Haircare when recovering from seborrheic dermatitis?

[Becky9679]

My mother has just had a very bad episode of seborrheic dermatitis and she lost a lot of hair. She's now starting to recover and getting some regrowth and I'm wondering what the best kind of haircare regime she should be using is? She said she's been washing her hair with head and shoulders which I told her is a really bad idea (I've never used it myself but I've heard a hell of a lot of bad things about irritating it can be to the scalp). She also said she's been using polytar which I've never heard of and wondered if anyone knew anything about this? I said maybe CO might be a good idea for her since it would probably be easier on her scalp and she also says she's going to stop using dye, at least for a while.

Does anyone have any ideas/experience of recovery from seborrheic dermatitis?

[TeaEarlGreyHot]

I had a HUGE flare up around August of last year (summer is the worst and I lived in NC then). I lost tons of hair and decided I needed to REALLY change the way I take care of my hair. I always thought that shampooing everyday was helping because it itched SO MUCH. But I found that stretching out my washes to about twice a week helped. The shampoo that my dermatologist told me was good to use (the name escapes me- in a dark blue bottle and costs about $15) was really harsh to my hair and didn't help my scalp much.

Right now I'm doing Baking Soda and ACV- the baking soda is a bit drying for my scalp so I just use a little. ACV is great for your scalp. I can't use ANY shampoos or conditioners that you buy at the store. Shampoo bars don't get down to the scalp for me either. I just ordered some natural shampoo on Etsy that will be here soon for me to experiment with. I use Monistat on the patches of "plaque" and tender areas on my scalp. I use a wooden comb- no plastic as it is harder on my scalp.

Once a month I oil my scalp with olive oil or coconut oil- let it sit an hour and then break up any areas of sebhorreic dematitis (just like you do for cradle cap- it's the same thing). Then I do my normal wash with a baking soda rinse, rinse, ACV rinse, rinse again. I also henna my hair and it doesn't seem to aggravate nor help my scalp.

Since I lost a ton of hair in August/September I have all this new growth that sticks STRAIGHT up. I decided to see if taking biotin once a day helps speed that up/helps not as much fall out. It's always an experiment for me!

[Zefyra]

I found just being gentle is really important. I try not to do anything to crazy to my hair. I had to give up chem dyes too so Im glad she's doing that. I find that it gets aggravated when I go to long between shampoos. Like any more than three days and its itchy and nasty. So I was every other day with a diluted shampoo. Occasionally I use Denerex, with a tiny bit of success (though only rarely as it makes my hair very dry and angry).
I also henna my hair, which oddly enough, helps with the itchiness for the first few days (providing I rinse very well). If she still wants to colour her hair, that could be an option as it certainly hasnt made matters worse for me.
Another thing I found is that if I use a bit of tea tree oil it really helps. I dilute it with a bit of olive oil (just cuz thats what I had at the time) in a little spray bottle and its made a huge difference. It stings a bit but other than that its great. I could be wrong, but I would assume it works because tea tree oil is antibacterial and helps to balance the pH level of skin. Its not a 100% fix, but it helps.

Other than this sort of home remedy type stuff I would suggest seeing a dermatologist if possible. Hope I could be at least a bit of help.

[GRU]

I CO with Suave Naturals Tropical Coconut, plus ACV rinse after every wash.

My scalp likes a THOROUGH scrubbing with GENTLE fingers (sounds contradictory, I know!).... I'll get a flare-up if I don't CO-wash at least every three days or if I miss spots when I do my scrubbing.

Both coconut oil and Hollywood Beauty Tea Tree Oil (http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/hollywood-beauty-tea-tree-oil-skin-%26-scalp-treatment/ID=prod368209-product?V=G&) help whenever I do find a scab forming.

[Cupofmilk]

For me, I need to use a sulphate shampoo twice a week. CO made mine so much worse that I ended up with a bleeding scalp and huge hair loss. So the advice would be to do what worked for your mum> what works for one person will not necessarily work for another.

[Lapin]

Just have to add that Toadstool shampoo (on etsy) is awesome for me - my scalp seems to be really happy since switching. They also make conditioner.

[BlazingHeart]

I have to avoid sulphates, they are the worst trigger for me. I have found that a chamomile tea rinse is very helpful. That is the last thing I do when I wash my hair. It is also important to fing the balance between too frequent and too stretched washes.