NCT07156422

Pathophysiological Study of the Sensitive Scalp

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University Hospital, Brest · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Sensitive skin is defined as a syndrome manifested by the occurrence of unpleasant sensations (tingling, burning, pain, pins and needles) in response to stimuli that should not normally cause them. These unpleasant sensations cannot be explained by lesions attributable to a specific skin disease. Sensitive skin can affect different parts of the body. The scalp is a site that is often affected, with specificity linked in particular to the presence of hair and different triggering factors (styling habits, wearing of head coverings, application of cosmetics to the scalp, etc.). Sensitive scalp affects around half the population, and can have an impact on the quality of life of sufferers, particularly those whose symptoms are very intense. Women are more likely than men to have a sensitive scalp, so in order to have a more homogenous study population, we chose to include 40 women. The pathophysiology of sensitive skin is imperfectly understood, and studies specific to the sensitive scalp are very rare. However, the pathophysiology of the sensitive scalp could be different because it is a hairy area, more innervated, and less exposed to environmental factors.

Detailed description

Each patiente will have a sample taken in the dermatology department: * 1 skin biopsy of the scalp (non-routine medical procedure) * Completion of questionnaires 40 adult women * 20 women with a sensitive scalp (cases) * 20 women without a sensitive scalp (controls) Patientes with the sensitive scalp will be recruited from the dermatology department. There will be no further visits, so the duration of the study is 1 day.

Conditions

• Sensitive Scalp

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	A scalp biopsy using a 4 mm punch in the retroauricular hair zone	a scalp biopsy using a 4 mm punch in the retroauricular hair zone under local anesthesia
OTHER	a general health questionnaire	a general health questionnaire : demographics, history, treatment, smoking, alcohol consumption, phototype.
OTHER	Questionnaires concerning their sensitive scalp	* The characteristics of a sensitive scalp (location, chronicity, triggering and soothing factors, use of cosmetics, etc.) * Sensitive Scalp Score (3S) * Impact on quality of life: BoSS questionnaire * Impact of pruritus on quality of life (ItchyQol)

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-01-28
• Primary completion: 2027-01-01
• Completion: 2027-01-01
• First posted: 2025-09-05
• Last updated: 2026-03-20

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France