Your scalp is the skin on the top of your head. Unless you have hair loss, hair grows on your scalp. Different skin problems can affect your scalp.

Dandruff is a flaking of the skin. The flakes are yellow or white. Dandruff may make your scalp feel itchy. It usually starts after puberty, and is more common in men. Dandruff is usually a symptom of seborrheic dermatitis, or seborrhea. It is a skin condition that can also cause redness and irritation of the skin.

Most of the time, using a dandruff shampoo can help control your dandruff. If that does not work, contact your health care provider.

There is a type of seborrheic dermatitis that babies can get. It is called cradle cap. It usually lasts a few months, and then goes away on its own. Besides the scalp, it can sometimes affect other parts of the body, such as the eyelids, armpits, groin, and ears. Normally, washing your baby's hair every day with a mild shampoo and gently rubbing their scalp with your fingers or a soft brush can help. For severe cases, your health care provider may give you a prescription shampoo or cream to use.

Other problems that can affect the scalp include

• Scalp ringworm, a fungal infection that causes itchy, red patches on your head. It can also leave bald spots. It usually affects children.
• Scalp psoriasis, which causes itchy or sore patches of thick, red skin with silvery scales. About half of the people with psoriasis have it on their scalp.

A chronic inflammatory disease of the skin with unknown etiology. It is characterized by moderate ERYTHEMA, dry, moist, or greasy (SEBACEOUS GLAND) scaling and yellow crusted patches on various areas, especially the scalp, that exfoliate as dandruff. Seborrheic dermatitis is common in children and adolescents with HIV INFECTIONS.

The outer covering of the calvaria. It is composed of several layers: SKIN; subcutaneous connective tissue; the occipitofrontal muscle which includes the tendinous galea aponeurotica; loose connective tissue; and the pericranium (the PERIOSTEUM of the SKULL).

Excessive shedding of dry scaly material from the scalp in humans.

There is a type of seborrheic dermatitis that babies can get. It is called cradle cap. It usually lasts a few months, and then goes away on its own. Besides the scalp, it can sometimes affect other parts of the body, such as the eyelids, armpits, groin, and ears. Normally, washing your baby's hair every day with a mild shampoo and gently rubbing their scalp with your fingers or a soft brush can help. For severe cases, your health care provider may give you a prescription shampoo or cream to use.

The imidazoles are synthetic fungicides that disrupt ergosterol biosynthesis; they are commonly used in medical applications and also in agriculture to keep seeds and harvested crops from molding. Examples include miconazole, ketoconazole, and clotrimazole, which are used to treat fungal skin infections such as ringworm, specifically tinea pedis (athlete’s foot), tinea cruris (jock itch), and tinea corporis. These infections are commonly caused by dermatophytes of the genera Trichophyton, Epidermophyton, and Microsporum. Miconazole is also used predominantly for the treatment of vaginal yeast infections caused by the fungus Candida, and ketoconazole is used for the treatment of tinea versicolor and dandruff, which both can be caused by the fungus Malassezia.