How can you help treat and prevent seborrheic dermatitis?

What is seborrheic dermatitis?

The seborrheic dermatitis skin condition usually affects the scalp.  But, this condition can affect other areas of the body.  It is commonly called dandruff.  You will notice inflamed areas of skin, patches of skin other than the scalp or face.  Many times there will be areas around the nose, eyebrows, and ears and could affect the chest area.  The condition can affect anyone—even babies due to them lying in a crib they can develop what is known as cradle cap.  The condition can also be called, seborrheic eczema and seborrheic psoriasis.

Some signs you might have seborrheic dermatitis:

• Flaking scalp or skin areas
• Greasy areas of skin with flakes (mostly on scalp)
• Yellow scales that have flakes and are greasy
• Areas could be (scalp, around the nose, eyebrows, ears, eyelids, chest, armpits, groin area, under breasts)
• Depending on your skin tone areas could be darker or lighter that are more oily or have flaking
• Can be very itchy
• Sometimes areas could be ring shaped rashes
• Stress could cause flares in some people

Understanding seborrheic dermatitis more

If you believe you have the condition you should contact your primary care provider first.  If you already have an infection on the skin or elsewhere in your body you need to address this immediately.  You’ll want to talk to a dermatologist to better understand all options for dandruff.  Many times OTC shampoos aren’t enough to treat the condition because it encompasses an over-production of oil, patchy areas—not just flaking skin.

Condition is more common in people with different chronic health conditions:

• Immunosuppressive conditions
• Depression and anxiety
• Neurological diseases
• Congenital disorders
• Anyone taking a psychotropic medication

Prevention of seborrheic dermatitis

You can start with using alternative therapies.  This goes for mental health and immune system conditions.  Not all alternatives should be used—sometimes pharmaceuticals are the only answer for an infection, inflammation or a mental health disorder.  The main issue here is limit your exposure to overdoing pharmaceuticals as many have skin related side effects and sometimes can cause a host of other health conditions because side effects can be too harsh and sometimes can be life threatening.

Don’t use gels, hair sprays or products that can be too harsh on the skin or scalp.  This can cause infections, irritations, or more skin flaking that defeats the purpose of using products to improve immune and skin health.  Don’t use any styling products if you can.  Make sure all hair shampoos and conditioners aren’t going to leave your hair and scalp oilier and cause more build up.  Talk to your hair stylist for suggestions or use products to help rid of flakes. 

Products are best suited for this skin condition that contains more zinc in them or other vitamins essential for hair like biotin.  A little bit of coconut oil in products, argan oils or castor oils are okay as well. Products that don’t contain alcohol also will help, as these can cause more flaking areas on the scalp or parts of the body that you are prone to having a seborrheic dermatitis flare.

Prevention using HOCl PurClarity Revitalizing Mist

HOCl or hypochlorous acid is produced by our white blood cells. Our product, HOCl PurClarity Revitalizing Mist can help prevent and improve your dandruff, or seborrheic dermatitis.  You may not have it on your scalp.  You might have an issue with this kind of dermatitis on your eyebrow area or around your nose—our product can help these areas too.

It is a safe and effective way to address this greasy and flaky condition that can leave you embarrassed and very annoyed.  Even if you don’t have a serious issue with the condition on your scalp it can affect other areas that are oily such as around the nose, forehead and eyebrow area.  It may also affect you near your groin and underarms too.  You can use our PurClarity Revitalizing Mist and spray it liberally all over your body, face, and scalp. The HOCl is as strong as bleach but perfect for cleaning your counters and for skin health.

The mist we created has many therapeutic benefits for your skin health and you will wind up using it way more than your average skin care product—it is that awesome!  Studies have proven its effectiveness for seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis and many other conditions that affect your skin all over your body.

Natural health prevention and treatment for seborrheic dermatitis

Natural health products and vitamins are needed to help lower chances of the skin condition developing and can be for improvement of symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis.  This means, getting a handle on total body inflammation, heightening immune function and using items to directly address skin health. 

Probiotics for gut health and skin health

Probiotics are essential no matter what health condition you have including, seborrheic dermatitis.  They help keep the immune system health by creating a gut microbiome (also called flora in the gut) to be top-tier.  You only want a balance of good and bad bacteria otherwise a host of ailments can start everything from mental to skin health can become a problem. Having a healthy gut means your digestive system will work better for your entire body.  This also helps lower inflammation around the entire body as well.

B vitamins are critical for immune system and skin health

B vitamins are essential for so many things from your nervous system (B-12) to your skin, hair and nail health (biotin).  B-2 or riboflavin is needed for your heart muscle, among other parts of your body for nerve function. Overall, you need a good B complex pill or liquid to help with various bodily functions and help keep your skin and follicles healthy and having this multi-B vitamin is critical to helping keep seborrheic dermatitis at bay.  We urinate out what we don’t need. 

Also, note: anyone who is extremely stressed should be taking B-12 and some other B vitamins daily.  Many alternative health doctors suggest taking a B complex pill, twice daily. Many pharmaceutical medications cause a depletion of B-12 like benzodiazepines (Ativan, Klonopin, and others), corticosteroids (prednisone, prednisolone and others) and a variety of other kinds of medications; talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you are unsure; or read your medication FDA and drug information.

Vitamin C for immune to skin health

In addition to B vitamins, C is another critical component of your skin health and can help with seborrheic dermatitis.  We don’t make vitamin C like our dog or cat does, so we need to steadily consume it.  Either we must eat foods that are high in vitamin C like grapefruit, oranges, strawberries, kiwis, spinach, kale and other leafy greens or we need to take a few 500 or 1,000mg Esther C pills or a liquid version of vitamin C. 

IV vitamin C therapy is increasing common today.  It can be not only beneficial for skin health; it can be used for a variety of chronic health conditions involving chronic infection and inflammation—even for antifungal purposes. If your immune system is weak, having vitamin therapy in some form is essential (orals or injections). Vitamin C is a high antioxidant which rids of free radicals in the body.  It can improve immune system function, rid of infections and inflammation, improve nerve function and is a great way to improve your skin health. 

Vitamins, minerals and supplements for seborrheic dermatitis:

• Probiotics (at least a 30 billion count / multi-strain probiotic capsule)
• B Complex (skin and nervous system health)
• Biotin (a B vitamin to take extra of for skin health)
• Vitamin C (immune health)
• Iron (skin health and red blood cell production)
• Magnesium (muscle and nerve health and skin health)
• Zinc (immune health and skin health)
• Fish oil (omega 3, skin health and lowers cholesterol; good fats)
• Coconut oil gel pills (healthy fat, skin health, lowers candida in body, antibacterial / anti-microbial)
• Caprylic acid gel pills or topical (rids of
• Quercetin (lowers inflammation, improves muscles)
• Aloe Vera gel pills or topical gel (GI health and anti-inflammatory)

OTC Treatments for seborrheic dermatitis

Most of the time, medicated shampoos and creams can help areas of skin affected.  Some lotions that are OTC can work as well.  Doing a self-care routine is also very important; like washing your scalp regularly.  To tackle any skin condition it is important to address immune system health and make sure chronic conditions you have are in check—these can also improve seborrheic dermatitis. There are a variety of prescription strength products your dermatologist can offer as well.

• Antifungal (oral medications, supplements or topical)
• Anti-inflammatory (oral supplements, medications or topical)
• Antifungal (oral or topical)

Use the following to help improve scalp and make sure they contain:

• Pyrithione zinc
• Selenium sulfide
• Ketoconazole 1%
• Tar
• Salicylic acid

Can seborrheic dermatitis go away without treatment?

Yes, the condition can sometimes resolve itself and disappear.  Always be sure to stick to a prevention plan and have many options available for treatment at home. Keeping up with your immune health, chronic conditions, lower inflammation in the body can help improve overly oil ridden areas and lower flaking issues or other patches of this kind of dermatitis.