excessive oily hair, all of a sudden, on crown

Im 45, now, all of a sudden I have this ugly greasy hair right on top of my head. Its so nasty! I think im in peri-meno now and this just showed up again. I remember this happened before, but didnt pay attention to it so much. This just happens to come along with my period this time, and Im not sure it came with my other periods. They've been real irregular. Thats my best guess as to the cause. But its so gross looking. I broke down after it didnt go away after like 4 days of this, I used dawn dishwashing liquid. Bad Idea! It not only didnt work, the rest of my hair has lost all moisture. Yes, I knew better, but whats a girl to do? I did get a zit on my face at the same time, whats that mean? Thankfully I use benzaclin and retina a. But its not for hair. Im such a well informed person on so many levels I cant believe this ones a stumper.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
There is no medical condition as such which causes oiliness of the hair. I would suggest you to clean your hair frequently with a mild shampoo(you can use the ones for oily hair) and don’t apply any conditioner on the hair. Also you can shampoo twice during each wash and apply shampoo on the scalp without piling the hair on top. It makes sense to avoid the use of conditioner as it also tends to make the scalp oily. when shampooing the hair, switch from warm water to cool water after you've thoroughly rinsed away the shampoo. The cool water rinse helps close the pores of the scalp and slow down the oil production.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[jessicalee65]

Thanks for the info. I believe its hormonal. I did use watered down vinegar applied for 2 days before my shower, after the dawn dihwashing soap was a failure.It fried the rest of my hair but didnt touch the oily section. The vinegar worked. But im not sure the vinegar was the trick or if it was because my period stopped the same day my hair got better. Im going to put the info in my notebook to keep track. But the suspect is perimenopause.

[Bahbahrah]

I am in the same boat as everyone here and find it frustrating that no medical person seems to think it is a real problem.  One can't just treat the hair normally, because it is now abnormal and won't style normally.  Mine started a month ago, lasted about a week and then went away.  Then suddenly the problem was back this morning.  I am 3 years through menopause, never had oily hair even as a teenager, and now just one patch at the very top of my head is waxy/oily immediately following shampooing and even putting powder on it will not camoflage the oiliness.  I am going to keep a food diary to see if I see a pattern, but I've not changed anything in my life or hair routine that explains this.  I recently underwent all my yearly female exams and all is normal.  No explanation from anyone why there is just one patch of oily hair that will not come clean in the shampoo process.  Very frustrating.  I think we need to involve Dr. House in this discussion.

[rickysgirl160]

I have recently started experiencing an oily spot on the back of my head.  Washing, vinegar, nothing will "repair" it.  I shower before bed and in the morning when I get up, it's there.  I shower in the morning, and when the hair dries, it's there.  I also went to see my physician, who sadi he didn' t notice it.  I can feel it, wet or dry.  Has anyone learned anything about this?