what you didn't want to know about my head...

the battle for my scalp just got serious.

i wanted to grow out my hair (it was coming along so nicely!). but for the sake of a healthy head (that actually has some hair left on it), i had to cut it.

ever since late may (about 1 month after i moved to japan), i've had three huge, lingering, and terribly itchy scabs on my scalp. one's front and center, and the other two are on either side slightly above and behind the ears.

this also happened both times i came to japan previously, but then cleared up after i went back to america.

so i thought—maybe it's a problem with japanese shampoo? or something in the environment?

with that hope, i determined to bear my affliction until august, when i'd be in america for a few days and could get my hands on some safe shampoo.

all the while it got bigger and itchier, and more hair found its way to shower drain.

then at last i had the promised shampoo!—$1-suave from walmart.

but nothing changed. i wouldn't say it got worse after switching shampoos, but the leprosy has just run its course a little more, and yet more hair has ended up in my drain.

***grotesque picture interlude***

so i cut my hair, and lo and behold there was irritated, hairless skin underneath!

here is the hair i cut from that region of my head. THIS WAS HANGING OFF MY HEAD. it's as though my scalp melted and re-solidified with all my hair held captive, and then slowly peeled away from my head leaving me with thoroughly uncombable and entirely disgusting hair.

***back to the narrative***

so i bit the bullet and went to see a dermatologist. after the slightest of glances, he prescribed me some sort of topical lotion. i was dubious, but had no other options, finding most google searches on the issue completely useless.

but i had a problem. lots of out-of-control semi-long curly hair, a large area of scalp to cover, and only a 10ml bottle of lotion? i tried. the areas that i could get did feel a little better, but it was just too hard to see/feel where i was putting it.

so i struggled with the decision to cut my hair. now that i have a four day weekend, i decided to do it, hoping that my now naked head can heal up before i have to go back to work.

but given the picture above, i don't think my head will look entirely normal for a little while. (ToT)

if the lotion doesn't work, i just stumbled across something that suggests this might be fungal—in which case using a apple cider vinegar + peroxide combo is supposedly quite effective.

hope my hair comes back.