Why is my dog's head scab getting bigger from constant scratching?

It sounds like she has a hotspot which could be secondary to allergies and/or an infection. The best thing would be to have your vet take a look at it to determine the best way to treat. She may need an antibiotic, anti-histamine, and or a corticosteroid to treat and your vet can prescribe. If you can't take her to a vet than you could clean the area with an antiseptic wound cleaner but if she keeps scratching the area than it will not heal. Covering the area probably will not work but you could get an E-collar to prevent her from scratching.

It is good that you have Harry wearing an e-collar to prevent further damage. It looks like he may have a hot spot. They can come up very quickly. To try at-home treatment, the first step is to clip the hair away from the skin so it will dry out, is easier to clean, and so you can monitor the progression. You need to use electric clippers, not scissors or a razor, to safely remove the hair. Second is to gently cleanse and disinfect the area. You can use a chlorhexidine wound scrub to gently scrub the wound, rinse thoroughly with water. It is important to keep this out of Harry's eyes as it is unsafe. Third is the treat the skin. You can use an ointment like neosporin or a medicated wipe like Dechra MalAcetic HC Wipes which is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. If you do this at-home treatment for 48 hours and the skin appears worse, Harry seems painful, or there is excessive discharge, I recommend that Harry see a vet immediately. Other possible causes for his skin issue that are not a hot spot include fleas, mange, lice, infections (bacterial or yeast), ringworm, allergies, among others. Here is a good article about hot spots, including information on when at-home treatment can be tried: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=2714

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. What you can do in the meantime is use an e-collar to prevent further self-injury. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Hello, Yes, the lesions could be hot spots. You need to remove the scabs and clean the skin twice daily with antiseptic solution (ideally containing chlorhexidine, for example Hibiclens). Also, you need to stop Stella from scratching and biting the lesions. A head cone is usually the best in such situations. If after a few days of treatment (4-5 days) you don't see any improvement, you will need to take Stella to your local vets to get the treatment in form of oral antibiotics and/or anti-inflammatory medications.

That lesion could be many things including an abrasion that is healing, a bacterial infection or something like ringworm (which humans can get). That's good that she is not scratching at it. You may monitor it at home. If it is not getting better after a week, if it starts looking worse or if she starts rubbing at it, have Bella examined by the veterinarian. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You may want to give your vet a call and tell them it is getting worse. It sounds like this scab could be a hot spot or superficial bacterial infection. While stopping the itching sometimes helps an infection resolve (if that’s what this is) other times topical or oral antibiotics are needed. It’s a good idea to keep the e-collar on until the lesion is gone.

It looks like what we call a hot spot or moist dermatitis. These looks really painful. I would have him seen. He will most likely need some antibiotics and some topical medication to help dry this up. They can also give you something for the itching or pain relief. These usually heal pretty quickly once they stop messing with them.