To shave or not to shave?

[FanFuckingTastic]

Got a bunch of health problems due to immune system deficiency, basically my body hates itself. I generally deal with it, but recently I've been having problems with my skin following a flu type bug that had me in bed for nearly a month. Since then I've had patches of psoriasis, mainly on my scalp, but my lips, hands and feet went crazy too. I'm fine with the body stuff, but my hair is making me miserable.

I have basically got four plaques, one on each side, front and back. It ITCHES like crazy, then bleeds if I scratch it at all. I look like a dandruff monster and I feel really embarrassed about how dirty I must seem. I wash every day but I'm losing hair like crazy on the patches of psoriasis and part of me just wants to shave my head and be done with it. But that may be unreasonable as I can try a shampoo with steroids in it and see if that clears it.

So shave on impulse or wait and see about treatment? What would you do? What does seeing someone covered in flakes of skin make you think? There's no pretty way to deal with this.

i would try the shampoo first.

if i saw someone covered in flakes of skin i would assume they had a skin condition. nothing more, nothing less. i am sure people don't think you're dirty

I worked in a shop years ago and served lots of people with skin conditions and also deformities and none of them bothered me I wouldn't think anyone was dirty.

Poor you. I would give the shampoo a go for a bit. My partner has had to use it before and it really helped him.

I suffer with psoriasis, including on my scalp, and use sulfate free shampoo which helps a bit. Coconut oil massaged in at night really ease the dryness and you can get topical treatments from your GP, I'm currently using calcipotriol gel with some success, in the meantime wear white / light colours and don't be embarrassed. I also use a satin pillowcase which helps keep your scalp cool.

I had psoriasis all over my scalp, very suddenly nearly a year ago now. In absolute desperation I saw my GP who prescribed me Capasal which is a mixture of coconut oil, coal tar and a bunch of other stuff. Afterwards I found you don't even need a prescription to get it.

Now, it smells vile, but it soothed it and started to clear it, the whole lot completely after two-three months. It also makes your hair lovely and shiny! After that I've used sodium laureth sulphate free shampoo and face washes and my scalp's stayed plaque free for about nine months. Honestly, you don't need to shave it all off - I've been there and it can get better :)

Oh op ,
My scalp is dire at the moment , same as you - a dry itchy flaky mess with sores and no new hair making its way through .
I am limited with what I can treat it with as am breast feeding .
The other night I slathered it in camellia oil and loosened the scales with a nit comb - gently . It's really helped relieve the ' super glue scalp' feeling .
I don't know why mines so bad at the moment , I have managed it well in the last few years .
I too don't wear any dark tops , it really helps to hide the flaking .
Don't shave it off , and don't pick at it .
Have you seen the gp to check there's no infection too ?