Scalp Tenderness with Headaches.

General
, ,
1

Scalp tenderness along with a headache can be uncomfortable and sometimes concerning. While it’s often benign, it may also point to underlying issues depending on associated symptoms.

Common Causes

  1. Tension-Type Headache
  • Most common cause.
  • Feels like a tight band around the head.
  • Scalp, neck, and shoulder muscles may feel tender or tight.
  1. Migraine
  • Pulsating headache, usually one-sided.
  • Scalp tenderness can occur during or after the attack.
  • Often accompanied by nausea, light/sound sensitivity.
  1. Temporal Arteritis (Giant Cell Arteritis)
  • Inflammation of the arteries in the temples.
  • Common in people over 50.
  • Symptoms: severe headache, scalp pain (especially when combing hair), jaw pain, and vision problems.
  • Medical emergency—needs urgent treatment to prevent vision loss.
  1. Occipital Neuralgia
  • Irritation or injury to the occipital nerves.
  • Sharp, stabbing pain in the back of the head.
  • Scalp can feel tender to touch.
  1. Skin or Scalp Conditions
  • Infections (like folliculitis), dermatitis, or psoriasis can cause local tenderness and inflammation.
  • May coexist with headache due to stress or systemic infection.
  1. Allodynia
  • A condition where normally non-painful stimuli (like brushing hair) cause pain.
  • Often associated with migraines or fibromyalgia.

Seek medical attention if you have:
• Scalp pain with sudden or severe headache
• Vision changes
• Jaw pain while chewing
• Fever or scalp redness/swelling
• Headache that doesn’t improve with usual treatments.

Do you think your scalp pain is due to a headache or a skin condition like dandruff or psoriasis?

13 Likes
2

Have no idea about it looking for more comments to get the topic

4

No idea about this nice topic thank u for shading

5

Informative topic.

1 Like
6

Informative.

1 Like
7

Elaborating this topic gives so much information about our scalp. This helps to analyse our scalp.

1 Like
8

Informative

1 Like
9

Informative nice topic.

1 Like
10

I haven’t heard about this.Nice information

1 Like
11

Nice and informative topic.

1 Like
12

Informative!

1 Like
13

Scalp pain might be due to headache and migraine. If itching is present it might be a cause of dandruff.

1 Like
14

The type of scalp pain can help in determining it’s because of headache or dandruff/psoriasis. If the pain feels internal like inside the skull if one is feeling the sensation that’s throbbing and there’s a heaviness to eyes along with light sensitivity, it might be because of headache or mostly migraines are connected to it. Sometimes this pain can spread from the temples to the whole forehead and the base of the head too. If the pain is happening because of the exterior surface like the scalp is itchy or it has some skin rash or small pimple like structure or redness or it’s flaky and due to constant touch, it’s paining, in that case it’s mostly because of psoriasis/dandruff related issues. It’s better to have a complete awareness and then proceed for the treatment accordingly.

1 Like
15

Informative

1 Like
16

Informative topic, thanks for sharing! I wasn’t having idea of such condition before.

1 Like
17

Informative and Thanks for sharing

1 Like
18

Informative.

1 Like
19

I am not sure if my headaches are linked to any scalp condition like psoriasis, but I do get frequent, unexplained headaches, not migraine or sinus, and I use a lot of different balms for relief. My scalp sometimes feels tender, but I never gave it much thought until now. This post made me realize I should probably look into it more seriously.

1 Like
21

This is very simply categorized and informative, Thank You for sharing!

1 Like
22

I used to think my scalp pain was just from stress or tying my hair too tight. But when it started coming with headaches and light sensitivity, I realized it needed attention.

1 Like