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What is the best treatment and relief for Seborrheic Dermatitis?

By Anonymous December 26, 2011 - 10:38pm
 
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I have been reading the information on this site about Seborrheic dermatitis and from what I can tell, I am quite sure that this is what I have. Earlier this summer I had an itchy spot on the back side of my head that became flaky and seemed to take forever to go away. Since I am in and out of the lake and rivers a lot, I thought it was just from being outdoors and camping etc. I didn't worry about it too much, just tried to not scratch it. Fast forward to last half of December. the area around the edge of my scalp on the left side starts itching, then towards my forehead, and now, for the last two weeks I have had horrendous eye swelling, itching, scaly skin, dry flaky skin around my eyes and a reddness that makes me look like a raccoon with a red mask. My doctor gave me Ketazone..(sp??) cream and it eventually took the swelling and puffyness and stinging down but it has dried my skin so much it almost hurts to close my eyes. the one thing that seems to relieve the dry feeling is vitamin e oil - Jason's brand - 98% organic. The oil seems to sooth my skin temporarily and my hope is that is will help my poor scaling eyelids, but I read on the site here that Seborrheic dermatitis can be caused by oily skin so my question is, is this a bad thing to be applying to my skin? If so, what can I use to help my skin rejuvenate..it is making my eyes look 10 years older - ugh! Since my scaling began on my head first, are the eyes affected by flakes from my scalp moving down? I am using TGel for my hair it seems to control it somewhat, but I HAVE to use it everyday because the flakiness seems to magically reappear every 24 hours! Will the scalp ever return to normal?? Will this awful swelling and eye problem turn into vision issues at all? Sorry for so many questions, but I have been extremely frustrated by this. I am a dancer and I teach and compete for a living, so being in front of people with swollen eyes and a snowy head is not exactly good for business! I eat well, exercise regularly (plus dance), I drink a ton of water. I do try to stay away from wheat and I don't drink milk, although up until now I do eat yogurt. Christmas had me eating a tad of ice cream too...that will stop upon reading info here about wheat and diary. I have been to the doctor once, but from what I have read, it seems that treatment for this is trial and error? I'm hoping that you might have better news and a better success story! Thanks for your help and God bless!

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Hi Anon,

Did your doctor diagnose you with Seborrheic Dermatitis? The layman's term for SD is dandruff-- which does not cause swelling, itching, or redness around the eye unless you are applying oil to your face which you should never do due to the sensitivity of the skin on your face (especially your eyes). 

A wide variety of treatments are used for seborrheic dermatitis. These include:

  • Prescription or over-the-counter shampoos containing one or more of the following ingredients:
    • Pyrithione zinc
    • Hydrocortisone or other cortisone (steroid) preparations
    • Selenium sulfide
    • Salicylic acid, sulfur
    • Coal tar
    • Ketoconazole or other antifungal medications
  • Prescription or over-the-counter creams or lotions containing:
    • Hydrocortisone or other cortisone (steroid) preparations
    • Ketoconazole or other antifungal medications
    • Pimecrolimus

However, please get a proper diagnosis by your doctor before continuing to search for treatment for dandruff. You want to be sure of what you have before starting to treat it on your own.

Best,

Rosa

December 27, 2011 - 7:05am
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