Scalp burning, hair loss, 26 y/o male

Hi there!

I hope all of you are well. I horrible widespread TMS after finishing HS (intense shoulder pain, diffuse nerve pain, back pain, brain fog, etc). After discovering the TMS literature, I embarked on the long road to recovery and resolved most of my symptoms. That said, one symptom that did not resolve was scalp itching/burning/dandruff/hair loss. Lately, it's become my main symptom and I've noticed my hair has begun to recede along with some thinning in the back that I mainly notice in phosphorescent light (one hairdresser says it's just cowlick, another says it's a bit of thinning.)

I've gone through a ton of life changes lately and am prone to stress -- I'm in my 20s and have seen lots of ups and downs and a lot of moving around the country for jobs, grad school, etc.

Normally, I would just dismiss the thinning as MPB but my genes are decent (my dad already had a huge crown at my age but both grandfathers kept their hair until the day they died.) and something about the burning coupled with hair loss makes me think it isn't.

The pattern usually goes something like this. Stress + burning scalp + dandruff = intense hair fall the next day/morning. Sometimes my dandruff gets so bad that I don't want to touch my head around others for fear they'll see all the flakes falling. The burning/itching can get quite intense and though I try to resist, I sometimes do itch my scalp.

I don't know that my hair has necessarily seen growth in the past as it's thinned but the thickness seems to wax and wane -- family have made comments about it looking thicker/thinner (typically when I have more or fewer of the aforementioned symptoms.)

I've never really tackled this individual symptom with the heads-on approach I used to eliminate the other ones and am in the process of doing so. On one hand, part of my brain says it's mpb -- on the other, my past experience tells me that TMS is very good at mimicking other conditions to distract you and I have to concede that it's currently working. I've been very anxious and spending a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to combat the hair loss/scalp issues. I've got an appointment with a dermatologist but I worry they'll just dismiss my problem as MPB/increase the anxiety and delay recovery.

So far, I've begun visualizing myself with a health scalp + thick hair. I've also gotten a sulfite free shampoo and begun using conditioner daily (I went through a phase where I wouldn't apply properly and didn't use particularly frequently.)

Anyways, I'm very curious to get everybody's two cents. I haven't really found anybody else who's struggled with this exact same set of symptoms and I'm curious to know if anyone has overcome something similar.

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

Hi!
I noticed this thread is over a year old, but I still have to reply. I strongly identify with your story, I'm in the exact same situation! I've experienced IBS since I was 13 years old (I'm 27 now) and the pain associated with it morphed into chronic pelvic pain around three years ago. I was able to get rid of that pain treating it as TMS, I'm 100 % pain free today.

What bothers me nowadays is itchy and burning scalp, and hair loss that comes with it. I've had this issue for about six years now, and only in recent years I've had the energy to do something about it. Before I was occupied with the pelvic pain and IBS, so scalp issues were the last thing on my mind. I was diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis. My scalp produces yellow gunk if I don't wash it enough, it burns and itches, and I keep losing hair. Nothing scares me more than going into shower to wash my hair because of all the hair that keep coming out in the shower.

So, can these types of issues be treated as TMS? My biggest struggle is actually that question. I'm afraid I'm wasting my time, when I should be looking for some topical treatment that will save me. But... is calming the nervous system ever a waste of time? I've made a list of evidence that seborrheic dermatitis (or other scalp issues) can be TMS:

- It is affected by stress - more stress --> more itching, more burning, more yellow gunk or dandruff
- Scalp seems to be unhappy about everything - if I wash it too little, it burns. If i wash it every day, it burns. I can do any scalp treatment under the sun and still, it burns. Nothing helps!
- I feel the burning and itching mostly when I concentrate on it (and I concentrate on it most of the day). Sometimes I'm out of town visiting my family or I do something else I enjoy, and I don't feel any itching or burning the whole time. If it was purely a physical thing, wouldn't I feel it all the time? Like a broken bone?
- I did have pelvic pain. Now I have scalp pain. Why should my scalp be any different than my pelvis? It is all the same, they are just parts of the same body.
- I react to this the exact same way as to the pelvic pain years ago. All the fear and desperation is the same. I have this feeling that my scalp just took over when the pelvic pain left.

The other thing I struggle with, is balancing between hair washing/scalp treatments and TMS approach. Because hair needs washing and care, obviously. But how do I balance it with TMS approach so that I'm not relying on the treatments and look for a rescue? I feel like that is where the belief (that Nicole Sachs teaches) comes in. Can I believe this is TMS? Can I believe I can be free of this? Success stories on scalp issues seem to be few and far between, and sometimes it brings my belief and mood down. If someone has had success treating these types of scalp problems as TMS, I would highly appreciate if you could share it!

And for the original poster, have you had success? I wish I could offer some more concrete advice or even a 100 % success story. But no, at this moment in time I still struggle. I find Dan Buglio videos on Youtube to be the most helpful and I've focused on lowering my fear and living my life despite of this. I feel like I've had a little success... sometimes my scalp feels more cold than burning, and I feel the cold "dripping" down my neck. Another line for my evidence list, maybe?

So, any success stories? Anyone?

 

I think the fear of losing hair for me created more stress and more fear, making it worse, we all know the cycle.

For me, one day, I looked in the mirror and thought I was being stupid. I just bit the bullet, shaved off my hair and went bald, now also wet shave it. I felt like a new man, no longer worried about my thinning hair and what people would think. A weight was gone, I felt relief, where my scalp was sore and itchy in areas, it quickly cleared up.

I love being bald now, My wife likes to rub my head when its soft and clean shaven

My point is, TMS may be creating pain in that area because its something that is making you fearful, I certainly think it was a factor in my case.

 

I can relate to this. I have seborrheic dermatitis on my face and I’m obsessed with it, what I look like, the peeling, the itching. It’s a huge distraction for me. I’m a perfectionist and obsessed with how I look so it makes sense that my brain would do something to my face, the first thing people look at. I’ve also been shy and had social anxiety my whole life so acne served it’s purpose when I was younger and now seborrheic dermatitis has taken it’s place as an adult.

 

A majority of my symptoms started when I started dating my husband 18 years ago and he’s a covert narcissist so this makes sense. Not only do I have a high inflammatory marker but I can tell there’s a lot of inflammation in my body from skin conditions to IBS to chronic pain.