Red scalp with itching....

[JJF]

For the last few months, I have had blotchy red marks, or sores, located only on my scalp.  Itchiness also.  They appear to be flush with the skin (not raised).  There does not appear to be any "scaling" around them, however, there are skin flakes around some of the red areas near the hairline (occurs once every couple of weeks). I've also noticed some hair thinning around where the concentration of the redness is (which is at the top of my head, near my calic, and is where most of the itchiness is).  I can also see another small area (about the size of a shirt button) just starting to thin halfway between my crown and forehead hairline.  There is a red sore exactly where the slight thinning is starting to take place.  

While it is bothersome, and starting to become aesthetic, it is not "severe."  There is always some redness, but there is flucuation between periods of bothersome itching, to no itching at all (usually, when there is no itching, I can tell that some of the redness has gone away).

I keep a full head of hair (except where I am starting to now thin), and it took my barber to, today, mention to me that the red spots were quite abundant before I sought professional advice.

FYI:

I take a lot of cold tablets (Actifed).  I always have, but I have been taking more as of late, because of more allergies (sniffles, watery eyes, etc).  Any corelation?

I used MG-217 (coal-tar) BEFORE I had this problem (for dandruff, with no redness), and have continued to use it (because I thought it might be psorasis).  Could the MG-217 have triggered this reaction?  It surely hasn't helped (except for the dandruff).

What is your opinion?  
  

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Sores of the kind you describe are usually from scratching, not from dandruff.  Scratching in turn is usually from stress.  Part of the stress may be from fear of hair loss, which I don't think you need to worry about.  I think you should ignore the redness, which may be from rubbing, or it may just be from looking at a part of your body you don't always look at.

Please leave the scalp alone, use a non-medicated shampoo, and show the scalp to a dermatologist for definitive diagnosis.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff