Psoriasis is a chronic disease of the upper layers of epidermal cells, which is associated with the presence of dead skin flakes. The most common disease is psoriasis of the head. The disease is accompanied by the presence of large or small formations on the scalp.
Very often, the lesion is localized in one place. Late treatment can make the situation worse.
This type of disease is not transmitted to others. A person suffering from such a disease is safe for society.
Factors in the development of psoriasis
The main cause of skin defects is impaired metabolism.
As already noted, the disease is not infectious, so the patient is not able to harm the health of the people around him. The presence of psoriasis in a person indicates the inability of the body to respond normally to the presence of different types of stimuli. As a result, excessive cell division occurs. According to statistics, the normal process of cell division is about 30 days.
During this period, the upper layer of the epidermis is gradually replaced by new ones. In psoriasis, excessive growth of new cells can be observed, which begin to overlap with the old ones. The separation period is reduced by 4 days. As a result, small scaly lesions appear on the surface of the head.
In most cases, they present as mild inflammation accompanied by itching. In the process of exfoliation of the old layer of the epidermis, pink spots of various shapes are formed on the surface of the skin. Gradually, they begin to cover themselves with new skin cell formations.
Scientists have identified a number of reasons that can also cause a malfunction in normal metabolism, these include:
- Having bad habits. Excessive abuse of alcohol and tobacco products provokes significant changes throughout the body. In the presence of psoriasis on the head, the toxic substances that make up alcohol and cigarettes have a negative effect on the course of the disease.
- Wrong power supply. The patient's diet contains many products with a large amount of food additives and carcinogens. Poor diet can be the initial stage of psoriasis.
- Mechanical damage to the hairline. With recurrent damage, dandruff may appear. Bacteria in the comb are able to penetrate the affected area of the head, thus causing the mechanism of the disease.
- Gastrointestinal tract problems.
- Unstable temperature conditions. This problem manifests itself during the period of seasonal changes of weather conditions.
- Long-term medications.
- Endocrine system failure.
- Genetic predisposition of the organism.
If there are major signs of psoriasis on the scalp, it is recommended that you seek the help of a professional dermatologist. He will choose the right treatment to prevent the appearance of new lesions. Psoriasis of the head in most cases occurs in people aged 30-36 years. Rarely occurs in young children
Symptoms
In the early stages of psoriasis, the patient does not feel any change. The disease proceeds slowly and without discomfort. On visual examination, in rare cases, the doctor notices the presence of dandruff in an insignificant amount. With a more complex course of psoriasis of the head, the patient experiences severe itching and burning in the back of the head, forehead and ears. Dry scaly plaques form on the affected areas.
Microcracks begin to form on the skin, through which the infection enters the body. At the site of the skin, the dry parts of the skin begin to grow rapidly. Under mechanical stress, these plates begin to fall off, leaving red spots. In this case, the patient must choose the right medication to prevent the disease from progressing.
Main locations
Today, psoriasis of the head is a fairly common type of disease, which occurs in every fourth patient. Timely treatment is the main reason for the spread of the disease throughout the body. The disease can take several forms, each associated with new health problems.
The main sites of scalp psoriasis are:
- skin around the ears, behind the head, behind the ear;
- frontal lobe area, parietal area;
- posterior region of the cervical spine;
- hair growth separation area.
The disease has two forms: mild and severe.
During the initial stage, the patient does not experience any discomfort. The main symptom may be the constant presence of dandruff, which appears two days after you wash your hair. With a severe form of the disease, the patient has psycho-emotional disturbances, a constant burning sensation, and itching in the affected area of skin.
Scalp psoriasis: classification and varieties
Psoriasis of the head has several stages of the disease.
Dermatologists divide psoriasis of the head into the following stages:
- Beginners.is simply the presence of small pink papules that rise slightly above the skin. The patient may feel slight itching in the affected area. By mechanical action, small fragments of dead skin cells are layered.
- Progressive.The presence of new lesions is noticed here. The patient begins to experience severe discomfort, which is accompanied by the presence of constant itching and heavy skin. Papules gradually spread peripherally from each other.
- Stationary.At this stage, most of the head is affected by injuries. The old areas do not disappear, but on the contrary, begin to advance with greater force.
- Regressive.Characterized by the presence of a large number of white circles in the affected area. The skin begins to dry out a lot. A large number of scaly formations are present on the surface of the papule.
A severe course of the disease can cause the death of hair follicles, which provokes premature baldness of certain parts of the head. The scaly areas gradually thicken due to dead skin cells. On visual inspection, light-colored growths are observed on the surface of the hairline. Men are excluded from military service, as moral and physical stress provokes a severe course of the disease.
Classification and varieties
In medicine, there are two groups of scalp psoriasis. Each of them has a complex of varieties that describe all the characteristic diseases accompanied by the presence of similar symptoms. These include the pustular type.
Includes several groups:
- generalized form;
- palmoplantar;
- is annular.
The non-pustular type, on the other hand, is divided into:
- traditional form of the disease;
- psoriatic.
Each type and subgroup has similar symptoms but different rates of disease progression. With the pustular type of disease, the patient has a progressive nature of the spread of foci, which need good medical treatment. In the presence of a non-pustular type, the skin is less susceptible to attack by new formations.
Progression of psoriasis in childhood
In young children, early stage psoriasis of the head is often compared to an allergic reaction - there is a slight redness on the surface of the skin with skin elements. In most cases, the affected area is compared to diaper rash, candidiasis and eczema.
The disease progresses in slow motion. Often, the initial impetus for the appearance of defects on the scalp are various medications, which have aggressive ingredients in their composition. The child should be treated under the guidance of an experienced dermatologist.
The initial stage of therapy is a strict diet. Citrus fruits, all kinds of colors, fatty foods, carcinogens are completely excluded from the diet. Medications are prescribed to prevent the spread of the affected areas. Mainly lotions, sprays, shampoos prescribed on the basis of medicinal ingredients. This therapy helps to restore the hair follicles, preventing their death.
Important
The correctly chosen course of therapeutic measures significantly mitigates the course of the disease.
A basic diet is chosen for each child, which can eliminate the rapid spread of inflamed areas. In addition to proper nutrition and medication therapy, the patient is prescribed a course of physiotherapy, which contributes to the rapid regeneration of affected epidermal cells.
How to treat psoriasis of the head in hospital and at home
All medications for psoriasis are usually divided into two categories: external and internal. Using them, you can forget about the disease forever. As a rule, the use of external medicines is far from always possible due to the constant growth of hair, therefore, special conditioners and shampoos come to replace various oils.
Not everyone knows how to treat scalp psoriasis, especially when you are dealing with the disease for the first time. But most home remedies are hormonal.
In the case of drug treatment, various drugs with a general tonic and sedative effect are often used. These can be popular vitamin complexes, which are based on folic acid and niacin. Treatment of the disease in a hospital is carried out mainly in cases where psoriasis is severe or moderate. Specific treatment methods and medications are prescribed based on the stage of the disease: stationary, progressive or regressive.
At the stage when treatment in the clinic is needed, patients no longer have time to hesitate and start active measures aimed at removing inflammation and disinfection.
In addition to the standard set of injections and a wide variety of pills, external agents such as lotions and oils are used. Once the disease progresses to the next stage - the time of regression, the patient is already released for further treatment at home. The course of treatment usually lasts two weeks. And the doctor will have to show you how to treat psoriasis on the head at home when you leave the hospital.
Home treatment
To date, there is no medication that will help get rid of a disease such as psoriasis forever. The main purpose of home treatment is mainly to control its development.An increase in the forgiveness phase time interval occurs due to the use of the following funds:
- Special shampoo.
- Healing ointments.
- Infusions of various herbs.
- Baths with the addition of herbal infusions.
- UV radiation.
When prescribing treatment at home, it is important to know some rules to follow:
- All prescribed medications should be taken regularly.
- In the absence of severe symptoms, it is sufficient to use products containing aloe vera. Only in case of a severe course of the disease, it is necessary to switch to the use of any hormonal medication.
- Using the prescribed creams, it will be possible to maintain a normal skin moisture level.
- In case of sunbathing and the latest known procedure of UV therapy, it is necessary to follow exactly the schedule suggested by the doctor.
- To get rid of various manifestations of the disease, it is advisable to use the most common means. Most doctors agree that it is undesirable to use several different oils and medicines at the same time, as it will be impossible to determine how effective a particular medicine was for you.
- Take a break during treatment. At the same time, the average rest time between courses varies from a few weeks to six months.
- If psoriasis is seen in a child, then it is necessary to pay attention to the factors that provoked the disease in order to rule them out as soon as possible. In such a case, diet is usually sufficient.
How to cure psoriasis on the head with popular methods
You can try to cure the disease by using various folk remedies. Of course, using them alone, it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve amazing results, as scalp psoriasis can only be cured with complex treatment.
Folk remedies are good to help alleviate the situation and at the same time act as an adjunct therapy. Celandine is a plant on the basis of which funds are used in the case of a wide variety of infectious and inflammatory diseases of the skin.
It has been proven many times that in the case of treating psoriasis it can also have a positive effect on the skin. Take the simplest alcoholic tincture of the plant and rub the scalp with it. After that, it is advisable to rinse the hair slightly with chamomile infusion. If you experience discomfort while using the product, you should stop using it. Despite the fact that there are a large number of masks today, it is necessary to use them carefully in the treatment, as they cause allergic reactions.
One of the most popular mask recipes, which you can prepare yourself, is as follows: mix egg white with a small spoon of honey and apply the resulting mixture directly on your hair, rubbing iton the scalp with light massaging movements. Wash the mask after 30 minutes.
Various oil-based masks are quite effective. You can take an essential oil like rosemary or tea tree and add a small spoonful of almonds / coconut. The resulting mixture should be applied to the hair and kept for at least two hours. It is necessary to wash such a mask with a special therapeutic shampoo.
It is worth noting that you will need to pluck your hair more than once. Onion compresses are often used against disease. They are very easy to make. It is only necessary to cut a little of the fruit in a porridge state and place it directly on the scalp with massaging movements. Such a compress is washed off after two hours.
For maximum effect, this procedure should be repeated at least three times a week. This drug has only one disadvantage, but quite serious, which is a strong odor, which is unlikely to get rid of on the same day when the compress is applied.
Therapeutic diet
One of the most important conditions for the effective treatment of psoriasis is strict adherence to a specially formulated diet.
Its essence lies in the exclusion of a number of foods from the diet:
- Coffee.
- Various citrus fruits.
- Alcoholic beverages.
- Fruits, vegetables, but only red.
- Carbonated drinks.
- Spicy food.
- Any dessert that contains chocolate.
- Products containing food coloring or any flavoring or preservative.
Also, for strict adherence to the diet, it is necessary to minimize the consumption of eggs and sugar in any form. Once the symptoms have partially disappeared, it will be possible to reuse foods from the banned list in the food. However, you need to monitor what reaction the body will have. Once the symptoms reappear, the product will need to be eliminated from your diet.
Hair care rules
Wash your hair very gently and only after it is completely dry. After washing your hair, rinse it with boiled water with lemon juice. And if there are a lot of plaques on the head, you can use soap every two months to wash your hair.