Michael/Mo,
I tried the Sea Salt in a basin with water, each nite I would wash it up onto ,my face and pat dry, to be honest it stung like crazy and didn’t do any good, same if I go to the beach and swim when I have a break out, it makes it worse, but if I am clear it doesn’t sting…Im sure its different strokes for different folks.
Mark
Hi Mark,
Initially the sea salt treatment was very soothing for my. However, sometimes I would have similar results as you (it would actually inflame the skin and cause excessive dryness). Not sure exactly why this happens, maybe its proportions, maybe its just when the skin is too damaged it has a negative effect.
Overall I definitely agree with you, what works for one person might have a completely different effect on others.
Good luck.
Hi Michael. I am feeling unbelievably low as I am currently suffering the worst outbreak of seborrheic dermatitis I’ve ever had. I now have patches of dermatitis all over my body and cannot go out as my red, inflamed and itchy scalp and face draws too many unwelcome looks and comments. I read your post sometime ago and was initially getting good results with the iodine and l-glutamine. I made the mistake of not taking the products with me when I went to stay with a friend, and consuming lots of sugar (I also had good results with cutting out gluten/sugar in the past) My whole face was so inflamed that I ended up in a and e. I saw a fantastic doctor who, very reluctantly, prescribed oral steroids (in her private practice she is a qualified nutritionist and said she has seen total cures in people with cases worse than mine, once they follow a low carb/gluten and sugar free diet and begin drinking raw milk and eating fermented foods) I’m currently so depressed about it all I’ve lost all faith in anything. Sorry for the long winded reply, but I don’t know anyone in person who suffers with this. I’d be very grateful if you could Skype me too, I’m back taking the l-glutamine, but finding the iodine now brings me out in an immediate rash. I have tried sulphur soap, raw honey masks, tea tree oil, coconut oil, sea salt washes (which initially cleared my skin completely but now don’t seem to work), aloe Vera and lush dream cream (which some people swear by) I take biotin, high strength b vitamins, a liver cleansing multi vitamin, 2 billion live bacteria and vitamins d3 and k2 daily, along with the l glutamine and hydraulic acid. I am currently waiting for a delivery of high strength zinc supplements and kefir grains. I also oil pull with coconut oil every day. I would gratefully accept any health and advice. Thank you.
Hi Shelley,
Sorry to hear the bad news. To be honest, your current approach seems a little overkill. For me, the complex supplement combinations typically had poor results.
I’ve emailed you my Skype ID. Look forward to connecting.
All the best and I’m sure thing will improve.
Not to butt in but for in the meantime, in between time this website has a great spray that keeps the redness/scaliness at bay. I’ve had SD for 20+ yrs and it’s been God sent, in all honesty. I’m not a salesmen nor exaggerator. Check out all the info she provides [LINK REMOVED - CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED IT]
As a side note, I haven’t noticed a real mention of this offender but I know for sure when I consume hot sauce, ie., Tobasco or Tapatio my skin inflames within a day and takes a few more days to calm down. Andddd… Ayurvedic practice and approach can take you far. Find your dosha and try adhering to their suggestions when it comes to the foods you consume and what you should eliminate. Food combinations. Sleep/water/exercise/sunlight/meditation… To heal oneself we have to address yourself as a whole rather than treat a symptom. Mind/body/soul type deal. Focus on energy. What you put out and what you allow in. Pay attention to the circadian rhythm. Eat foods that are actually in season and such. I stumbled across this site because the perfectionist in me still can’t let go of the thought that there’s an easy, one-size-fits-all not out there. Message of the day (of my life): Find What Works For Me and stick to it. Best wishes to us all
Hi Jyll,
Thanks for your comment. Had to take out the link sorry. A quick search brought up a bunch of spammy links to the same page you provided. For this reason, I have had to remove it.
The rest of the post sounds like good advice. However, personally I felt like this is exactly what I had to get away from. Trying to take a bunch of advice on the things I should do, follow, consume. Trying to improve yourself by constantly judging your actions can be a stressful practice in itself.
My current approach has been to just do what feels right. Don’t pay attention to anything except my own inner feelings. Don’t listen to people who say you should eat this because it’s healthy and not eat that because it’s not. I feel the body is quite good at telling you if you are doing something. Learning to understand your body without over analyzing and second guessing things seems to be key for me.
When my seborrheic dermatitis was bad, I was constantly trying to figure out what food it might. What it was I was doing that kept it from going away. This barrage of negativity seemed to only make it worse. Only once I stopped and just let things be, I was able to calm down and just tune-in to what is right for me.
All the best.
Hi,
Well to say I am delighted is an understatement! I am so grateful to have found this website. After 13 long years of trying different products and diets, I finally have my sebohrreic dermatitis under control! I purchased and have been using the Cetaphyl Restoraderm lotion with amazing success. My skin has been clear for 2 weeks.
My story is that I have always had sensitive skin but started to get strange rashes on my face so saw a dermatologist in 2002 who diagnosed me with Rosacea. I was prescribed a low dose antibiotic and steroid cream which seemed to clear it for a time and was sent on my way. Back then my outbreaks were a few times a year and cleared fairly quickly with the meds. Fast forward it was getting worse and worse to the point where I was permanently irritated and peeling around my nose and chin. At this point I saw another Dermatologist who told me I didn’t have Rosacea, I had sebhorreic dermatitis. Similar meds were prescribed which as soon as I stopped using them, the dermatitis came back. I noticed my skin thinning and was concerned that I was doing myself harm on the meds so started looking for alternative solutions. After trying all sorts of different products and ideas, including buying from overseas and trying different diets over a 3 year period, I became very depressed. Then I found this website and as they say, the rest is history. I got the Cetaphyl Restoraderm which cost Aud $24 (compared to what I’ve spent on other products which mostly burnt and made my skin worse), this is reasonable. I use a pea sized blob of it which does my whole face and neck every morning (it’s a great, non greasy moisturiser as well). Within 2 days my nose and chin were clear and the Seb. Derm has not returned.
It’s fabulous! Thank you for caring enough about others to post your findings so that people like me can get relief. I hope others have the same success.
Another week sebohrreic dermatitis free! (That makes it 3 weeks clear now). My skin feels amazing and hydrated. Doing nothing else but putting a tiny bit of Cetaphyl Restoraderm lotion on my face every morning and every night after washing my face with a gentle cream cleanser (Simple is the brand). I use tepid water- never hot to rinse it off.
Hi Donna,
Great the hear the goods new. Really happy it worked out for you, as well as it did for me.
It’s crazy how much stuff people recommend can be ineffective and yet something as simple as some eczema wash can have such amazing results on the SD.
Another reader mentioned she improved with just l-glutamine, so that was interesting to hear as well. Maybe the combination approach really hit it off for me.
It’s been almost a year now and it’s been smooth sailing. A couple months ago I had some intense tingling and slight redness come back, but it went away quickly. Strangest thing was that it was in a spot on my face it was never present before.
Hope others stumble upon this post as well, I’m going to add a big link on the other pages as this approach seems to have the highest success rate.
Look forward to any updates and best of luck!
Thanks for the second update. 
This sounds fascinating. I will buy the Restoraderm and the shampoo. One thing though…As magical as they sound I want to know why they work. The shampoo makes sense because of the organic and fruit based ingredients. I’m just concerned about the Restoraderm in the long term. It does not seem any more natural than other synthetic/artificial/chemical based products out there. In any case it is fantastic that so many people testify to it clearing the skin and I will report my results soon.
Michael,
Thanks for all of your thorough posts. I have a quick question: you mentioned “protecting the affected area from the sun”. I was under the impression that the sun might be good for vitamin d and because the yeast wouldn’t want to grow in the uv environment. This is the first i have heard of staying away from sunlight as a part of a treatment. Can you please elaborate on that theory?
Hi There,
As for the Restoraderm, if you look at the ingredients it’s actually not that bad. Especially if you compare it with many of the other things people use.
The one issue I personally had was the preservative in the wash. However, I usually wash really quick and only with a tiny amount so I doubt it would have any negative effect.
My theory is the arginine and ceramides are responsible for much of the results. Medical papers suggest that topical application of arginine regulates skin responses, improves skin circulation, and help with hydration. Creams for arthritis frequently make use of arginine. I’m planning to put together a comprehensive post that looks into why it works.
Additionally my skin feels quite health using it. Can’t say the same for many other products I’ve tried.
Honestly though, I wouldn’t stress too much about the ingredients. Just do what feels right.
Hope that helps and best of luck. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Marcel,
Thanks for the kind comment.
It is true that the sun is very good at destroying bacteria. However, it is also very good at drying out skin. This can be especially problematic if the skin is already damaged.
What I did, was found a gentle sun screen (used one meant for babies). This protected the skin form the sun keeping it from drying out. Yet, it allowed the sun to do it’s job in killing off the bacteria. Additionally the zinc used in most sun screens seems to help malassezia yeast.
Are you currently attempting any of the treatments?
Hope that helps. Best of luck.
Hello Everyone,
First i have to say how glad i am to have found this site. Michael, what you are doing here is awesome! I’m 29 and have been dealing with skin issues since my late teens. I had some face acne and persistent cystic acne on my back and when i was 27, after have tried a bunch of things, i went on accutane.
I was somehow scared about the drug, but after so many dermatologists telling me that with regular blood tests it would be safe and the best alternative i said what the hell. It did clear my cystic acne and during treatment no seb derm on my scalp. Some months after the treatment not only the seb derm on my scalp came back, but i had it on my face as well. There are also other side effects that came after the treatment, but this is other history.
I went to the dermatologist and the same bullshit, cortisone creams and palliative measures, symptoms management as always. Reading all of your testimonials and thinking about my history i’m convinced that we are somehow alike, but everyone is unique, therefore, the goal is to improve our “body awareness”. We must understand how our body words in order to heal ourselves. Some tips that i found here are helping me to control my seb derm, but i’m on my way to build my method, there is to say, the method that works for my and may work for others, but certainly not everyone. When i reach this goal i will share it here.
We learned that the scientific method with its universal claim it’s the key for solving our problems, well, it works for exact sciencies, building machines and shit, but not for us, human beings.
Thank you for your support and sorry for my English.
Would you put the raw honey mix on your scalp,if so what do you wash out with as it is in your hair and how many parts honey to water do you use? Do you have an example of a whole food shampoo? Do you know where to buy the Cetaphil Res cleanser and lotion?
I just used a dead sea salt water rinse after a mix of oil of oregano,tea tree,cocoanut,aloe mixture overnite and my scalp derm. seems to finally be a little better. I have been rinsing with a apple cider vinegar water mix as well as drinking apple cider vinegar,honey water mix and liquid aloe vera supplement. I added biotin to my vitamin intake. I just found a leave in conditioning spray that contains sea salt sea kelp and morrocan argon oil. I stopped coloring my hair except with an all natuaral henna . Do you think a henna color is still part of the problem? I had seb.dermititus onboth sides of my scalp .Only one side is back to normal. Do you think brewers yeast supplements would help? I tried mineral oil topically and scraped the crusting like i did with my baby’s cradle cap a long time ago but it did not seem to help. My only symptom is the crusty build up,no itching or flaking. Do you think scraping off the crust helps the condition? Tonite I an going to try a homeade garlic (7-8 cloves)juiced topically i read about. Ive also stared eating 1-2 cloves garlic a day.
iwrote lon email but sit wont accept
plz dont put my last name on posts
Hi Margie,
I’ve gone ahead and updated your name in the previous comments.
Hi Margie,
For the hair it’s likely easier to use a more diluted concentration (8:2 or 7:3). However, I do not have much experience with this. Only made one attempt and it was too difficult to sustain.
The Cetaphil Restoraderm is available on Amazon. Here in Canada it is widely available in stores as well (cheapest at Wal-Mart).
Brewers yeast did not provide any benefit for me.
Minimizing the number of products I was trying to use and removing all additional topicals helped the most. Do not have any experience with henna oil, but anything that has the ability to impact the lipid composition of the skin can potentially aggravate SD.
The crusting is the result of lipid break down by bacteria on the skin. Removal of the crusting isn’t the most productive approach as it can sometimes speed up the cycle. It seems the best results are achieved by either removal of bacteria with a proven topical anti-fungal (nystatin, ketocanazole, pyrithione zinc) or through regulation of sebum production and composition (an extremely mild washing routine and proper nutrition).
When removing the crust it is essential to do it as gently as possible. If you are forceful you may be forcing the bacteria and irritants further into the skin. This leads to more issues.
Garlic was personally of no use to me. Let me know if it helps.
All the best.