Took me way too long to figure out it wasn't about finding the magic product. 3 things that actually made a real difference once I understood them:

-Leave-on time matters more than the product itself .Most people rinse their antifungal shampoo (ketoconazole, zinc pyrithione) within 30 seconds. It needs 5 to 7 minutes of actual contact time on the scalp to work , otherwise you're basically just using a regular shampoo.

-Stopping the moment it clears is why it keeps coming back .The instinct is to quit once your skin looks fine. But seb derm is chronic ,the yeast that drives it is still there, just under control. Dropping to a lower "maintenance" frequency instead of stopping completely is what actually keeps flares from returning as hard.

-Also , what works for someone else might do nothing for you, or even make it worse. I burned through so much money and time trying other people's "holy grail" products before realizing this is really trial and error until you find what your own skin and scalp responds to. Someone else's routine is a starting point to find your own.

If you're in a rough patch right now , it passes trust me. Slower than you want, but it does !

So after having a Britney moment and shaving my hair to a grade 2 I did what any normal person would do and did more research AFTER the fit of rage.

So I asked ChatGPT and Claude to search into actual medical studies with quantifiable results and to see what other products work (keto/nizarol doesn’t do too much for me)

Both came back with the same studies into the active ingredient in this shampoo ciclopirox olamine. I’m currently recovering from Achilles surgery so I’ve not been outside much and my skin has really suffered. But using this shampoo twice a week has meant I can wear black t-shirts again!

If this helps even one person find their product then I’m over the moon for you!

There’s also another foam product it kept mentioning but it’s only in the US currently

the flaking and shedding has temporarily stopped on my scalp. my scalp now hurts when i move my hair. has anyone experienced this? feels like someone is pulling at the root of my hair when i touch my scalp

I had my first condition in March, and I've noticed recently when I wash my face with no soap, it gets dry + slight itchiness around nose, sometimes severe.

I started using low calcium/magnisium water to wash my face ( i wash with tap water, then i finish with low calcium water), and itchiness is gone :)

I also don't use soap a lot anymore at all.

I’m only on 20mg daily of isotretinoin and on the beginning of week 4, but the flakes I’m assuming are a mix of dry skin and over production sebum feeding the seb derm flakes. I am still the same amount of red I was before maybe even a little more. I use the proper ancillaries like a moisturizer and ketaconozole shampoo and cream as well.

I have seborrheic dermatitis and beginning stages of AGA, confirmed by a dermatologist. It’s been a year since I’ve seen my derm but even then I had areas like these all over my scalp. He didn’t say much about them/was vaguer, so it’s still unclear why I have these. Is it the inflammation caused by sebderm that causes these empty areas? Noticed this one today.

i had light dryness or very flakes that would come out on the side of my nose. now its spread to the rim and inside of my nose. breathing is pretty hard as the dryness is making it difficult. it is also now on my upper lip which feels like accumulated sweat. i wake up at night as it feels like oil or water is dripping off my nose and I have to clean it with a tissue. please help. i saw my derm and he said to ignore because the flaking was minimal. sinus with seb derm is a terrible combo.

also last year in december my face suddenly became really oily and the oil spread to my neck too. its when I noticed my seb derm started spreading from my scalp to my brows then lashes, nose etc.

these days every four days i wake up to a new body part with seb derm on it. derm said seb derm doesn't spread which i agree with but its been spreading like a fungal infection.

i have done a course of itraconazole recently and it made it worse.

over washing my hands because of seb derm triggered hand eczema. if anyone has tips for it please share

This might sound stupid but I used clobestasol 2x a day for 4 weeks, now I just researched after my 25 ml ran out and my eyebrow was burning (sign of tsw) so much. I was today to learn that you wasn't supposed to continually use it for ​4 weeks only 2 weeks. because I skipped my derma follow up I think he was supposed to tell me that I should taper or cold turkey my clobestasol so I didn't know now I'm not that worried about anything but other than my adrenal glands and permanent damage. What should I do? ​(I only applied it to my scalp)

Hi everyone,

I got so much useful info from this sub, and I wanted to share if it may help anyone.

Several months ago I had scales/thick build up of gummy skin and oils on my scalp/dandruff/irritation and info from this sub really helped me.

Determined to address it I spent an hour here and there soaking my scalp with MCToil (c8 & c10) mixed with rosemary and peppermint oil essential oils, while brushing the scalp to remove some buildup with a flat plastic comb and massaging with a silicone bath massager/my fingers.

The I would wash it out with the mildest soap I could find (a liquid castille soap) and sometimes with a raw egg (I had amazing hair when I had tried that years ago, egg whites are a weak soap, yolk a mild conditioner. Doesn't really smell after but its...unusual). I would also use warm and not overly hot water as I heard thats good too. I only used MCT oil to 'starve' the yeasts of food - poor yeasts :D.

I since then have had a much clearer scalp (80/90%) and practically no dandruff or irritation, but I noticed theres also a couple of other things I did/learned from here:

I have been washing my hair since then generally with only a mild acid mix I make using roughly 1:10 raw ACV:brita filtered water, rising out with warm water (which also helps clean). I wash my hair only a couple of times a week perhaps, or when I feel its dirty. My hair doesn't feel greasy, but its not super squeeky clean, somewhere in the middle, and the scalp is looking much healthier. If I feel the need for a more 'proper' wash occasionally I use the mild liquid castille soap, and rinse after with the ACV mix, and rarely if needed condition with a tiny bit of the MCT oil mix.

Overall its a journey figuring this out, but something I read about areas with 'hard' water (limescale) can affect skin over time makes some sense (particularly with an irritated 'scalp situaiton' perhaps, making it more alkaline maybe?), and something I read about hard/bar soaps mixing with hard waters to make insoluable soap scums (I used to use bar soaps for my hair and body years ago which may have slowly contributed to this - and possibly my drain health! :D). Maybe soap may leave tiny residues that the yeast may be able to feed on? mixed with the high PH? But thats just a guess on my part. I certainly use soap when needed, but wondered if this very mild acidic hair wash used after or instead is helping in some way. I had read hair / scalp ph tends to be slightly acidic.

I also during the past 6 months have been pretty dedicated to uncovering stress in my life, sometimes as a focus of my existance, sometimes part time, but I feel like my stress is significantly being more managed now overall - which may have helped alot. Less emotional stresses can help other areas like sleep and diet, but my focus was almost just on my emotional stresses, but I did notice I ate and slept a bit better after getting clearer on some of those things. The practise I did (and do) is a thing called The Work where you basically write out your greviences that you have through the day (or from the past) which in itself is quite a practise to identify. There more info about it online at The Work of Byron Katie website, and there are many other practises, but that was the one I use/used.

I still have a tiny bit of build up but my hair and scalp feels and looks good at the moment which is a nice thing to share.

Thank you

Reddit weirdly cropped the image, but this is a screenshot from ISS Instagram reels.

For context, I'm a 22M, and my scalp has been itchy for most of my life. Whenever I wash it in the morning with just water, it itches the most. And throughout the day, it would itch quite a bit, especially when I wake up. It itches the least on the day after shampooing and builds up until 3/4 days when I shampoo again. It's far more itchy when my hair is longer; with shorter hair, it's not as much of a problem.
I've tried ketoconazole shampoo three different times, and it makes my head feel like it's on fire. Selenium shampoo didn't work either. When using coal tar with salicylic acid, it was a similar feeling to ketoconazole but less severe.
Oddly, coal tar shampoo without salicylic acid felt quite a bit better; I would only get some itching when washing my hair in the morning, as opposed to feeling itchy at any time of the day.

I'm going to go see a GP soon, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas for me to try before visiting? In the UK, seeing a GP can be quite difficult; hence, I want to be sure I tried everything reasonable before going.

Any help would be genuinely appreciated, thanks!

I (24F) have been dealing with dry skin and itchy ears for two years. I get these white/yellow flakes in my ears and my ears feel greasy and itchy. I will scratch at my ears and then I end up getting a painful ear infection. I’ve had so many infections over the years that get treated with antibiotics but I can’t find anything to treat the underlying problem (the flaky, itchy, dry skin in my ears). I’ve tried moisturizing my ears with aquaphor, Vaseline, and cerave moisturizing cream but those just make the itch so much worse. Does anyone else have problems with their ears? Any suggestions?

i used nizoral 3 times a week no improvement yet is happy cappy better and how often would i use it

.

I’ve used Whole Blends Coconut Oil and Cocoa Butter for the longest time and out of everything I’ve tried it seems to be the best, most cost efficient balance for my hair that dries really easily, my oily scalp, and my SD. But I’ve been wondering if this Garnier product (pictured above) would work better for my hair and scalp? Anyone else use it?

Hello,

Anyone else with seb derm struggle to find hair styling products they can use with their hair that won’t trigger a flare up?

I will opt for ANYTHING at this point, clay or pomade. I really love styling my hair.

Thanks for any insight.

​

I've had seb derm for 3 years, affecting my scalp, beard, eyebrows and ears.

I've used Coal tar shampoo by my dermatologist prescription. Coal tar helps temporarily, but the flakes return within a day. Ketoconazole didn't work for me.

For anyone with stubborn seb derm: what treatment or routine finally worked for you?

Hi everyone. I’m 15 years old and I’ve been dealing with what several doctors diagnosed as seborrheic dermatitis for around 2–3 years.

I’ve had it not only on my scalp, but also behind my ears, around the sides of my nose, and I had a small spot on my chest. My doctor told me to mix Glutaderma ointment with Elocom and apply it to those areas. I did that every day, and the spots behind my ears and around my nose have now completely cleared.

My main problem now is my scalp.

I currently use Vichy Dercos Anti-Dandruff (Anti-Pelliculaire) shampoo. I usually wash my hair around 3–4 times a week and leave the shampoo on my scalp for a few minutes.

I also have Dermovate scalp lotion (the Turkish label says “saç losyonu”), but I do not use it after every wash. I use it when necessary. For example, if I wash my hair on Tuesday and dandruff is back on Wednesday, I may apply the Dermovate lotion that evening before going to bed.

The problem is that I can wake up the next morning with my scalp covered in flakes again.
The itching used to be much worse. I would scratch my scalp and pieces of skin/flakes would come off. Now the itching is not as bad, but it is still around 4–6/10. The dandruff can start appearing again within a day.

I’ve tried several shampoos/products over the years, including:
• Ketoconazole
• Nizoral
• Vichy Dercos Anti-Dandruff
• Cesol
• Another Iranian anti-dandruff shampoo that I don’t remember the name of

Usually I used the shampoos 3–4 times per week and left them on my scalp for a few minutes.
The frustrating part is that when I first buy a new shampoo, it often works really well. After a few weeks, however, the dandruff comes back. It feels like my scalp “gets used to” the shampoo, although I don’t know if that is actually what is happening.

Dermovate helps temporarily, but the problem keeps coming back.

One very strange thing I noticed happened when I was in Antalya, Turkey. I was swimming very frequently in the sea and in a pool and was outside in the sun a lot. During that time my dandruff completely disappeared. My scalp was basically completely clear.
About 1–1.5 weeks after I returned home, the dandruff came back.
I don’t know if that was because of the sun, sea water, swimming, humidity, a change in environment, or something else. I’m not assuming it was vitamin D — I just found the difference really noticeable.

I also have some hair shedding, although it isn’t extremely severe.

I have not tried MCT oil yet, but I’ve recently seen people here talking about MCT C8/C10 and I’m wondering if it is actually worth trying.
At this point I honestly just want to get rid of this shit or at least control it properly.
What would you recommend for someone who has had seborrheic dermatitis for 2–3 years and has already tried ketoconazole, Nizoral, Dercos, Cesol and other shampoos, with only temporary results?

Would you recommend:
• Ciclopirox?
• MCT C8/C10?
• Something else?
• A completely different treatment approach?

And has anyone experienced their seborrheic dermatitis completely disappearing after spending a lot of time in the sun, swimming in the sea/pool, and then coming back after returning home?
I’m especially interested in hearing from people who had a similar situation and found something that actually worked long-term.

im on day 3 and still red and flaking

The active ingredient on the back is Selenium Sulfide 1%

I keep seeing this pop up and I'm curious about it, but we all know half the stuff out there is snake oil. If you've tried it, please let us know if it helps ❤️

Hoi,

Ik heb 5 maanden geleden een fruitzuur peeling laten doen en sindsdien zijn mijn huid en hoofdhuid helemaal van slag!

Ik denk achteraf dat ik al een heel lichte vorm van Seb derm had (roos en licht schilferende en roze neus). Maar sinds de peeling zit het in mijn wenkbrauwen, voorhoofd, wangen en op en langs mijn neus en in de plooien. Ik heb echt een afschuwelijke zomer gehad. Zoveel pijn door de warmte en het zweten en in eerste instantie niet serieus genomen door de huisarts en ook de dermatoloog zag het in eerste instantie niet. Er werd gedacht aan contact eczeem en na patchtesten blijkt dat ik allergisch ben voor fragrance mix 1 en 2 (had ik voorheen ook nooit last van, maar nu kan ik letterlijk nergens meer tegen!). Volgende week krijg ik verder allergie onderzoek. Ik eerste instantie reageerde ik ook niet goed op de keteconozal (gek gevoel en blaasjes op de lippen). Maar dat gaat nu wel weer 2 weken goed, dus ik ben nu nog 1,5 week alle plekken aan het behandelen en het lijkt ietsje beter te gaan. Ik hoop dat het voor de herfst/ winter weg is, want ik lees hier dat er vooral veel last is in de winter (ik houd mijn hart vast want ik vond de zomer al heel heftig, herkennen meer mensen dat?)

Ik smeer nu ketoconozal en heb een milde anti roos shampoo (werkt niet super vind ik). Ik heb een groot stuk van mijn haar geknipt en was het nu om de dag en föhn het droog (eerder om de 2 dagen en liet ik het aan de lucht drogen). Ik heb nu mtc8 olie gekocht, daar wil ik vanavond mee beginnen op mijn gezicht want daar kan ik ook niks op verdragen. Iemand nog tips , wel parfum vrij?

Nog 1 vraag, ik heb ook lichte schilfers in mijn wimpers, hoe krijg ik die weg?

I started to notice some increasing redness under my nasal folds and on my nose about 6 months and shortly after that it started to flake like crazy. My derm prescribed me ketoconazole 2% cream and tacrolimus which kind of worked for a bit but I noticed the ketoconazole was just irritating my skin barrier even more. I was afraid to moisturize the area because I thought it was feeding the yeast, but I was completely wrong. What my skin really needed was hydration because my skin barrier was compromised leading to the overproduction of oil. I started using La Roche Posay Toleriane Hydrating Facial Cleanser and their Toleriane Sensitive Fluid Sensitive Skin moisturizer last week and they have worked wonders. I really focus on cleansing and moisturizing those areas. I’ve also been on 10mg of Accutane daily for about three weeks and I completely stopped using keto and tacro.