Skin diseases can be quite challenging to deal with and can cause restrictions in your social life. It can also affect your self-respect and self-confidence due to which you may fall into depression. Any skin disease needs an early diagnosis to treat it and recover to a healthy state quickly.

Seborrheic dermatitis is an ordinary skin condition which causes inflammatory skin or seborrheic eczema or dandruff. Commonly it affects the scalp and other parts of the skin, which are oily. Seborrheic eczema causes itchy, red patches on your skin, and the skin may sometimes form scales.

Parts of the skin where seborrheic eczema regularly affects individuals include upper back, chest, and face. These areas of the body contain sebaceous glands that produce oil. Other symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis are flaky scales or oily secretion on hair follicles.

When seborrheic dermatitis occurs on the scalp of an adult, it is commonly known as dandruff. Treatment for seborrheic dermatitis is not always necessary, and the symptoms may even clear up naturally.

However, for most adults, seborrheic dermatitis will continue to be a lifelong condition. The symptoms may flare up from time to time when you do not provide proper care to your skin and subside. Weather and stress can also cause the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis to flare up.

Doctors do not know about the exact causes of seborrheic dermatitis as yet. However, hormones and fungus which live on the skin such as Malassezia can be probable causes. This article will give you the seven ways with which you can deal with seborrheic dermatitis.

7 ways to deal with seborrheic dermatitis

Topical creams, medicated shampoos, and lotions are the best treatments for seborrheic dermatitis. Your doctor may prescribe anti-dandruff shampoos or other home remedies to control the symptoms. Alternatively, you may also try using natural remedies for controlling seborrheic dermatitis.

1. Proper Skin Care

Maintaining seborrheic dermatitis affecting areas of the skin clean is vital for treatment. If seborrheic dermatitis affects your face, you must consider washing your face at least once a day. Keeping the skin clean will reduce the amount of oil and bacteria on your skin, which can cause infections.

Try to get plenty of sunlight out in the open. The sunlight will inhibit the growth of yeast on your skin, which can cause inflammation on your skin.

2. Anti-dandruff shampoos and Anti-fungal creams

If seborrheic dermatitis affects your scalp, you can opt for over the counter anti-dandruff shampoo as a treatment. The shampoo contains active ingredients such as selenium sulfide, zinc pyrithione, or coal tar. You need to do shampoo treatment twice a week.

Steroid lotions are the conventional treatment for topical use in adults and children. You may use a cream that has coal tar or salicylic acid and sulfur. Seborrheic dermatitis treatment face is also possible with a non-steroidal cream with antifungal and antibacterial properties.

3. Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil can treat several types of skin ailments for centuries. Tea tree oil has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and anti-fungal properties making it the perfect treatment for seborrheic dermatitis. Tea tree oil encourages the healing of patches on your skin and also reduce symptoms of itching.

Although the topical use of tea tree oil is safe, it is better to dilute the oil with a carrier oil. Coconut oil or olive oil are excellent options to use as carrier oils for mixing tea tree oil before administering it on your skin. Ideally, for every one ounce of carrier oil, you can add 3 to 5 drops of tea tree oil to make a dilute solution.

4. Fish Oil

Fish oil is popular as a health supplement and contains many essential nutrients that promote good health. Fish oils rich in omega 3 fatty acids also have anti-inflammatory properties. Studies indicate that fish oil supplements can influence a reduction of inflammation of the skin.

It is safe to consume fish oils if you follow the directions. If breastfeeding mothers consume fish oils, it increases the omega 3 fatty acid levels in breast milk. You must consult a doctor before supplementing babies less than one year old with fish oil.

5. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera is a well-known medicinal plant with anti-inflammatory properties, and the plant is effective in treating seborrheic dermatitis. Aloe vera can aid in suppressing the severity of the flare-up symptoms. You should not administer aloe vera on a child younger than ten years old without consulting with the doctor.

Aloe vera is useful for constipation also and may cause side effects to sensitive people such as diarrhea, abdominal cramping, constipation, and urine discoloration.

6. Probiotics

The unique properties of the probiotics allow for the reduction of the inflammatory response of the body and strengthening the immune system. You must not feed your child below one year of age, any probiotic products.

Oral supplements and yogurt contains probiotics which you must not give to your child as research does not exist on the topic.

7. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar will decrease the inflammation on your skin as it has anti-inflammatory properties and can also make the scales on your scalp looser. You must apply a solution of apple cider vinegar after dilution.

You can apply the solution after washing your scalp with shampoo. You should let the solution sit on your scalp for a few minutes before rinsing off with water.

Conclusion

Although hormones and your genes play a crucial role in seborrheic dermatitis, the microorganism that naturally lives on the surface of your skin also plays an important part. Seborrheic dermatitis is by no means contagious as it is a chronic autoimmune reaction or allergy.

Seborrheic dermatitis is not curable, but it is controllable with proper treatment. People of any age can develop seborrheic dermatitis from infants as young as three months old to the elderly. Seborrheic dermatitis also affects adult men more than women.