Peace & Blessings!
I am so happy to reply to your posting b/c after having my 3rd baby, I had REALLY bad psoriasis on my scalp. It was basically how you describe and then became a daily problem. I have long, thick hair but was unable to enjoy it b/c this was painful, frustrating, and embarrassing!
I went to the dermatologist several times. Eventually I finally found meds that treated it, but I was getting headaches. Then I came across a shampoo that works great. I think that trying to save money I would buy misc brand shampoos, that ultimately were creating the psoriasis. Shows the importance of taking care of ourselves as well as we care for our children.
The shampoos that worked well are:
BeMe Become/Be Modest purifying shampoo by AAfusion salon in Burnsville. This was about $16 per 16 oz bottle.
Then I thought I would try another shampoo with similar ingredients & I am having great results from Trader Joe's (Woodbury, MN) shampoo, balanced moisturizing- Nourish Spa w/ organic botanicals. This is $3 per 16.9 oz bottle!!
The Trader Joes shampoo does not have laurel/laureth sulfates. That is a cheap ingredient added to many products to make it sudsy, and it is known for skin irritations. Although the BeModest shampoo does have that ingredient.
I have been using this shampoo for a few months and haven't had any problems. In the last week, the weather is so dry that when my scalp feels irritated I use a little of the medication from the dermatologist, which you can likely get from any MD. :)
The medications that gave me good results are:
Shampoo-salicylic acid 6% (generic) -this did cause headaches, but if I used only on the problem spot sparingly and decreased time, I was okay. And pharmacist said that this was not a common reaction.
Foam medication Olux- very good, quick relief, but not covered by insurance so only used sample.
Liquid medication that is generic for Olux- also very quick comfort- clobetasol 0.05% solution.
Hope that this is information that will help you. I spent over a year trying this out.
With warm regards,
S.