Head size as related to age and stature
Diseases altering head size
Diseases of scalp and hair
Normal:
 The head is symmetrical. Size varies with
age and body stature.
 Male pattern hair loss is common.
 Minor undulations are normal for the skull.
 Size
o Enlarged: (Hydrocephalus,
Acromegaly, Paget's disease)
o Smaller: (Microcephaly)
 and neck)
 Skull symmetry and evenness
o Generally round, with
prominences in the frontal and
occipital area. (Normocephalic).
· No tenderness noted upon
palpation.
o o Fungal infection
o Bumps: (Healed fractures,
hematoma, Paget's disease)
o Depressions (Fractures, post-
surgical, burr holes)
 Hair
o Can be black, brown or burgundy
depending on the race.
· Evenly distributed covers the
whole scalp (No evidences of
Alopecia)
· Maybe thick or thin, coarse or
smooth.
· Neither brittle nor dry
o parietal branches.
o Hair loss
 Diffuse Hair loss:
(Chemotherapy, Following an
acute serious illness)
 Well circumcised coin shaped
area of hair loss. Alopecia
areata (SLE)
o Texture
 Diffuse hair thinning Fine
hair: (Thyrotoxicosis, Iron def,
stress, syphilis)
 Coarse hair:
(Hypothyroidism)
 Scalp:
 Similar to disease of the skin.
o Lighter in color than the
complexion.
· Can be moist or oily.
· No scars noted.
· Free from lice, nits and dandruff.
· No lesions should be noted.
· No tenderness nor masses on
palpation.
o Cysts
o Nevi
o Nevus flammeus: (Vascular birth
mark at posterior base of skull
o Moles
o Loose white flakes: (Dandruff)
o Tiny white ovoid nits: (Lice
infestation)
o Redness and scaling: (Seborrheic
dermatitis, psoriasis)
 the superficial temporal artery is one of the
largest blood vessels in the neck. Branching
off from the external carotid, it assists in
delivering oxygenated blood from the heart
to regions within the neck and head. The
other branch of the external carotid
includes the maxillary artery.
 This artery begins around the mandible, or
lower jawbone, and the parotid gland — a
gland located in front of the ear, which
produces saliva for use in the mouth.
Toward the end of its course, the superficial
temporal artery splits into the frontal and
 During its course, the artery travels over the
zygomatic process, the area of bone that
lies under the cheeks. There, the auricularis
muscle covers it. Two branches of the facial
nerve also cross the artery at the zygomatic
process.
 Since it is a major artery within the neck
and head, damage to or blockage of this
artery could pose serious health problems.
The superficial temporal artery, along with
the occipital artery, has been associated
with chronic migraine headaches.