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Sore Scalp

For about the past year I have noticed that one spot on top of my head near the back is sore on my scalp. It feels like when you have worn a pony tail in your head all day and you take it out and your scalp is a bit sore from your hair being pulled at all day.  The sore spot is only on the one area of my scalp. I guess you could say in an area about as big as a quarter.  I do wear by hair pulled back sometimes, but not always and it still feels sore in that same spot.  I dont understand what it could be.  Should I have a dermatolgist check it out?  There do not seem to be any sores there from what I can see.  Thank you.
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Avatar universal
Ok for the listener years I've  Had a soft spot in the middle  of my head no dry skin n is very painful  to touch.. I also have a black bump like mole on the side of my head that's painful  at times.... Is this normal?
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Avatar universal
Hello. I’m 56 and have had this condition since a teenager. I now do Reiki on my scalp to make the soreness go away. It acts as a relaxer of nerves and muscles among other things. So glad to know what this is, isn’t dangerous. Thank you.
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Avatar universal
My sore scalp is definitely related to hormonal changes during PMS. My hair scalp gets sore to the touch in the male pattern balding areas of my head. I do experience slight shedding of hair at this time but it's mostly sore. I also normally experience breast tenderness as well as bloating so it may be caused by water retention. I'm not a doctor but this is what I believe it could be. I first experienced this in my early 20's while in college.
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Avatar universal
I was diagnosed in 2007 with Multiple Sclerosis. I m in a remission so to say/ little flare ups here n there but not too much. I have been experiencing a sore scalp. Like when someone pulls your hair too hard n your scalp hurts   Is this a symptom of MS?
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Avatar universal
I think you may have Candida, look into it. There's tons of info online. I had it and purchased the ebbook Candida Crusher by Dr Eric Balker.  It was extremely helpful. Start incorporating fermented foods into your diet, such as milk kefir. That is key!!!  The regimen is extremely difficult but doable if you're committed. I followed his diet but for the herbal supplements, I rotated between olive leaf extraxt, grapefruit seed extract, oregano oil, and pau d'arco tea.  2 capsules with each meal. Rotate every 4 days.  I was on oral contraceptives and a round of antibiotics. They caused an imbalance of my microflora.
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Avatar universal
May want to rule out Temporal arteritis .. I recently had a temporal biopsy because of scalp pain & elevated SED rate. The treatment is very high doses of steroids. If this condition is remotely suspect they will start you on high doses of prednisone immed & a temporal biopsy as this condition can cause sudden blindness & strokes. Mine was neg but have narrowing of the artery but I was on high doses of steroids for a week prior to biopsy & my sed rate dropped dramatically so that means my inflammation did as well.  
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Avatar universal
Hi i am from the uk and have very simpler symptoms. did you ever find out what caused this?
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667923 tn?1421462724
Hello, I was reading where u were describing fascia inflamed on the scalp and i have felt that way for a long time. I have several things going on in my head...like pain, burning spots, nodules like little pimples but they are just something that u can feel and not so visible. I always have pain or tension on my temples, but more so on the left. The veins over each temple will swell and i won't be able to even touch it. I feel my hair pulled all the time...continuously over where i have an AVM... and it is scaring me. I am having so many other symptoms that i know, i have more than one thing going on at one time. As a matter of fact, i just got my blood work in and my DHEA is low and my Thyroid is elevated. I have been sick since '06, since i had a neck surgery of C5-C6 and at first, i thought it was what was wrong, but docs thought I had Addison's or Cushing's back in May '12. Now, i really want to know what is causing all the Burning, sweating, aching, stabbing pains in back and on my temples, cramps....did i say cramps, No memory, confused, frustated, paralyzed on whole left side of body, scatoma...where i had an eraser size spot in middle of eye, blurry vision, head pain, LEG pain...etc. etc. etc. and becoming depressed, but a very positive person who just wants a chance..to be me again. But, i would be a much humbler person, than i was from all of the pain.    
I will start by saying I have what they called a CM first...then, moved to saying it was tonsilar ectopia and a T3-T4 compressed fracture. Also, i have T8-T12 herniated disks with hypertrophy. i got tooo many things wrong and to fix me...i would need a Uhaulologist.
I was hit on the head, in a car accident...so, maybe it is a slow bleeed. Who knows...i just @ have given up...but no, i am not someone who gives up easily. It is just that i have lost faith in docs and no one is finding the root cause. What kind of doc would u recommend me to see? Since, i do have a CM, AVM and all of the herniations, extreme leg pain that is keeping me from standing and staying in bed. I am not a lazy person. Something had to put me in bed...i didn't just give up and lay down. Sorry, i have personality probs too. I am edgy and feel like stuff is crawling on me. Ahh....i just need to know who it is..who will help me.
Thank u...for any kind of leads here and sorry so long, but wrote it, as my memory served me b4 i forgot. Helppp... Can anyone figure this out? I will come back...to add additional info as needed.
God Bless, Karen      
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Avatar universal
I think I found the kind of doctor to see IF your scalp pain is not dermatitis related.  Please see a PHYSIATRIST.  They can help you determine the most appropriate treatment.  This type of Medical Doctor (MD) has the initials PC along with MD after their name meaning; they specialize in spinal chord, musculo-skeletal, and nerve issues in the back.  I remember the PC part as pain control, but it doesn't stand for that I don't think.  

Please, make sure that the M.D. PC you choose will also recommend chiropractic care.  There are too few MD's out there who are not educated about the benefits of chiropractic care, so you must be mindful of the MD PC's education and beliefs.  I think the best results are the combination of the two specialties MD PC & Chiropractic care.

In my case, vertebrae in my neck were constantly irritating nerves in my neck, thus causing the neck nerves and muscles which attach to the scalp to become irritated.  Stress can cause this issue due to tightening of neck muscles too but, your MD PC will be able to diagnose this much better than you or I. The MD PC could recommend Chiropractic care to you to help this situation depending on how severe your condition.  But, once again, an MD PC will be able to tell you whether your condition can be treated by chiropractic care or by an MD PC.

My condition had become chronic after years of suffering off and on, due to my ignoring the problem. I would keep putting off going to a chiropractor because I moved around for my job a lot. Once I found a competent chiropractor, he tried a few adjustments but highly recommended a physiatrist with which he was familiar and one that worked well with him.  

My chiropractor had been able to alleviate my scalp pain temporarily with chiropractic adjustments and physical therapy massage, but my condition had become too chronic.  My physiatrist was able to relieve the pain more long term with injection treatments.
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Avatar universal
hi i am 23 and for quite a while now i have been getting a really sore scalp, its in the same spot every time an its so so sore to touch, even brushing my hair kills me.for the past 2 days my throat and ear have started hurtin to and i'm getting shootin pains in my head and ear now but i dont know what it could be, i went the doctors and he just said my throat looks inflamed but he couldnt explain the sore head. should i be worried an go an see someone else or just leave it?
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1 Comments
These may be symptoms of LPP -lichen planuspilarus which shows up often with OLP -oral lichen planus.  You might trsratch both and then ask your doctor if it sounds like a possibility.
Avatar universal
Hi, im a 2nd year med student in china. age 21, F. about a week ago when i combed my hair, i felt pain on the top of my skull. i ignored it assuming that it will fade away. that i myt have hit my head somewhere in my sleep. But it has progressively worsened. its really very tender to touch. no history of head injury, but now i feel left side of head aching as well. i do have dandruff. and i donno what this is all about? and simultaneaously i also have neck pain wth shoulder and arm pain as well. and base of skull pain. shoulder pain is like electric shock like pain. whch one doctor described as ?cervical spondylosis. and a doctor from here says it is fascitis ( not bacterial) can these two symptoms be correlated? i NEVER had anything like skull pain so this is kindof very unfamiliar to me as well. i donot have any other symptoms.
but i am really worried about this. please suggest me what this is about????
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1 Comments
I've been having the same pain in my head. I have my husband try to massage it but that stimulates a burning pain in my neck. But that part of my head feels like I've been wearing a pony take all day in that spot and it's sore. But I haven't worn my hair in a pony tail in months. But that specific spot of my scalp hurts on the right side of my head and I have the same associated symptoms as you
Avatar universal
Are there any corolations betwen peripheral neuropathy and a sore scalp.  I didn't think much about it until the pain at my feet and arms started increasing and it dawned on me that the top of my head is another peripheral of the body.  It feels somewhat like a sunburn, sore to the touch and aggravated by brushing it.

***@****
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1 Comments
I'm interested in the same question. because I have exactly the same symptoms.
147426 tn?1317265632
You are likely describing something called epicrania (outside the skull) fascia syndrome.  It is a area of tenderness of the scalp in which people also sometimes feel stabbing headaches.  Others just feel very sore and tender to the touch.  It is felt to be caused by irritation of the connective tissue which attaches the muscles of the scalp to the skull (cranium).  It may, sometimes especially when lower on the head, be an inflammation of one of the branches of the facial nerve.

One of the causes is indeed, tightly pulled back hair - it's sometimes called "pony-tail headache" or "traction headache."

It is benign - not serious, but can really hurt. I would treat it with warm compresses a couple times a day and make sure you do NOT put any pull on the hair until it heals.  If it is persistent and won't get better on it's own, it can be treated (probably by a dermatologist, I would think) by Botox injections into the site.  I've read this from several answers by the neurologists over on the Doctor to Patient forum.

Quix
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Avatar universal
Is the scalp red like it is inflamed?  I have a form of dermatitis on my scalp that burns and itches at times. When I check it in the mirror I can see it is red where it is burning.  My dermatologist gave me a foam to put on it.  
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