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scalp pain and lizard hands

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Posted 9/18/2017 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
Hey all smile

So, I read the thread about hair loss after sepsis, which I am currently dealing. My question is does it hurt? I feel the way you feel when your scalp gets sunburned. It's super tender near the scalp, even when I just run my fingers through is.

On to the lizard hands. After sepsis, did anyone have the skin peel off the hands? I'm not talking about little bits here and there, but the entire hand. I told my Dr that she's going to come in one day and just see the shell of my body left behind. It's extremely embarrassing, and it looks like dandruff wherever I put my hands.

My DNA is all over this place.
Posted 9/20/2017 5:55 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Roccky,

What you are describing with the hair is something called telogen defluxion. During an extremely stressful event, such as sepis, the hairs in your body stop growing and become arrested in the telogen stage. Then 2-3 mo later, new hairs start to grow, pushing the old, arrested hairs out of their follicles. This leads to massive/widespread hair loss. I don't know about in humans, as I've never experienced it, but I can tell you that animals do it seem bothered by this (they do not appear itchy or painful).

I also can't really help you with the dry/peeling skin thing. The only thing I can think is that perhaps it is related to the bacterial toxins your body was flooded with while you were septic, but that is just a guess. If the blood supply to your epidermis was compromised, or the cells exposed to bacterial toxins, then it would lead to damage to or die off of cells, and because skin is composed of multiple layers of epidermal cells, perhaps you are only just seeing evidence of those compromised cells now, as they reach the outermost layer of your skin (this process takes about a month's time so the timeline wouldn't be too far off), and are rapidly shed because they cannot maintain normal structure/function due to the damage they sustained while you were septic. But this is just a theory... And why only your hands are affected/not all of your skin, I can't say. But maybe someone like Karen, who has also dealt with sepsis personally, will know more/have more experience in this matter.

Sorry I couldn't help much. Hope you are okay/doing better now! I haven't posted in while, but I do still read periodically, and I remember reading earlier in the summer that you were very sick/dealing with post-op sepsis & had spent months in the hospital... Yuck. But hopefully the worst is over, and you are home with your son now, or if not, will be released and heading home soon! Sending my best wishes for a continued, speedy recovery!

Skeye
Posted 9/20/2017 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the reply

I'm not surprised by the hair loss, I just didn't expect it to be so painful. I dread brushing my hair because I know the pain it will cause upon my scalp.

I'm actually getting discharged tomorrow from inpatient rehab. I can't believe this started the first week in June and I spent until the last week of July in the ICU. I was told that near the end I developed icu psychosis. Basically your brain plays tricks on you due to being in a place with constant light, noise, no sense of time, and with the 12 surgeries I was constantly being put under. Anyway, a good friend came to visit, and apparently I thought everyone was tying to kill me. She gave me paper towels to write on, and saved them. UGH-I can't believe the stuff I wrote.

I'll have to do outpatient rehab for quite awhile, but one of my best friends is a PT. It's been a long journey, that is not over yet. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm going home without a trach, and I can move around without any aids. I see my pain management doc next week to catch him up and to do any med changes if necessary.

Now-If I could only figure out the super sore scalp and lizard skin.
Posted 9/20/2017 10:54 PM (GMT 0)
Wow, that's scary! So glad to hear that you are doing better now & finally get to go home!! That is a big step! Congrats!

Best of luck with the rehab! I'm sure it will be hard work, but it sounds like you have a great attitude!

Skeye
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