I get healing results from Desonide which is an Rx. You can go to your family physician and ask if he/she will write the Rx for you. Inside of 2 weeks the itchy, flakiness disappears, but you have to keep up with it even when you see no signs of SB in and around your ears. A Dermo Doc wrote my Rx.
I have had severe seborrheic dermatitis since birth. So much so that it was disfiguring and all over my body. The plaques I had on my scalp were ENORMOUS and my entire head was covered in them. No doctor could figure out why or where it came from. At puberty it got under control on it's own. But it would still flare up. One hair stylist when I was in high school recommended Paul Mitchell tea tree shampoo. And for years the stuff was gone. It came back pretty much the same day I gave birth to my 2nd baby and it came back almost as bad as it was when I was a little girl. This time the tea tree shampoo didn't work. In the past I'd tried generic tea tree but only Paul Mitchell worked and I thought that was contributing to the problem but it wasn't. I found that being out in the sun and the summer time in general also put it in remission.
A couple of years ago I found out that my uncle has been studied extensively by the mayo clinic and some other endocrine researchers because of the uniqueness of his type of diabetes. On my mother's side of my family, pretty much everyone has an auto immune disorder, either type 1 diabetes, lupus, or type 2 diabetes as adults. I mean everyone. I developed diabetes when I was 20 years old, and my father passed away from complications related to diabetes when I was a little girl. When I was a kid I also remember my grandmother talking about my grandfather having "dandruff" almost as bad as me and never thought anything of it. When my diabetes was diagnosed my uncle explained to me that after all of his years of being studied, it's been found that my mother's family has pretty profound genetic auto immune dysfunction.
I know that seborrheic dermatitis can be caused by yeast, which explains it's response to tea tree oil which has antibiotic, antiviral and intifungal properties. But my remissions always coincided with hormonal changes, and my uncle was the one who was finally able to figure out what was going on. SD is directly proportionate to excessive production of sebum. My body's immune system loses it on me because of that, and the result is this nasty stuff in my ears and all over my scalp.
As a nurse I sorta have a general idea of science and decided to try epsom salts on my scalp to help emulsify the sebum. bingo. I then switched to milk of mag and it's doing the trick. Finally. Thank God. I can't explain how absolutely mortifying it was to go have my hair cut and have the lady loudly ask what that disgusting stuff on my head was a couple of weeks ago. I ended up walking out in the middle of my hair cut. anyway, hopefully this info will help someone else who's struggling with this too.
My biggest concern is the naturopaths who blame it on diet. Both my brother and I are EXTREMELY clean eaters and extra super health conscious because of our family medical history. My little brother was also diagnosed with diabetes in spite of his health and deliberate avoidance of dirty food. The immune system is so profoundly complicated that you simply cannot blame this on diet or habits or any other thing that we've done to cause it because it's just not true bottom line plain and simple. I've never had a vaginal yeast infection in the history of my life or any kind of superficial fungus. I've been tested extensively for vitamin deficiency and both my brother and I have had our entire bodies including immune function studied and tested more than most anyone else in N. America because of our weird family gene thing. The only thing that came up in both of us and our maternal uncle is that we have fairly uncommon antibodies that are rarely found in other people who have allowed themselves to be studied and there's not a whole lot that people who do have this issue can do about it. So if you have diabetes, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, polycystic ovarian disease or thyroid dysfunction - all of which all of my mother's siblings and father have in combinations of more than one - and SD? I can almost guarantee you that it's autoimmune related. Hope this helps!
One more thing..PLEASE don't take extra b vitamins if your SD is caused by the same thing mine is. All that will do is lead to cystic acne and more SD because it causes even more production of sebum. DON'T DO IT!
without a shadow of a doubt hard water makes it worse.We put in a water softner to no avail.My scalp was covered in thick white plaques.The solution? we moved house to a soft water area.My sb isn't cured but hugely improved.
I have recently been diagnosed with Seborrhoeic Dermatits, having suffered with the symptoms for about four months now. I have been to three different doctors, and have tried several medications. I just had my first corticosteroid shot yesterday. I would be very interested in anything that helps. I find it confusing, though, when different people give conflicting advice. For example, some sources tout different oils to help reduce inflammation, while at least one other source says that oils exascerbate the condition.
One thing I have found relieves the itching pretty well for awhile is (sea) salt water rinsing on affected areas. I haven't seen healing come as a result (as one internet source claimed that it did for him), but it was definitely soothing. I have always lived in an area with extremely hard water. We have a softener on our hot water but not our cold. The hard water might definitely be a factor. Thanks in advance for allowing me to be a part of this discussion.
Hi Scott,
I have suffered from this exact condition for over 20 years. If I follow the 'Candida' diet, it completely clears up. It's a very hard diet to keep up with though, so, it comes and goes along with how far I fall off the diet. No sugar, wheat, corn, coffee, beer, or alcohol.
Put all the stuff in the world on your scalp and it will not help. The problem comes from within your gut. Lame but true. Good luck!
I am using it on my scalp dermatitis how long should I leave it on before I wash my hair?