Thank you and asking for advice on seborrheic dermatitis

[whitesnake]

Thank you from a Newbie & seborrheic dermatitis of scalp
A warm hello to everyone here :heart: I have been haunting this forum for a year, on and off, and this is my first new post...:redgrin:

First of all I want to thank everyone for providing me with such a splendid read in one forum on my all time passion-all hair related issues :cheer:henna, e.o.'s and so much more.. And then the beautiful horn, resin, and wooden combs of which I had no earlier knowledge, and which have made a big big difference to my hair :D. What's more this forum de-stressed me so much when I was sick trying to crack my GRE maths. And, the gross word list :eyebrows:

Thank you so much Guys :)!!! You all are doing a great job and that comes from my heart!!:cheese:

I wanted to start a discussion on seborrheic dermatitis of scalp. Have been reading a lot on that lately. More so since I have just been diagnosed by the dermatologist with it. I have been prescribed strong medicated shampoos. Has anyone on the forum experienced it, and what has really worked for you. Your knowledge and experience would be life saving for me. Thank you so much

[danacc]

I have it. Selsun Blue works for me, and while I'm not crazy about the 'cone in it, Nizoral is not effective on my scalp. (Note: Your results may vary--the active ingredients in Selsun Blue (selenium sulfide) and Nizoral (ketoconazole) are both equally effective in controlled tests. And in the tests they are both more effective than other anti-fungal medications found in over-the-counter shampoos. But my own scalp definitely prefers Selsun Blue Moisturizing.)

Sometimes it flares up on my face, too, and for that, I apply Monistat cream right after washing and drying.

Since your doctor prescribed medicated shampoos, stick with those, and follow your doctor's advice. Also, this is not the time to cut back on washings. Use your shampoo at the recommended frequency.

I always protect my length by applying a conditioner before using shampoo, medicated or otherwise. Since the medicated shampoos can be more harsh, you may want to try this. I condition just the length, shampoo just the scalp, and then rinse both at the same time. Since it's beneficial to leave both the shampoo and conditioner on for several minutes before rinsing, this works well. I follow with conditioning the length only again, then rinsing. I don't know of any reason to put the medicated shampoo on your length. Conditioner on my scalp causes flare-ups, so I'm careful to confine it to my length.

The final step for me when washing my hair is a vinegar rinse. I dilute 1 part vinegar with 16 parts water, and pour it over my scalp, letting it run down the length. This leaves my scalp at a happier, slightly acidic pH, and makes my hair happier and shinier, too.

[whitesnake]

Thanks a ton Danacc for such a generous and sound advice. I have been prescribed Nizoral too...and it does suit my scalp well...and the flakes and itchiness does clear up in a few days...Also I tried CWC while using Nizoral today..My only worry is:

1. will the chemical in Nizoral-ketaconazole affect my scalp in the long run...for now it seems the only option which gives me some relief....:rolleyes:

2. also what if after a point i get immune to it....since this is the only compound which actually works on my scalp :confused:

[Caldonia Sun]

First of all, welcome to LHC.

I'm one of the wierdos that reacts badly to everything that ususally helps others with SD. I still have my doubts as to whether I received an accurate diagnosis from the derm. Nizoral and other shampoos of that type burn me too badly to use. I have not yet found the "perfect" washing method or product to totally eliminate this, but through a combination of several things, I am much better.

First of all, diet. I have found that chocolate, ice cream and fried foods make the SD worse. Shampoo needs to be SLS-free and diluted very much. Right now, I'm putting bentonite clay on my scalp as a mask/wash. That has taken away the itching and flaking for the last few days, but I have to be careful that I do not rub my scalp or leave the mask on too long or it will irritate.

Good luck to you.

[Iylivarae]

I've had problems with SD during the last year, at the moment, it seems to be fine. Ketoconazol has worked for me, but the shampoo itself was so drying that I got flakes caused by the dryness...

I also used jojoba/tea-tree-mixtures on my scalp from time to time, it wasn't drying... and tea tree oil worked for me to hold the fungus at a bay.

[danacc]

...

My only worry is:

1. will the chemical in Nizoral-ketaconazole affect my scalp in the long run...for now it seems the only option which gives me some relief....:rolleyes:

2. also what if after a point i get immune to it....since this is the only compound which actually works on my scalp :confused:


As long as the ketaconazole is working for you, stay with it! As you've seen from some of the other replies, it works for some and can cause side effects with others. I don't know if any of the side effects show up later rather than sooner. As with any medication, there may be long-term effects, but I haven't seen anything scary from otherwise side effect-free long-term use.

As for becoming immune, my understanding is that fungus does not become resistant from continued fungicide use in the way bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotics. Ketaconazole should continue to work for this condition long-term.

[whitesnake]

Thanks so much Iylivarae and Caldonia Sun for your morale boosting replies....feels m not alone in this war :luke:. Danacc you are probably right i should stick with it....as i have seen when this problem gets out of hand my hair starts falling in clumps and i get bald patches...it happened twice in the past...and then nizoral controlled that and my hair came back...i m still waiting for it to thicken up after my last attack last june...I have tried everything....under the sun :mad::rant::pray: neem, tulsi, amla, rosemary, sage , thyme, henna....it soothes it for sometime but thats it...it is still there...and m sure if my scalp is blocked with that gunk the hair cant grow....it ll be a perpetual fight b/w the hair and the clogged road ahead...:slap:

I hope there are more people who can share their experience which might help us in tackling this thru better and more safer means possible :stirpot:

[Iylivarae]

You're welcome!

I think you should stay with the nizoral if it helps you. It doesn't have bad side effects I noticed, if you don't notice any, there is no point in changing... and losing your hair again.

My dermatologist told me that it is possible to adjust the times the stuff is used, so I should try if it still works with using another shampoo every second time, and so on... so it is not too aggressive. I am not using it now, for everything seems to be fine, but in winter I used it first twice, then once a week.

Why do you want to change your routine?

[longhairedfairy]

Coal tar is the best thing I know of for skin problems. Before anyone yells, "Highly carcinogenic!" yes, it is in large amounts. Used topically at 2 percent there is VERY little if any danger as long as you don't go out in the sun. When they still made Tegrin shampoo it took care of my teenage dandruff, no problem. I'm not completely sure exactly what my skin problem is at the moment (going to a dermatologist is not an option right now), but the only thing that seems to help is Psoriasin ointment. Although I currently look like a grease ball and my face smells like a highway, there has been a huge improvement.

[whitesnake]

i agree that I should stick to nizoral.....when i need ..actual the derm said to use it once every week or the prob ll come again...just that m not very enthu about chemicals so regularly :(....if anything potent and natural can take care of it...i ll be game :)

[Iylivarae]

Maybe you could also try to reduce the applications? If it comes back, you can still start again with once a week... before your hair starts falling out, just as soon as you spot gunk.

[whitesnake]

hmm true...was just wondering if fenugreek neem or any other herbal applications have helped any SD inflicted ones on this forum :hmm: like me....

[FrannyG]

I had SD for a few years in my thirties, and then it just disappeared. I found that Nizoral was the one product that really worked well for me. I used it about once a week. if I shampooed in between, I always finished with an ACV rinse.

I never had any negative side effects to the Nizoral at all. Nor did it ever stop working for me.

I wish you well with it, whitesnake and welcome. :flowers:

[whitesnake]

I had SD for a few years in my thirties, and then it just disappeared. I found that Nizoral was the one product that really worked well for me. I used it about once a week. if I shampooed in between, I always finished with an ACV rinse.

I never had any negative side effects to the Nizoral at all. Nor did it ever stop working for me.

I wish you well with it, whitesnake and welcome. :flowers:
Thanks a ton Franny....This is so so encouraging for me....that it can dissapear too :)...and m happy about nizoral as it suits so well.....thanks a lot :bow:

[nomadhome]

I have it on one patch at the nape of my neck and it is also inside my ears (ugh!). The best thing is a prescription shampoo: Loprox (ciclopirox 1%). The second best thing is an OTC that I can usually find at health food-ish stores: Psoriasil by Home Health. Good luck! It's a pain in the butt, but at least it is a pretty manageable problem.

[whitesnake]

Thanks nomadhome:)...but m still wondering :confused: if anyone has benefited from home made recipies for their SD...Please do let me know:)

[nomadhome]

Thanks nomadhome:)...but m still wondering :confused: if anyone has benefited from home made recipies for their SD...Please do let me know:)


I find that a little camellia oil the day I shampoo helps a bit. I have failed to be consistent with the application, though, so I can't really give any kind of strong opinion on it.

I haven't tried anything else natural/homemade, but if you do, please post again with your experiences. I would love to know how it goes! :)

[Juliet's Silk]

For those of you who get it on the face - does it itch?
I always thought my face was just extremely dry, I have flakes on some patches in the face - they don't itch, though. I also have an extremely flakey hairline. It looks like the skin is so extremely dry that it started flaking but I suspect that it could be SD. However it does confuse me that those patches don't itch, so maybe it just IS really dry skin?

[danacc]

For those of you who get it on the face - does it itch?
I always thought my face was just extremely dry, I have flakes on some patches in the face - they don't itch, though. I also have an extremely flakey hairline. It looks like the skin is so extremely dry that it started flaking but I suspect that it could be SD. However it does confuse me that those patches don't itch, so maybe it just IS really dry skin?

Mine doesn't itch. Right after I wash my face, I can see slightly reddened skin in the area if I look closely. During the day, it develops the flakes. I can scratch them off, and they will just come back. Moisturizer will return it to the slightly reddened look for a little while. An anti-fungal cream will clear it up in a couple of days.

Edited to add: For me, these patches occur where my face is more oily: across the forehead, near the nose, between the mouth and chin. It does not occur on the drier skin areas of my face.

[Juliet's Silk]

Danacc, thanks, it's exactly the same for me. I have wondered for the longest time how my face can be so oily yet be so dried out that it flakes so badly... Duh. :doh: I'll go and put some anti-fungal stuff on the worst patches, let's see what happens.

[whitesnake]

Danacc, thanks, it's exactly the same for me. I have wondered for the longest time how my face can be so oily yet be so dried out that it flakes so badly... Duh. :doh: I'll go and put some anti-fungal stuff on the worst patches, let's see what happens.

Hi Juliet !! the dry patches around my nose dont itch at all...but its like the dried flaky skin is accumulating....what has helped is scrubbing little with St. Ives apricot scrub for blackheads and then putting an anti fungal cream....I never realised the cream would be a god send.:gabigrin:. ..now my nose edges are smooth...while i was trying to treat them with oils and butters all along.. thanks to SD and the miracles it brings along :brickwall


By the way guys...m a great believer in ayurveda...my roots i guess, cant help :crazyq: ...m gonna try neem, tulsi, ... and lots of other herbs in a mix for SD , which is what I have seen people do back home and I have seen it work...if its relieving i ll let u guys know for sure....will always prefer plants to chemicals for my hair and scalp anyday if it works :love:

[danacc]

Hi Juliet !! the dry patches around my nose dont itch at all...but its like the dried flaky skin is accumulating....what has helped is scrubbing little with St. Ives apricot scrub for blackheads and then putting an anti fungal cream....I never realised the cream would be a god send.:gabigrin:. ..now my nose edges are smooth...while i was trying to treat them with oils and butters all along.. thanks to SD and the miracles it brings along :brickwall


By the way guys...m a great believer in ayurveda...my roots i guess, cant help :crazyq: ...m gonna try neem, tulsi, ... and lots of other herbs in a mix for SD , which is what I have seen people do back home and I have seen it work...if its relieving i ll let u guys know for sure....will always prefer plants to chemicals for my hair and scalp anyday if it works :love:

Yes, please let us know! I would much rather a herbal solution, but until then, the medicine is better than the fungus!

[Rosepatrice]

Have you tried changing your diet? Eating less to no carbs and no sugar, with Biotin and zinc and amino acids as supplements, you might get better results. Add alot of dark greens and water to your diet, too. I have found caffine flares up my scalp. Find what foods/chemicals, ect. that you are allergic to and stay away from them. A Natropath Dr. can test you for these things. Was your scalp everyday, too.;)

[longhairedfairy]

For those of you who get it on the face - does it itch?
I always thought my face was just extremely dry, I have flakes on some patches in the face - they don't itch, though. I also have an extremely flakey hairline. It looks like the skin is so extremely dry that it started flaking but I suspect that it could be SD. However it does confuse me that those patches don't itch, so maybe it just IS really dry skin?

What does your skin look like underneath when the dry parts flake off?

Mine usually does not itch (unless I read about it itching and then my entire face starts to itch just from thinking about it, lol). My skin had white sheets of dry dead skin that would peel off around my mouth. I had it under my right eye, too. Then I started to get little bumps underneath it, like very tiny blisters. Sometimes small bits of skin would actually chip off and occasionally bleed. I'm still not completely sure what my problem is because my symptoms do not quite match any of the conditions I've read about. I tried using aspirin/honey masks, but even that didn't work. I also tried vitamin E oil, cocoa butter, and other moisturizers. The only thing that has been helping me is Psoriasin ointment.

[Teazel]

My GP diagnosed seborrhoeic dermatitis on my scalp about 4 years ago, and prescribed betamethasone valerate (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004793.html) lotion. I had tried coal-tar shampoos and Nizoral etc. with little to no effect, and was vastly relieved to find that occasional applications of the betamethasone kept that awful flaking at bay.

I'm a little confused because I understood that seborrhoeic dermatitis was an inflammation of the scalp due to excessive oil secretion, but there is talk of fungus in this thread?

I've tried non-SLS shampoo, but it made the problem worse! So does conditioner, so I keep that off my scalp. A 'cone shampoo seems to help to 'stick down' the flaking so that it's not so noticable, and aloe vera gel can be very useful for that, too. Parting my hair in a different place can calm down the worst patches, don't ask me why! If it gets really bad for some reason (like I haven't been bothering to apply the betamethasone) I scratch most of the gunk off with a fine-toothed wooden comb, then use a brown sugar scrub before washing my scalp.

[longhairedfairy]

Parting my hair in a different place can calm down the worst patches, don't ask me why!

I think it would probably distribute the weight and stress on your scalp differently.:)

[whitesnake]

My GP diagnosed seborrhoeic dermatitis on my scalp about 4 years ago, and prescribed betamethasone valerate (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/100004793.html) lotion. I had tried coal-tar shampoos and Nizoral etc. with little to no effect, and was vastly relieved to find that occasional applications of the betamethasone kept that awful flaking at bay.

I'm a little confused because I understood that seborrhoeic dermatitis was an inflammation of the scalp due to excessive oil secretion, but there is talk of fungus in this thread?

I've tried non-SLS shampoo, but it made the problem worse! So does conditioner, so I keep that off my scalp. A 'cone shampoo seems to help to 'stick down' the flaking so that it's not so noticable, and aloe vera gel can be very useful for that, too. Parting my hair in a different place can calm down the worst patches, don't ask me why! If it gets really bad for some reason (like I haven't been bothering to apply the betamethasone) I scratch most of the gunk off with a fine-toothed wooden comb, then use a brown sugar scrub before washing my scalp.

I can understand the non SLS part as its too gentle and the moisture and softness makes the fungus thrive rapidly...Also scratching I used to do that ...but now i just comb with my HH comb..it scrapes smoothly but don scratch as my DH whos a doc was tellin that it might damage my follicles and scalp in long term if m too harsh.....:confused:

[whitesnake]

wanted to share anothe talk with DH...there is something called chronic supressive resistance :disgust:....if u don kill the infection totally....then there are chances that the fungus will develop resistance with time ...rather than on and off little by little....:hmm:

[whitesnake]

Started on a herb pack routine with neem, tulsi, henna, rose, shikakai, amla, fenugreek ...and hot oil mix with the same herbs and a few more.....lets c hw it goes:)