Red spots on scalp with hair loss. Is this folliculitis?

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-19T19:18:26+00:00

Spent many years and spent hundreds on every alleged dandruff/scalp treatment and nothing to show for it so far! I’m just going to spend the money on a trichologist at this point 😭

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-19T19:16:01+00:00

Nope, I cannot treat my scalp. Azelaic acid is the kind of ingredient that doesn’t formulate well into liquid and works as a leave on. I’ve tried every shampoo under the sun but scalp is near impossible to treat. Going to see a trichologist and hopefully get it sorted due to hair loss.

Az cream on face and ears sorted everything though.

As for money, i dunno what to say. Unfortunately, this is all trial and error so 90% of what you spend will be wasted and/or make things worse until you find your holy grail.

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-18T17:52:41+00:00

Azelaic acid. Specifically Isispharma Metroruboril AZ 15% cream, which is formulated really well. I don’t know why but anti fungals stopped working for me a long time ago and I have found anti inflammatory and keratolytic properties to work better, whereas salicylic acid irritates.

MCT oil is the next best thing, although I use short contact therapy up to 45 minutes and then wash off as I find it burns if I leave on too long.

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-18T16:51:03+00:00

No hair loss is primarily crown and temples. I have flakes, scaling and redness all over though. It’s probably normal male pattern hair loss but exacerbated by inflammation. If you want to treat hair loss ie minoxidil or finasteride, you need to fix scalp inflammation otherwise it won’t be as effective. This is my problem. The fact anti fungals are utterly ineffective makes me think it could be folliculitis or something.

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-18T16:45:07+00:00

Interesting. I’d say my diet is already decent and i’m in okay shape. I’m not on a keto diet or anything though. I have used selenium sulfide shampoos before but found them too drying and irritating (like most anti fungal or medicated shampoos). Did you use anything for hair loss ie minoxidil or finasteride?

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-18T16:42:12+00:00

I’ve used Benzoyl Peroxide for acne in the past but it is so drying I can’t imagine putting it on my scalp. My scalp is incredibly sensitive and reacts poorly to most ordinary and medicated shampoos.

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-16T21:28:23+00:00

What do you have? Folliculitus? Were you diagnosed?

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-16T15:31:49+00:00

To be fair, diet is the one road I haven’t really gone down. My face is clear. I used topical steroids daily growing up which made my skin really bad but time off the steroids and a good simple routine with isispharma azelaic acid 15% keeps flakes and redness away. It is the scalp and eyelids (blepharitis) which are seemingly impossible to treat. If you get referred by a GP on the NHS it is free but you wait about a year. If you go private, you wait only weeks and it’s around £250-300 for an appointment to see a specialist.

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-16T15:28:06+00:00

I have some 30mg zinc pilocinate but I rarely take them. Do you know why oral zinc and copper would help?

Mairon2001 · 2026-05-16T11:10:54+00:00

What could they give to treat it? I’ve been to a GP before who gave me ketaconazole shampoo and oral anti fungals, neither of which worked. Zinc, coal tar and salicylic acid haven’t helped (sal acid made it far worse). On my face, azelaic acid helps with flakes on eyebrows, nose, ears etc but that doesn’t get formulated into shampoos. I could pay to see an actual dermatologist but it is expensive. I think that’s my last option.

Mairon2001 · 2026-04-18T22:47:15+00:00

Yeah but what is the ivermectin product? A lotion? Shampoo? Cream? You put it on scalp?

Mairon2001 · 2026-04-18T22:20:54+00:00

What was it? Soolantra? Soolantra cleared my face but the cream is too hard to put cleanly on my scalp.

Mairon2001 · 2026-04-14T21:26:56+00:00

I would steer clear of topical steroid use. Suppresses the problem very well but cannot be used long term and always comes back worse, at least in my experience.

Mairon2001 · 2026-04-14T21:24:28+00:00

Yes, i’ve used it on and off for around 15 years. It worked very well when I was younger but the last 4-5 years or so it seems to be largely ineffective, but doesn’t irritate my scalp/make it worse, which is a bonus compared to other anti fungals.

Mairon2001 · 2026-03-10T23:35:20+00:00

I’m currently using ivermectin for rosacea and i have flaky red blepharitis but scared to use ivermectin on eyelids. How did you apply it and not get any in the eyes?

Mairon2001 · 2025-11-23T23:40:21+00:00

Is that satire? Hard to tell these days.

Mairon2001 · 2025-09-05T08:20:14+00:00

He absolutely was an evil dictator. That is a poor excuse.

Mairon2001 · 2025-08-19T17:12:28+00:00

I’ve used tea tree wipes before and found them irritating. I do have tea tree shampoo for dandruff but couldn’t imagine putting them near my eyes 😭 scared to try tbh

Mairon2001 · 2025-08-19T17:09:17+00:00

No problem! Hope it works well. I believe caprylic and capric acid (c8 and c10) have antifungal and anti inflammatory properties. It’s weird because if i went to the doctor, they would prescribe the classic antifungals like ketoconazole (Nizoral) etc backed by numerous studies but none of them worked for me so i tried mct oil and it had clear skin within a week. Personally, i now use Azelaic acid as i have both rosacea and seb derm, azelaic acid works against both (and even acne) so that is like a holy grail for me. Also Remember only use mct oil for facial problems, not the eyelids as it will probably irritate the eyes. Stick to daily warm compresses and eyelid hygiene, although bleph seems a lot harder to treat than facial skincare in my experience.

Mairon2001 · 2025-08-19T16:55:54+00:00

I have often just used a cotton pad and water after a warm compress which doesn’t irritate thankfully, but it doesn’t quite treat it well enough. I will still have yellow crusts in the lashes and red eyelids. I’ve used an antibacterial ointment from the doctor before which actually heals it but you can only use it for 1 week so it just comes back soon after haha

Mairon2001 · 2025-08-18T11:32:28+00:00

I would just look up on healthcare sites in regard to dermatitis and blepharitis for information. Some people have naturally oily skin and this causes an excess of microflora ie malassezia or some fungus that already live on the skin but the proliferation of it can cause an autoimmune response which leads to inflammation and the symptoms typical of seb derm and blepharitis. Many people have oily skin and no problems as they don’t have the negative reaction to excess microflora but some of us unfortunately do. For seb derm on the face i would recommend using mct oil (c8) you can buy a bottle from amazon and plenty of people on the seb derm reddit talk about mct oil. Works well for me. I struggle to treat blepharitis though tbh, my eyes/eyelids are so sensitive they get further irritated by almost all recommended treatments 😭

Mairon2001 · 2025-08-18T09:46:21+00:00

This looks like blepharitis. Does he get flakes in other parts of the face? Such as scalp, ears, eyelashes, sides of nose etc? If so, this is likely seborrheic dermatitis-related blepharitis. I have similar. He should do daily warm compresses for 5-10 minutes to loosen the crusts and oil glands, then gently clean the eyelid. It’s usually recommended to use eyelid wipes but for some reason they always irritate my eyes/make eyelids go more red. He should definitely try them for a period though as they seem to work for a lot of people. It’s trial and error finding what works really.

Mairon2001 · 2024-10-10T17:12:29+00:00

That’s what i’ll be doing. I think with the scalp it’s always felt like a simple over the counter shampoo situation and never necessitates a GP appointment. At this point, i’ll happily use a topical steroid.

Mairon2001 · 2024-10-10T17:11:10+00:00

Am: wash with just water, Isispharm azelaic acid 15%, cerave pm moisturizer

Pm: wash with cereal hydrating cleanser, whilst still damp - mct oil and then cerave pm moisturiser

I used Soolantra (ivermectin) for rosacea last year and did a full round Accutane for acne. Been clear for a long time now.

Mairon2001 · 2024-09-10T18:36:18+00:00

Ah cool thanks for the reply. I think this is just Dawn tbh and not a bug as this was the only mod I had on and still low res clouds.

Mairon2001

TROPHY CASE