I am no dermatologist, but I since this has been happening to my scalp for as long as I can remember, I have concluded that it's my scalp telling that the pores are clogged (either w/ excess skin cells, oils, etc.) and this is why relaxing resolves if for me..the chemicals in the relaxer remove the dead skin cells, so I used to resolve this prob by touching my roots...
I stopped relaxing (due to breakage, not the scalp thing), then I started clarifying my scalp w/ this product by Ion (brown bottle, green conditioner, used to be at Sally's til they disc'td)...and I concluded that the salicylic acid did the same thing the relaxer did....eat off the dead skin cells...this was a condition most African American women have and it's called "keratosis".
Again, this is MY conclusion and my derm agrees since he had no clue but agreed there was build up.
As long as I clarify my scalp, the soreness/tender spots are gone...when I miss too many treatments (like a month or so)...then the soreness comes back.
IDK...just my theory