People suffering with hair loss often report that at times their scalp gets very sensitive, can feel like it is burning and is painful to the touch. I’ve experienced this first hand and it can be quite bothersome. Although I can’t be absolutely positive, I think I notice a relationship between the scalp pain tenderness and going through a really big shed. Because of that I always get a little nervous when I feel even the slightest bit of tenderness coming on. After doing a little research on the internet I found out that this “scalp pain” actually has a name, it is called trichodynia. I think the most concise explanation was on Wikipedia:

Trichodynia is a condition where the patient experiences a painful sensation on their scalp. The pain sometimes is described as burning. Trichodynia often is associated with hair loss, but some studies show it has no connection to hair loss. Often there is an underlying psycho-somatic cause, such as stress, depression or anxiety.

Only a few studies have been conducted on this condition. A theory behind the condition is that nerves innervating scalp hair follicles send pain messages back to the brain when the follicle no longer has a hair in it, in a similar way to phantom limb pain. Another theory is that people who have this condition (sometimes called “ponytail syndrome”) have super-sensitive nerves in their scalp.

A possible treatment is to halt hair loss in the patient, however it is important to understand and address any underlying psychologic comorbity.

The last sentence says a “possible treatment is to halt hair loss“… well I’m all for that, now if only it was that simple.

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