Severe scalp pain

[Tyke1980]

I am begging for help.  I am a 30 year old female who has been having severe scalp pain for the past 9 months.  It feels like someone is pulling out my hair or acid was poured on it.  A few days ago, I went to get my hair cut to lessen the weight on my head and the barber caught her comb in a snarl and pulled a section of my hair very hard.  It feels like I was cut with a razor right where she pulled.  I can feel EXACTLY where she pulled out the few hairs.  It is severe and I don't know what is wrong.  This was 5 days ago and it hurts very bad.

I have seen several doctors for the scalp pain and they are still not sure what caused this or how to treat it.  The pain is enough to make me physically ill and not want to eat.  It brings me to tears every day.  Could she have damaged the nerves or follicles?  She said she didn't pull out any hair, but I think she did.  I have never felt this much pain before.  Please help me!  I am terrified and in SO much pain.

[MumOfTwoMore]

So sorry to hear about your scalp pain.  Have you tried a low amine diet?  (My daughter had to follow this for stomach pains, until we could identify what the trigger foods were).

For me, I've been able to reduce the pain through gentle scalp massage, which I can do myself.  It's awful reading what other people are going through.

[sdparquet]

Tyke 1980 - So sorry about all the trials and tribulations you've had to go through. Have you whipped it yet? For me, terribly tender and painful scalp, to burning skin is related to shingles and the herpes zoster virus (the virus that causes chickenpox). If I've been eating too many nuts or seeds, both of which rank highest in the amino acid, arginine, which the herpes virus loves, my skin will start to become tender to the tough on my head as well as arms and torso. BTW: I've never had a Herpes Simplex outbreak but I did have chicken pox as a kid. At its most severe, it's downright unbelievable and unbearable pain. When I say terribly painful, it's no exaggeration. I mean like if I had been literally scalped. Aspercreame, aspirin, Tylenol, Vicodin - nothing helps. Don't ask a regular M.D. They don't know. The REMEDY? I stop eating nuts and seeds. But more importantly, I take the amino acid supplement called L-Lysine, 500 mg once or twice a day. Works great for me EVERY time and there have been many times, especially if I slip and have either been eating too many nuts and seeds or have not taken my Lysine for a while. At the first sign of burn or pain, I realize I haven't taken Lysine for a while. I take it and the next day the pain is gone. In the most severe cases, it takes several days of Lysine to eradicate the pain. Has anyone else heard of this or had success with this method? I'd like to hear from you.

[SusieFaye]

I was prescribed Gabapentin for the nerve pain and that helped alot.I had it on my scalp while I was going through Chemo and had the shingles over a year.It was the worst year of my life
.I was im unbearable pain

couldnt sleep or layy head dowm

it was just awful! I really hope yal that have this get over ot asap.and also.the Gabapentin is the only pain med that worked for it
SINCE IT IS A NERVE PAIN PILL
I still have burning pain amd tenderness on my scalp til this day!

[lydia_1992]

My pain started about month and half. I thought it might be from putting my hair up, but then i was tinting my hair once a month using 20% developer and using prism for condition and shine on my hair. I made an appt with my primary dr. but my scalp pain and the feel of  tension head ache is like on the crown of my head. do your head and scalp pain feel like that . A pulling hair pain and tension head.

[MumOfTwoMore]

The trichologist recommended Philip Kingsley products (which she supplies, so I was a tiny bit sceptical at first, in case I was being over-charged) but they are definitely soothing.  She insisted that I wash my hair every day too.  Philip Kingsley products are not cheap, but they last a long time.  My skin used to feel very tight after normal shampoos and Nizoral was good at first, but then did nothing.  I've always had a delicate, itchy scalp, but the folliculitis  decalvans and the damage that has caused came out of the blue.
I wish hairdressers were really taught to spot when a client has an issue which needs medical treatment.  My hairdresser kept saying that it looks a bit sore, but I didn't realise how bad it was.

[MumOfTwoMore]

My doctor told me that there are lots of nerve endings in the scalp, which is why it can feel very tender.

I found out that nerve pain can be relieved hugely by gentle massage, so I've been using my finger tips (never scratch your scalp with the nails) to massage my scalp and it helps ease the discomfort, but of course, I can't cure the sun damage, which has been described as pre-cancerous.

Try opening your finger tips out and very gently drawing them together over different areas of your scalp.  Hope it helps.

[Invida]

I have been having severe pain in my scalp along with a lot of other symptoms. It doesn't feel like it has anything to do with the skin, but maybe the nerves, muscles or blood vessels. When I touch my scalp, it's very sore and there's often sharp pain. I also feel a lot of strange sensations in my scalp that feel like spasms. The neuro ophthalmologist told me he knows there's something called temporal arteritis, but he says I can't have that because I'm twenty seven and nobody younger than sixty would possibly have it, according to him. I don't know if that's true.

Has anyone with Lyme disease experienced this as one of their symptoms? I have been wondering if I might have Lyme, but no one will test me for it.