BACKGROUND
The Internet is a commonly used source for information on hair and scalp care. “Tender-headed” is a socio-cultural term used in Black communities to describe an individual who complains of scalp tenderness, soreness, discomfort, or pain from hair manipulation and hairstyling including combing/brushing, braiding/twisting, parting of the hair, ponytails, or blow-drying.
OBJECTIVE
In this Google Trends cross-sectional analysis, we aim to understand how tender-headedness is searched on a major search engine and assess differences between queries related to tender-headedness from January 2013 to December 2022.
METHODS
Search volume index (SVI) was extracted for categories of keyword phrases (KP) used to describe tender-headedness: (1) tenderness (“tender headed,” “tender head”); (2) scalp discomfort (“sore scalp,” “scalp hurts,” “tight scalp”), and (3) both concepts combined ([‘tenderness’ and ‘scalp’] and [“tender scalp,” “scalp tenderness”]).
RESULTS
Our findings showed that over the ten-year period, the category phrase for scalp discomfort garnered the highest search interest. Moreover, keyword phrases “tenderhead” and “sore scalp” generated the highest online search interest.
CONCLUSIONS
Acknowledging how culturally-specific terms may be used to describe scalp symptoms in Black patients can aid dermatologists differentiate between tenderness induced by scalp manipulation and tenderness associated with an inflammatory alopecia, thus guiding management accordingly.
CLINICALTRIAL