Itchy sores on scalp, what can I buy to make them better?

[Wherehaveigone]

Most of my life I’ve occasionally got spots on my scalp that turn into scabs, I put this down to my acne prone skin.

Lately though I’ve been getting very itchy on my scalp and sores appearing which I pick at when I scratch, which makes them worse.

I’ve not had an easy year to say the least so I suspect it’s stress related.

Is there anything I can buy to help my scalp to heal?

I have this too and find Capasal shampoo really helps.

I get this occasionally and i use T-Gel shampoo when it flares up

I get this too. Nizoral shampoo clears it right up.

Could it be folliculitis? If so, a topical steroid might help - have you been to your GP?

I used to get this when stressed and found that t-gel shampoo worked for me.

I stopped using shampoo 2 months ago. I just use palmer's olive oil condition. For the first time since I can remember, my scalp is scab free. It's not itchy or dry ir flaky.

Also echo Nizoral. Mine would be like this if I didn't use it. Have been using it for this for 20 years.

Try a tea tree shampoo. I used to have this. I tired all sorts, including T-gel. T-gel worked for a while then stopped being effective. I had the Lidl cien tea tree shampoo in for my DC (to deter headlice) so used it and it was amazing almost instantly. I’ve been using it for a few years now with no return to previous itchy scalp unless I use a different shampoo a couple of times.

Nizoral worked too but much more expensive than the tea tree shampoo.

Could potentially be psoriasis but am not a medical professional, just someone who lives with it and it is likely stress related. T Gel shampoo (as per pp) or poly tar shampoo (if still available) may help.

Better to get it checked at GP non urgent appointment as well just in case

Ginger shampoo from body shop is very good and also gentle.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I’m hoping to try something I can just go out and buy before I need to see my GP but I will if it comes to it.

T gel you can get in boots and supermarkets

What’s your diet like? I’m asking because I used to get lots of rashes, especially on my scalp, which disappeared completely once I started taking a vitamin B supplement. A B12 deficiency in particular is know to cause skin rashes.

@Crazzzycat my diet is varied, balanced I think.
However I do have a rash on my leg (calf) which is like an itch/scratch cycle type of thing and has been there for years, I sometimes get other patches that itch and flare up.

I have a friend who gets B12 injections and seems to think there’s no other way of getting B12.

I will look out for a supplement, what do you use?

I use nutritional yeast. You can get it in large supermarkets and places like Holland & Barrett’s.

I only use about half the recommended dose and sprinkle it on my dinner. It’s made a massive difference to my skin.

If your friend needs injections she probably has problems absorbing vitamin B12 from food. Most people don’t have that problem and can get enough B12 from food and/ or supplements.

I get this sometimes and I run coconut oil into my scalp and leave, then shampoo out. It really seems to rebalance the skin. I found the harsher products with tea tree etc made it worse.

Nizoral here. Without it my scalp is a lumpen bloody mess.

Really helpful suggestions here folks, thank you.
I’ll be trying the Nizoral first, can I use normal conditioner with it does anyone know? I’m not sure my hair would be alright without conditioner.

Dd had something similar and proper tea tree shampoo from the health food shop cleared it up.

I get this and the only OTC thing that keeps it more or less under control is Moogoo shampoo.
A steroid lotion like Betacap is good too but you can only get it on prescription and the GP may be reluctant to prescribe it.

When you’ve got down to the maintenance phase of using Nizoral you only use it once every ten days or so, and use standard products in between. So conditioner would be fine.

I use it all the time though, as if I don’t my scalp goes spare.

If it’s flared up by stress it may be psoriasis. T Gel is recommended but it did nothing for mine and I hated the smell. It’s taken ages (years) but I’ve got better at not picking it and just put some of my prescribed stuff on if it’s flaring up.

For me, this happened any time I used a shampoo with parabens.

As soon as I switched to a paraben free shampoo, it cleared up

This is the bane of my life. Things work for a bit but nothing seems to work permanently.

Things that have helped include

Philip Kingsley flaky itchy scalp range

Eucerin calming urea shampoo

Nizoral (can be very drying)

Currently trying moogoo with high hopes!