Scaly skin and scalp

[Karynleitner]

Dan Has unusually scaly skin behind his ears and his head. All of his skin is So dry. I put moisturizer on it, but it is flaky. Interestingly , he has more skin problems on one side. Just wondering if this has anything to do with this disease.

[Ratcliffe]

David used to suffer quite similarly to how you describe. I think it is partly to do with the lack of motion, but yes around his ears and temple used to get quite dry and flakey.

Whereas for his legs he had quite a greasy waxy cream, for his head I always put on a standard fairly thin white moisturising cream, Aldi do big tub of one for a couple of quid. It took a bit of getting rubbed in, but David always seemed to like that one on his head and it seemed to work quite well. I think any moisturising body lotion would do to be honest.

[honjen43]

Could be. After all skin growth is controlled by some part of the brain.

My love was fair, had ginger hair and skin that burned easily. He always had minor trouble with chafing and used lanolin.

When he was ill, he developed a very dry skin, like you described and also on the rest of his body and legs - like the skin production had gone viral! He had warty lumps on his back and hands too.

We finally got to a skin specialist who said it was ichthyosis. Personally, I think he was wrong!! Treatment meantime for psoriasis with Daivobet cream improved things. After a few months of rubbing the cream on his back the 'warts' fell off! They seemed to be just a proliferation of skin cells. The thick areas of skin scale behind his ears and head reduced as did those on his back and legs. A 'horn' on his hand was surgically removed and declared not cancer.

Hence my disagreement with specialist as his treatment, also a cream, did nothing!

The cream did not completely stop the skin dryness but did help to ease the redness and itch and I felt made things better than without. However it was time consuming and very messy! He had to wear a pj top to bed.

Other side effect of the skin growth was that clothing was full of skin cells that just rubbed off, and skin dropped on the floor like snow. Needed almost daily vacuum to keep it clear, everywhere he sat! Car too, even tho he was clothed!

If this sounds similar, bear such a diagnosis in mind! Could be any greasy cream would improve things. We tried others recommended for eczema, Emu oil cream, Vitamin E, lanolin, most of the emollient creams on the hospital list for oldies, and pine tar products.

First thing we did was stop using soap and went to use baby products instead. My theory was that ordinary soap dries up the skin. Had some experience with my own aging skin, but not as severe.

Hope some of our experience is of help to you!

Its not the easiest thing to deal with along with all the other side effects of PSP/CBD!

Hugs

Jen xxx

[Jdjdjd in reply to honjen43]

Hi, my husband has this, and I use daktacort from go for scaly patches behind ears and on forehead, it's a bit like eczema, but I use coconut oil for his legs and face, worth a try x

[Hidden]

My husband is in 7 the plus year and he has been suffering with scaly scalp and around his ears as well,I find he gets obsessed with rubbing and scratching,he is not as bad as he use to be.

Dee in BC

[vlh4444]

My husband also suffered from unusually dry skin, unbearable itchiness and an eczema type rash. As with most PSP symptoms it seemed to be a phase which lasted eighteen months or so and then seemed to right itself to some degree. We used a lot of different creams and eventually an antihistamine tablet once a day.

Vicki

[Flemingc]

We were dealing with a similar problem. I researched and learned that it most likely was a fungal condition, and that various illnesses contribute to it including Parkinson’s. You can use an antifungal cream or mixture of essential oils and coconut oil to control it. Google Dr Axe and scalp and you should be able to find the recipe.

[Ratcliffe]

When David had one of his more nasty falls and was taken into hospital for a couple of days for observation, he was suddenly moved into a side room. I was then told that they were treating him for possible scabies, which is very contagious, so I was promptly given all the creams to use on myself. Of course it turned out to be just the dry skin making its first appearance, coupled with the fact that David scratched his right leg into a right mess regularly, so it had caught them off guard.

That was when he was given the tubs of cream to be applied after showering and as needed etc. They certainly helped, bizarrely right at the end he looked really good skin wise, I think it was because he couldn't scratch any more!

[Baytalon]

My husband suffers from the issue behind the ears and at the temples, and one side seems to be worse than the others. His skin condition predates his PSP diagnosis, but perhaps not the onset of the disease.