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Any Suggestion For Red, Flaky And Itchy Scabs On Head?
My son has a couple of scabs on his head. He seems to itch at them. They are red and flakey. My mom says that he has lice, but i dont see any bugs. She says that it is lice eggs. We have been combing his hair for 2 weeks now with a lice comb. The scabs seem to be getting bigger. What should I do? Is this lice?
Sat, 17 May 2014
Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic
I would keep a possibility of seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp. Dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis is an important cause of scalp itching. Clinically there may be ill-defined erythema and yellowish/greasy adherent scales which when forcibly scraped/scratched exposes raw skin which oozes scantily and subsequently re-accumulates crusts/scales.
Seborrheic dermatitis patients have an overgrowth of yeast, malassezia furfur which may be pathogenetically related/contributes to the inflammation of seborrheic dermatitis
If I was the treating doctor I would have asked to use an antidandruff lotion/shampoo. My choice is 2% ketoconazole shampoo, thrice weekly for 2-4 weeks followed by once or twice weekly for maintenance. It is available OTC as Nizral 2% solution. Ketoconazole is antifungal,antiinflammatory. It inhibits the yeast Malessezia furfur which is present in abundance in seborrheic dermatitis and thus benefits seborheic dermatitis
A moderately potent topical steroid e.g fluticasone or mometasone lotion can be applied to the scalp skin for faster relief, from itching,scaling anf inflammattion of seborrheic dermatitis.
The topical steroid lotion can be stopped once the dandruff is well controlled and thereafter the improvement can be sustained with just an anti-dandruff lotion/shampoo.
regards
I would keep a possibility of seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp. Dandruff or seborrheic dermatitis is an important cause of scalp itching. Clinically there may be ill-defined erythema and yellowish/greasy adherent scales which when forcibly scraped/scratched exposes raw skin which oozes scantily and subsequently re-accumulates crusts/scales.
Seborrheic dermatitis patients have an overgrowth of yeast, malassezia furfur which may be pathogenetically related/contributes to the inflammation of seborrheic dermatitis
If I was the treating doctor I would have asked to use an antidandruff lotion/shampoo. My choice is 2% ketoconazole shampoo, thrice weekly for 2-4 weeks followed by once or twice weekly for maintenance. It is available OTC as Nizral 2% solution. Ketoconazole is antifungal,antiinflammatory. It inhibits the yeast Malessezia furfur which is present in abundance in seborrheic dermatitis and thus benefits seborheic dermatitis
A moderately potent topical steroid e.g fluticasone or mometasone lotion can be applied to the scalp skin for faster relief, from itching,scaling anf inflammattion of seborrheic dermatitis.
The topical steroid lotion can be stopped once the dandruff is well controlled and thereafter the improvement can be sustained with just an anti-dandruff lotion/shampoo.
regards
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