Treatment for Trichodynia

[wallace911]

Hey there! I am wondering if there is anybody on this board who has managed to successfully treat trichodynia and whether it is true that it rather comes with Telogen Effluvium than with male pattern baldness!? Did anybody try a low dosed antidepressant? I read that that can help.

I have been to a quite useless dermatologist a while ago who did a blood and thyroid test and had a look at my hair with a magnifying glass. She said she could tell from the pattern of my hair loss that it is male pattern baldness. She then prescribed Propecia after I asked her about it.

However the blood test results didn't show anything about nutrition (iron, vitamin b ...), nothing about Testosterone or DHT. She didn't pull on my hair as well. I got high cholesterol values but I am underweight - what she just ignored. I told her that my hair loss started with getting a job that I can't cope with and that I generally feel like crap since then.

I am thinning diffusely on the top of my head for a year now. Before that I had only very little receding at the temples for about 5 years ... but it never even bothered me as there was hardly any progress.

I told her as well that I have this hair pain and itching and she just said that my skin is fine. Well yesterday I read the article below in this forum and I am thinking now whether I should see another Doctor!? I have been on Propecia and Nizoral for two month but it didn't help against the trichodynia. I think I had a little shed in the beginning but other than that nothing happened yet only the bloody burning is worse than ever. Well please let me know if you have some advice on hair pain!

Cheers

Trichodynia Is a Distinguishing Symptom of
Telogen Effluvium
Guarrera, Marcella; Baldari, Manuela; Montinari, Martina;
Rebora, Alfredo; University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Objectives: The prevalence of trichodynia is controversial.
Controversy may stem from the diagnostic confusion
between androgenetic alopecia (Androgenetic Alopecia), chronic telogen
effluvium (CTE) and their association (Androgenetic Alopecia+CTE).
Approach: With the aid of the modified wash test (WT)
(1), we surveyed10 men and 85 women complaining of
hair loss. After 5-day-abstention from shampooing, they
soaped and rinsed the hair in a basin and collected all hair
remaining in a gauze covering the basin bottom. Hair were
counted and divided into <3 cm hair (vellus hair) and into
>3 cm hair. Patients with <100 total hair and >10% vellus
hair were diagnosed as having Androgenetic Alopecia; those with >100 hair
and <10% vellus hair were diagnosed as having CTE; those
with >100 hair and >10% vellus hair as having Androgenetic Alopecia+Telogen Effluvium
and patients with >100 hair and <10% vellus hair as having
CTE in remission.
Results: Trichodynia was reported by 22 patients: 17 had
CTE, 2 Androgenetic Alopecia and 3 CTE+Androgenetic Alopecia. None has CTE in remission.
The prevalence (51%) of trichodynia in patients with
CTE and CTE+Androgenetic Alopecia was statistically highly significant
(c2 = 20.077, p <0.001).
Conclusion: Trichodynia is almost exclusive of patients with
CTE as it affects about one half of the them and may be a
marker of activity of an inflammatory peripilar process.