until this June to see what effect a proper sleep pattern (at least 8 hours daily, before 10pm) has on my body, mind and hair.
26-03-2013 - Sleep pattern disrupted from travel, but feeling good in myself now I am sleeping more. Believe I have seen a couple of stubble-like thick terminal hairs here and there. Am now going for regular walks on top of my weightlifting and will soon return to swimming. Will also be trying out a combo I've been devising the past few days to tackle persistent itching/mild folliculitis - Coal tar shampoo >5 mins + some form of medicated shampoo (salicylates, Selsun, Nizoral) >5 mins. My reasoning is this is a follicle-deep persistent infection so stripping away one layer of scalp cells and then using a medicated shampoo will be much more effective. We'll see the result in the next few days!
02-04-2013 - Have used the above system and it is helping with the itching somewhat. Twice a week I use coal tar 5 mins, then nizoral 5 mins. On other days I use Selsun if I do wash my hair. Read the post below on the same day regarding other developments.
03-04-2013 - Had my buzzcut. As expected I have slight diffuse hair loss all round the sides and back. At the top, however, while the barber was buzzing away, I noticed streaked bands of sparse hairs. Had it evened out by the barber and you wouldn't even think I have a hair loss issue.
11-04-2013 - Scalp remains largely itch-free. However, there have been a few random flare-ups since the last message. Most of them followed my sleep-deprived transit abroad. It has since settled down, especially after starting cardio once more. Hair has grown back surprisingly quickly and feels thick and strong once more, as it did before all this started 16 months ago. Planning to tone down the nizoral-coal tar combo to just 2x a week in a fortnight.
29-04-2013 - Hair has grown a lot back. The itch has almost completely disappeared. Through staying up randomly some nights and observing patterns it seems spicy food, sleep deprivation and a lot of sugar aggravates it. Dairy and caffeine have absolutely no effect. Will post some more pictures possibly.
Every story needs a beginning.
I am a 21 year old college student. Exactly one year ago, while staying up doing some coursework, my scalp became intensely itchy. I've never had a problem with dandruff before in my life. At 17, I did have a problem of having a mildly itchy scalp with sebum collecting under my fingernails.
My first remedy was a mixture of olive oil, honey and vinegar. This seemed to keep the dandruff at bay on and off for 2 months. The itching scalp returned with a vengeance later. Saw a doctor, stopped using hair products, and he prescribed me some Nizoral. It seemed to work, but I immediately noted the vertex scalp hairs became permanently drier ever since. The itch then returned.
Then I resorted to coal tar. Temporary help, but itch returned. I'd itch so much the little raised bumps on my scalp would bleed.
It wasn't until half a year later, following a very stressful life experience, I got another short haircut and noticed how thinned out my vertex region was.
A year on, I have noticed the itch and dandruff become worse in the winter, when I stay up late, or if I've eaten a lot of sugary foods.
I've seen several doctors over the past year. The verdict is unanimous; there is no scarring, some scaling, and sometimes inflammation.
At present, most of my hair loss is diffuse around the vertex region still, with a continuous persisting itch all along this region. The raised bumps are still there. Vinegar now makes the itch worse. I feel sandy lumps of (presumably) sebum over my scalp occasionally. My hair line has not receded at all. There is some evidence I believe of new hair growth. When I part my hair (now roughly 7 inches long), I see numerous small hairs protruding, and they're as thick as the others. However, I do see random small bald spots. I'm currently on a cycle of Nizoral, Alepecin (that caffeine stuff) and coal tar.
It's obviously not traditional male pattern baldness, isn't tinnea capitis (no scarring)... I don't know what's going on. I read online that scalp itch may precede androgenetic alopecia.
Am visiting a GP once more tomorrow and demanding a referral for biopsy. Until then, I'd appreciate any thoughts anyone here may have. I've attached a recent picture. Thank you.
AS OF 21-03-2013, following the self-analysis below, I'm keeping a diary of my progress in improving my diffuse hair loss. Will update this original post whenever I feel is necessary until this June to see what effect a proper sleep pattern (at least 8 hours daily, before 10pm) has on my body, mind and hair.
26-03-2013 - Sleep pattern disrupted from travel, but feeling good in myself now I am sleeping more. Believe I have seen a couple of stubble-like thick terminal hairs here and there. Am now going for regular walks on top of my weightlifting and will soon return to swimming. Will also be trying out a combo I've been devising the past few days to tackle persistent itching/mild folliculitis - Coal tar shampoo >5 mins + some form of medicated shampoo (salicylates, Selsun, Nizoral) >5 mins. My reasoning is this is a follicle-deep persistent infection so stripping away one layer of scalp cells and then using a medicated shampoo will be much more effective. We'll see the result in the next few days!
02-04-2013 - Have used the above system and it is helping with the itching somewhat. Twice a week I use coal tar 5 mins, then nizoral 5 mins. On other days I use Selsun if I do wash my hair. Read the post below on the same day regarding other developments.
03-04-2013 - Had my buzzcut. As expected I have slight diffuse hair loss all round the sides and back. At the top, however, while the barber was buzzing away, I noticed streaked bands of sparse hairs. Had it evened out by the barber and you wouldn't even think I have a hair loss issue.
11-04-2013 - Scalp remains largely itch-free. However, there have been a few random flare-ups since the last message. Most of them followed my sleep-deprived transit abroad. It has since settled down, especially after starting cardio once more. Hair has grown back surprisingly quickly and feels thick and strong once more, as it did before all this started 16 months ago. Planning to tone down the nizoral-coal tar combo to just 2x a week in a fortnight.
29-04-2013 - Hair has grown a lot back. The itch has almost completely disappeared. Through staying up randomly some nights and observing patterns it seems spicy food, sleep deprivation and a lot of sugar aggravates it. Dairy and caffeine have absolutely no effect. Will post some more pictures possibly.
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