seborrheic dermatitis

[unruhe]

I totally had this for years. It looks particularly bad when your foundation is also peeling. I figured it was dry skin - it's not! and I never had a flare-up when I had a derm appt.

So, I also did some research and mentioned it to my derm and she agreed it was SD. She said to use ZNP soap. It has 2% pyrithtione zinc (same stuff in head and shoulders). It's OTC, and it about $7.00 at Eckerd. It's a bar soap, and has a very pleasant smell considering it is medicated. You can also use it on your scalp, so it may be in the shampoo/hair care aisle instead of the soap aisle. if Eckerd does not carry it, they can order it.

I've used it a few times already (I don't think you're supposed to use it every day) and I've had dramatic improvement - the flaking is gone, and so is the redness around my nose!

I'd definitely recommend it. It says right on the box it's meant for SD. And it's only $7! Compared to the money I've shelled out on other acne-related products, this is nothing!

Good luck!!!

[unruhe]

One more thing, SD will never go away completely. You're supposed to use the soap to keep it under control.

[RPMcCalip]

Hey, thanks for all the replies. I just went to Walgreens and bought Nizoral shampoo and Hydrocortisone cream. I am going to use the Nizoral for the goatee area and the cream for the area on the sides of my nose. I just washed off and put the cream on, and right now it looks worse than ever as far as redness goes, but I guess that's just from rubbing the flakies off. I have always tried to avoid touching that are the past month since it's gotten pretty bad, so hopefully that's it and not the cream irritating my skin. Anyone who has used this in the past, how long did it take for you to begin seeing re****s? Obviously I don't expect an improvement over a day or two, but hopefully I will see some kind of results after a week. I'll be sure to post my results, good or bad, so others with the same problem could try this if they haven't yet. Anything else I might consider trying if this doesn't work? If it doesn't I'll probably just go to the DM I guess, although I'd like to avoid that if possible. Thanks for the replies!

Randy

[RPMcCalip]

Hey Unruhe, I forgot the name of the bar soap you recommended which is why I didn't get it. ZNP soap, I'll have to remember that. I'll probably go back in the next few days to pick some up, so that I can either use that as maintenance once it goes away, or try it if this other doesn't work. I've heard some bad things about using steroid creams long term, so I'd like to avoid using this cream after the SD goes away for a while, and for 7 bucks and only having to use it a couple times a week, sounds like a bargain to me. Thanks for the recommendation!

Randy

[YoungBuck1]

Ketoconazole cream (2%) has worked wonders for me - I would highly recommend it. It's the same thing that's in Nizoral shampoo, but the cream is meant for non-scalp SD. It does require a prescription, and my insurance didn't cover it, but one little tube lasts a long time - I just apply it every other day and gets rid of all the redness and flakiness. My doctor had me using hydrocortisone cream before, but when I read abt. all the risks of skin thinning and everything, I asked him to find me something else and this has worked great.