Scalp psoriasis is a troublesome, chronic disease. Very often patients struggle with alternating periods of exacerbation and remission. It is not an infectious disease, so it cannot be infected through contact with a sick person. Most often it appears in very young people or in their 50s. Can psoriasis cause baldness?
Causes of scalp psoriasis
Psoriasis is a disease whose mechanism is based on reducing the time of exfoliation – from about a month to several days. It is not an infectious disease and cannot be infected through contact with a sick person or objects belonging to him. It is classified as an autoimmune disorder, which means that the body attacks its own cells (in psoriasis they are skin cells), recognizing them as foreign or harmful. There is also a tendency to inherit psoriasis. It is estimated that 70% of parents of children who are struggling with psoriasis will also fall ill.
In addition to the factors mentioned above, psoriasis also has an effect on:
- pregnancy,
- mechanical injuries,
- infections,
- taking certain medications.
Does hair fall out with psoriasis?
Scalp psoriasis is a chronic disease that develops on an autoimmune basis. Factors generating the development of the disease include, among others stress, alcohol and cigarettes, infections, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or hormonal disorders.
Psoriasis of the scalp is manifested by the formation of inflammatory foci of a macula or shield nature. They are covered with light scales. In addition to skin lesions, patients with scalp psoriasis may also experience pain, itching and severe hair loss. What is the relationship: psoriasis of the head and hair loss? Causes of excessive hair loss are:
- removal of skin scales (e.g. by combing them), accompanied by weakness and hair loss
- increased scalp scratching also contributes to hair loss
- sometimes the cause of hair loss is the abuse of salicylic acid in the treatment of skin lesions; this compound works strongly exfoliating, which can lead to damage to the hair follicles
Not without significance is the stress associated with psoriasis, which stops the hair development cycle during the telogen phase, i.e. stopping the growth and loss phase.
Immune background
Scalp psoriasis in the scientific literature is treated as an inflammatory autoimmune disease, which makes the contribution of the immune system to its pathogenesis essential. Activation of T lymphocytes together with many proinflammatory cytokines supports this. Antigen has not yet been discovered.
Langerhans cells remain unchanged while maintaining the ability to present the antigen. Only their number decreases, because some migrate to the skin.
In addition to inflammation induced by the immune system, the phenomenon of parakeratosis, i.e. the presence of the cell nucleus in keratinocytes of the stratum corneum through a disturbed actinic keratinization process (scales) is visible.
It is worth doing a microbiological culture of the scalp (in a microbiological laboratory) or sometimes itch (itching), the second matter is thyroid control (TSH, anti TPO and anti TG in the direction of Hashimoto, as the second autoimmune disease after psoriasis), the third matter to check the level of hormones (prolactin, LH, testosterone, progesterone in relevant phases of the cycle).
