Eczema causing dandruff?

[chantecler]

Hey! I just realised after quite a long time of puzzling and some googling that I might have scalp eczema. I have suffered from eczema all my life, and am quite used to my usual spots (fingers in winter, behind my knees in summer) that change from one to another following seasons (probably allergies too) with a devilish precision. A couple years ago I sarted noticing chronic dandruff appearing by spots on my scalp. I thought nothing of it, but it was particularly persistent and nasty. Itchy, thick and sometimes oily flakes, it even oozed and bled at some points. I had a big rush of it a couple weeks ago and even if with aloe gel and tea tree oil I managed to make it less horrible, it's still not very enjoyable.

Has anyone else suffered or is suffering from this? and any tips and tricks to make it better?

[Nadine <3]

I would go to the doctor and have it looked at by a professional.

[chantecler]

I would go to the doctor and have it looked at by a professional.

Thanks for the advice, but having talked to my doctor about my eczema many times, the only thing they do is prescribe cortizone cream or other creams that haven't been that efficient... Also, for most types of eczema, no real treatment exists, just tips and trics to make it less bad.

[Nini]

Have you gone through a whole cycle of cortisone without any effect? If not I'd give that a go first.

My eczema was getting out of hand last fall and I was wondering whether to do this or that. I decided to go through a full treatment as prescribed (I tend to forget to keep it up when I get better), plus I found a cream that's worked well for me containing 10% carbamide, I also took evening primrose oil capsules and zink throughout the winter. I haven't been this well since it first broke out again in my early 20s.

This might be difficult on your scalp of course...

Have you looked into sebhorreic dermatitis? There are plenty of threads around here discussing it.

[lapushka]

Have you looked into sebhorreic dermatitis? There are plenty of threads around here discussing it.

Yes this. And don't just write off the doctor, thinking but they'll just do this and that. They haven't *seen* your head yet, so you don't know what the doctor will do, if it's not what you think it is.

[Panth]

Super-itchy dandruff with thick, oily flakes sounds like seborrheic dermatitis. However, I third the recommendation to see a doctor.

[Gertrude]

My 6 year old daughter has severe eczema and any patient with eczema is at increased risk for getting seborrheic dermatitis as well. My daughter has had similar symptoms, minus the oily flakes, big dry ones, the oozing etc and that was because an opportunistic fungal infection had set in. She is very prone to secondary fungal or bacterial skin infections. The dermatologist said that was to be expected.

In all cases you have symptoms that your eczema alone does not explain, and you really need to see your doctor.

I have found that the General Practitioners , family doctors in the National Health System in the UK, are very dismissive and uninterested by chronic eczema. So we've wound up at the hospital with bad infections. Insist on being seen and taken seriously.