Dry Patches on Scalp

While carelessly moving your hand over your curly locks of hair, you find that something is wrong with the scalp. You feel that some areas of the scalp are dry and itchy. Upon looking at yourself in the mirror, you see small, red, dry patches developing on the scalp.

Another thing that grabs your attention is that the scalp skin is shedding white flakes, referred to as dandruff. A flaking scalp along with dry patches signals the onset of various scalp problems, some of which are discussed here. Take a look.

When eczema strikes the head, the scalp typically shows red, scaly and itchy patches. The dry scalp due to eczema also shows flaky skin followed by formation of rash. Other than these symptoms, scalp eczema causes excessive dandruff. No wonder, eczema of the scalp itches terribly. The blisters that form on the rash may break open, oozing out fluid.

Development of scalp eczema, also referred to as seborrhoeic dermatitis, has been attributed to fungal infection of the scalp. The fungus, commonly referred to as 'malassezia', can be found on the scalp. Too much sweating or change in weather can cause indiscriminate multiplication of fungus, eventually leading to the onset of scalp eczema.

Actinic keratosis, typically marked by red scaly patches, is the result of frequent exposure to the sun over the years. Sun damaged scaly areas of the scalp may eventually become lesions and have a wart like appearance.

Exposure to ultraviolet light repeatedly is very capable of triggering irreversible damage within the skin cells, which leads to the development of actinic keratosis lesions. The possibility of actinic keratosis lesions turning malignant also cannot be ruled out.

This is a medical skin condition in which the skin cells are reproduced at an abnormally high rate. The new skin cells generated outnumber those that are shed off from the topmost layer of the skin. As a result, the new skin cells get accumulated in large numbers on the superficial skin.

When this excess buildup of skin cells hits the scalp, then thick, dry, silvery white patches are distinctly visible. Red lesions may also develop on the affected area of the scalp. Scalp psoriasis is believed to be the consequence of erratic behavior of the immune system that triggers rapid growth of new skin cells.

Circular dry patches on the scalp can also be due to ringworm infection. It is caused by the fungus belonging to the species of tinea capitis. The infection that is frequently absorbed in children causes round scaly patches to appear on the scalp.

Apart from scalp, the infection spreads to the hair shaft (pouches that have hair root), disrupting hair growth in that area of the scalp. People affected with ringworm scalp show circular bald patterns on the head. This is an infection and people coming in direct contact with a person affected with tinea capitis are likely to develop this infection.

Being a fungal infection, scalp ringworm responds quite well to antifungal medicines that need to be taken orally for a specific duration. Medicated shampoos are commonly recommended to treat scalp psoriasis and eczema.

Common ingredients found in these medicated shampoos are selenium sulfide, salicylic acid and ketoconazole. Oil based products may also be applied to the scalp before going to bed to promote shedding of dead skin cells and alleviate inflammation.

On the other hand, lesions associated with actinic keratosis are either removed using cryotherapy (application of cold liquid nitrogen) or are surgically scraped with special devices. Other treatment options for actinic keratosis involves use of topical anticancer medicines like fluorouracil that helps to kill precancerous cells of actinic keratosis.

A point to note is that disorders of the scalp that include eczema and psoriasis have similar symptoms (red, scaly skin), and hence are not easy to distinguish. Diagnosis is made after carefully examining the scalp.

Psoriasis is chronic, tends to have denser scales and so takes longer time to heal than eczema. However, treatment for both these conditions is no different and revolves around application of medicated shampoos.