Scalp psoriasis, like body psoriasis, develops due to abnormal immune responses that tell the skin to make new cells too quickly. These cells pile up on the surface of the skin, causing patches of psoriasis to appear. The intensity of the symptoms can be:
- mild with little scaling,
- moderate to severe with large, inflamed, painful plaques.

Symptoms, in order of severity, include:
• Dryness
• Flaky and scaling scalp
• Red and white patches
• Red color comes from inflammation
• White part comes from skin thickening
• Itchy scalp and tingling
• Plaques
• Burning and painful skin