Scalp selecting is solely the act of, effectively, touching and pulling at your scalp. There are a number of causes one may discover themselves doing this.
If you decide on the scalp resulting from product buildup, tight hairstyles, or itchiness from a brand new hair or scalp product, it’s not essentially one thing to fret about. If that is the case, simply be aware of why it is occurring and work to regulate your hair care habits accordingly. For instance, work on clearing out that buildup—we propose a clarifying shampoo or a delicate scalp scrub that can assist you press reset. Or if yours is because of tight hairstyles, try to loosen it up a bit.
However, some individuals decide on the scalp as a nervous tick, and this could manifest right into a extra critical skin-picking dysfunction referred to as excoriation or dermatillomania. This can turn out to be troublesome each due to the stress it could possibly trigger and the bodily harm and ache it could have in your scalp.
“Scalp picking is not considered a disorder unless the frequency and/or damage caused to the skin or scalp is significant enough to affect one’s quality of life,” board-certified psychiatrist Edward Pirok, M.D., PhD tells mbg.
Further, “There’s actually very little difference between picking at the skin and picking at the scalp,” board-certified dermatologist Rachel Nazarian, M.D., FAAD tells mbg. So once we’re speaking about scalp-picking causes and triggers, the identical applies to common pores and skin selecting. Aftercare, nevertheless, might be totally different given the nuanced pores and skin that’s the scalp.