Headache bothers almost every inhabitant of our planet. In this case, the pain can cover the entire head or be concentrated in certain areas. There are often situations when the skin on the head under the hair hurts when touched. Let's consider in the article what causes such sensations and how to get rid of them.
What causes scalp pain when you touch your hair?
Health workers identify three main groups of reasons that lead to the scalp hurting when touched:
- The presence of pathological processes in the internal environment, including problems with hair health. The fact is that the condition of the hairline is a reflection of a person’s overall health. If there are certain problems, for example, fungal infections, hormonal imbalances, cardiovascular pathologies, pain may appear on the scalp when touched.
- Incorrect care. The use of hard combs, tight elastic bands, squeezing headbands, and uncomfortable hats leads to the fact that the hair at the roots hurts when touched. Incorrectly selected care products also have an adverse effect on the scalp: shampoos, pastes, conditioners, stylers for fixing hairstyles.
- Psychological stress. Against the background of constant nervous stress and psycho-emotional stress, sharp changes in blood pressure levels are often observed. In such conditions, soreness of the scalp is a completely natural reaction of the body.
Regardless of why the scalp hurts when touched, in order to avoid serious consequences, it is necessary to contact a medical institution for diagnostic measures and to receive recommendations on how to get rid of unpleasant sensations.
Reasons why it hurts to touch
Household
- Hairstyles with tight balls . Hairstyles using many pins, bobby pins, hair pulled into a ponytail or bun, tightly braided braids. Changing your hairstyle often solves the problem. You can learn more about other possible causes of scalp tightening in this article.
- Naturally heavy hair . If your hair is naturally heavy, then the hair follicles may become inflamed from wearing a heavy hairstyle, and it will be painful to touch. A haircut will improve the situation.
- Hypothermia . Hypothermia – lack of headwear in cold weather. Going outside with wet hair. Hypothermia leads to inflammation of blood vessels, nerve fibers, hair follicles, and also causes vascular spasms, which again leads to pain when touched.
Lack of hygiene . It is important to wash your hair when it gets dirty.- Narrow hats . Hats that tightly cover the head, disrupting blood and lymphatic circulation.
- Cosmetics and preparations . Cosmetics often cause allergic dermatitis and pain as a result. Changing shampoo often solves the problem.
- Inappropriate comb . Combs with hard, sharp teeth damage the skin. Changing the comb eliminates the symptom.
Psychological
The skin on the head under the hair can also hurt when touched for psychological reasons:
- Stress.
- Psycho-emotional fatigue.
- Depression.
Expert opinion
Zemlyanukhina Tatyana Vyacheslavovna
Ambulance and emergency paramedic at the Clinical Emergency Hospital #7 in Volgograd.
Ask an expert
Stress and increased irritability primarily lead to itching, which can cause unnoticed damage to the scalp by constantly scratching it. In this case, topical medications will not help you; it is better to consult a specialist for adequate treatment of the root cause.
Physiological
- vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- inflammation of nerve processes, endings;
- allergy;
- dermatitis.
We invite you to watch a video about the reasons why your scalp may hurt:
Symptoms of the onset of a disease process
Everyone's scalp hurts when touched differently. However, there are a number of signs that are characteristic of most such cases:
- it hurts to touch the scalp;
- pathological symptoms gain strength when scratching;
- the surface of the head bakes, colitis;
- moderate itching bothers you;
- pain in the root zone appears.
In most cases, the symptoms are increasing, that is, they appear gradually. Therefore, victims usually find it difficult to say exactly when the condition appeared in which they get a headache when they touch their hair.
Factors contributing to scalp pain
It is worth considering that in most situations, a headache occurs when touched due to the development of pathological processes. Therefore, you cannot leave painful symptoms without proper attention and wait for them to go away on their own. Let's take a closer look at why pain is most often felt when touching the scalp. The reasons may be as follows.
Skin diseases
Pathologies of the skin of the scalp are not only painful and untidy in appearance, but also indicate interruptions in the functioning of internal organs. We list the most common diseases:
- Hyperkeratosis. With the disease, the stratum corneum of the epidermis is noticeably thickened. This leads to the fact that there is no removal of naturally dying particles of the scalp. Their accumulation leads to thickening of the outer layer of skin. Lumpiness, pustules, and hair loss appear. The presence of pathology indicates problems with the liver, thyroid gland, hematopoietic system, and gastrointestinal tract organs.
- Seborrheic dermatitis. A chronic disease in which red spots form in the scalp of the skin and can merge with each other. When the disease is neglected, the lesions spread to the face, back, and shoulder girdle. In places where the spots are localized, hair is actively falling out.
- Furunculosis. The occurrence of infectious processes in the body can lead to the appearance of compactions and rashes on the scalp. The skin on the affected areas can be very painful, especially when touched.
What is scalp pain like?
The pain may be:
- Aching.
- Weak, but constant.
- Sharp, periodic.
- Strong when combing hair.
- Strong when touched to the head.
- Skin pain when touching hair.
- Painful burning or severe itching.
- Feeling of tightness and dryness of the skin.
- The scalp itches and hurts.
Places of concentration of unpleasant sensations
To establish a complete picture of the development of a particular pathology, when the skin under the hair hurts during touching, you should pay attention to where exactly the pain is concentrated. For example:
- if the head hurts on one side, we can talk about the development of migraine attacks;
- when the top of the head hurts when touched, most likely there are pathologies of the cardiovascular system;
- with neuralgia, the pain radiates to the occipital part;
- The temporal region suffers during inflammatory and infectious diseases such as otitis media and periodontitis.
Symptoms and signs
The skin on the top of my head hurts
What causes pain on the top of the head?:
- Hypertension or hypertensive crisis.
- Stress, as well as severe nervous tension.
- Physical fatigue.
- Diseases of the cervical spine.
- Anemia.
On the back of the head
- Nervous breakdowns caused by stress.
- Excessive physical or mental stress for a long time.
- Osteochondrosis.
- Head injuries or diseases of the cervical spine.
- Bone degeneration of ligaments – spondylosis.
- Neuralgia of the occipital nerve.
- Increased intracranial pressure, which is characterized by a pressing headache with a feeling of heaviness in the occipital region.
- Cervical migraine.
Only on one side
Causes of scalp pain on one side:
- Migraine.
- Tension pain. This is a very common reason that causes pain to be felt on the right side of the head.
Intracranial bleeding.- Pathologies of the oral cavity.
- Tonsillitis, sinusitis.
- Costen's syndrome.
- Cluster pain in the head.
- Injuries and concussions. If the right side of the head hurts and you feel nausea, dizziness, tinnitus, weakness and vomiting, and your health worsens with any movement, then you may have suffered a cervical or head injury.
Behind the ear
- Occipital neuralgia.
- Mastoiditis.
- Inflammation of the temporomandibular joints.
- Dermatological diseases.
- Vascular diseases.
- Diseases of the nerve endings.
We invite you to watch a video about what types of headaches there are and why they occur:
Diagnostics
Since the skin under the hair can hurt from touch due to various diseases, a comprehensive examination will be required to identify the cause. Usually the doctor prescribes the following diagnostic procedures:
- visual inspection;
- laboratory blood tests for hormone and glucose levels;
- Analysis of urine;
- Ultrasound of the cardiovascular system;
- blood pressure measurements;
- MRC, CT of the head;
- Ultrasound of the thyroid gland.
Which doctor to visit
Many people do not know which doctor can help when the skin under the hair hurts from touching. First, you should visit a therapist. After the initial examination, he will refer the patient to a specialist. In such situations it could be:
- angiologist;
- trichologist;
- dermatologist;
- endocrinologist;
- neurologist;
- traumatologist;
- psychotherapist.
After establishing the true cause of the pain, the patient will be prescribed the optimal therapeutic course.
How to quickly help at the beginning of the development of pathological symptoms
Let's look at what to do to alleviate the condition when the scalp under the hair hurts.
Massage
If the blood supply to the scalp is disrupted, a light massage will help you come to your senses. Using circular movements with your fingertips, you need to move from the back of the head up to the crown. Then you also need to smoothly descend back. Massage will help disperse the blood.
Salt peeling
To prepare, you will need to mix twenty grams of sea or regular table salt with a balm suitable for the patient’s hair type until smooth. The resulting mixture will need to be rubbed lightly into the scalp, left for three minutes and rinsed thoroughly. The procedure is useful for removing dead skin and improving blood supply to the head.
Mask based on mustard powder
Please note that the product is not suitable for dry skin and hair, as well as in the presence of inflammation and wounds on the surface of the head. You need to prepare a mask by mixing mustard powder, warm water and a few drops of burdock oil. Keep the mask on your hair for no more than thirty minutes. Warmth and slight tingling may be felt. The product perfectly stimulates blood circulation and prevents excess sebum secretion.
Aromatherapy
In order to get a therapeutic relaxing mask, you will need to add a few drops of essential oil to olive oil. Best suited: mint, rosemary, sage, lemon. The mixture will need to be left on the hair for twenty minutes.
First aid at the first manifestations
Often, with chronic fatigue, emotional stress, or spring vitamin deficiency, the scalp reminds itself of itself with painful sensations. What to do in this case? You can resort to home remedies.
Massage
You can do the massage yourself:
- First, slowly massage the temporal, frontal, and occipital areas.
- Next, make light movements from the forehead to the back of the head, from the crown to the ears, from the crown down to the entire surface of the head.
There are no clear instructions for implementation: simply alternate stroking, pressing, vibration, and rubbing areas of the head. The main rule: start with stroking and end with it .
You can also use a comb:
- First, perform 100 smooth movements from the back of the head to the forehead, and then 100 movements in the opposite direction.
- Then make a parting on the head. 100 movements on the left, 100 movements on the right.
- Make all movements of the comb carefully. The massage lasts 5-10 minutes.
Salt peeling
- First they wash their hair.
- Then sea salt is applied to clean skin (table salt is also possible).
- Gently rub it into the hair roots and rinse off after 10 minutes.
Salt peeling is useful not only for pain, but also generally serves to exfoliate the upper layer of the epidermis and improve microcirculation.
Mustard mask
- Mustard powder is diluted in warm water to a thick sour cream, then rubbed into the scalp.
After 30 minutes, the mask should be washed off with warm (not hot!) water.
There is no need to use cosmetics. The mustard mask improves blood circulation in the vessels located in the subcutaneous layer and reduces pain. During the procedure, in case of any discomfort, itching, burning, the mask is washed off immediately, without waiting for the end of the procedure.
Aromatherapy
You can rub essential oil into your whiskey:
- chamomile;
- sage;
- lavender or marjoram.
Essential oil should be diluted in a base oil (almond, apricot, grape seed, jojoba, wheat germ oil). Direct application is prohibited to avoid burns. You can combine aromatherapy with therapeutic massage. All these methods can be used if there is no suspicion of any pathology.
Therapy of pathologies
Before taking measures to eliminate a condition where the scalp under the hair hurts from touch, you should consult a doctor. To eliminate pain symptoms, drugs such as Nise, Tempalgin, Baralgin, Nurofen are usually prescribed.
However, the main treatment in any case will be aimed at eliminating the underlying disease.
Self-treatment at home
Let's consider several methods of traditional medicine that will help when the surface of the head under the hair hurts:
- rinsing hair with herbal decoctions: chamomile, nettle, St. John's wort;
- a mixture of ground black pepper and water, such a mask will relieve pain in twenty minutes;
- facial gymnastics will be effective for neuralgia;
- a paste of finely grated raw onion; the mixture lasts forty minutes.
Treatment at home
If you are sure that the pain is not caused by a disease, but by another reason, then you can take the following measures:
- Get a massage. This is probably one of the easiest ways to relieve stress. However, if the skin is very sore, then the massage may be painful, but it will provide the desired effect. Try relaxing and lightly massaging your scalp with your fingers. If the pain is not severe, you can massage with a special massage stick for the head. This procedure will not only help relieve irritation, but will also perfectly relax you after a hard day at work.
- Make a special hair mask. To relieve pain, you can try using traditional methods. To do this, make masks from pepper and salt or mustard. The burning substance irritates the hair follicles and causes blood to circulate faster, causing the pain to go away. True, after such procedures, additional irritation and burning of the skin is possible, but it goes away within an hour.
- Apply cosmetics. There are special masks for the scalp. They can moisturize, cool, relieve itching, and the like. The effectiveness of such masks depends only on your skin type.
- Take a warm shower. The stream of water has a massaging effect, and the heat dilates the blood vessels, and the pain goes away. However, you should not take too hot a shower or bath, as this can cause dizziness and nausea.
- Go to bed. If the pain is caused by overwork, then sleep is the only cure. Try to get enough sleep more often. In order to have a sound sleep, it is recommended to close the windows with thick curtains and isolate yourself from noise as much as possible.
Prevention
To prevent a condition where the skin under the hair hurts from touch, you must follow the following preventive recommendations:
- Before purchasing hair cosmetics for the first time, carefully study the composition; it is better to avoid products containing dyes, fragrances, and flavors;
- choose hats strictly according to size;
- do not use hard hair combs;
- wash your hair as your hair gets dirty;
- reduce the number of stressful and conflict situations;
- devote more time to rest, sleep up to eight hours at night;
- eat right, drink enough fluids.
The most important preventive measure is to keep your well-being under control and do not neglect undergoing medical examinations and preventive examinations. This will preserve both the health and beauty of your hair.
Diagnosis and treatment
In order to understand whether a doctor is needed or not, you should first make sure that the disease is not caused by cosmetics. Try changing your shampoo, preferably to a hypoallergenic one.
During this period, it is best not to dry your hair with a hair dryer, do not use hairspray, balm, masks or other hair care products.
You should not dye your hair if there is a rash on your head, if your scalp is flaky or irritated. Hair dyes are especially dangerous because they can cause allergies, even if you have successfully used them in the past.
Once you eliminate all these irritants, wait 3-4 days. If the symptoms do not go away, you can safely consult a doctor.
Treatment for dermatological problems can take from one to five weeks, depending on the type of disease.
Do not use ointments, powders, antibacterial agents and the like without consulting a doctor, as this may only make the situation worse.
