Burning Scalp Syndrome-Causes and Treatment of Scalp Dysesthesia or Trichodynia.

Burning scalp syndrome was not recognized as a separate entity by dermatologists until recently, and the symptom was considered part of nervousness or depressive illnesses. When there are identifiable skin and hair changes on the scalp, the diagnosis and treatment of burning scalp syndrome is straightforward. But if the patient complains of intractable burning sensations in the absence of skin or hair changes, this calls for detailed investigations.

Causes of Burning Scalp Syndrome

There are many hypotheses as to how the burning sensation is produced on the scalp and why it is very intractable to conventional therapies.
Normally, the hair has three stages in its life cycle: the growth phase or anagen, the resting phase or telogen and the falling stage or catagen. There is some evidence that the changes occurring within the hair follicle when it enters the resting or telogen phase produces a burning or warm sensation in the scalp. This is thought to be due to a chemical mediator known as substance P or neuropeptide P, which is responsible for pain and burning sensations within the skin in many skin diseases.

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