STUBBORN seborrhea of face, am desperate! - Skin Problems Message Board

dovey99 · 10-04-2003, 11:42 AM

Ok, aside from having bad acne on my chin (under-the-skin bumps) I have seborrhea on my forehead t-zone and chin, which i was dignosed with about 6 months ago. I have tried, loprox, nizoral dandruff shampoo, which MILDLY helped but then stopped working so i stopped using them. my doc then gave me i think 2 per cent cortizone cream which helped a bit, but you aren't supposed to use it often because it can thin the skin, but the seb came back anyway!! SO i still have seborrhea on my face and I'd like to know if anyone out there can help me. I look ridiculous with this flakey skin which i'm sure everyone assumes is dry when it isn't there's nothing i can do to get rid of it. and make-up makes it worse

thanks so much!

CCmakes3 · 10-05-2003, 07:49 PM

Dovey,
I have totally been there! I tried all of the things you mentioned and then some. Most of the time it would go away for a day or so and then come back with a vengeance. Ask your doctor for a prescription for protopic or elidel. They are two new medications which are FDA approved for eczema but seem to work for seborrheic dermatitis as well. I started out with the protopic, which is supposed to be better for more severe cases. It worked great but it was an ointment and caused me to break out after a while. So I switched to elidel, which is supposed to work for mild to moderate cases. It is a cream, and so far it has managed to help keep the problem at bay.

My only other suggestion would be to look at any other meds you might be taking. After starting and stopping my antidepressant many times, I figured out that it seemed to be causing my seborrhea to flare. Good luck!

richie79 · 10-06-2003, 12:49 PM

One thing people forget is that you should also treat a problem internally as well as externally. In addition to the topical stuff, you should watch what you eat. i have seb dermatitis and perioral dermatitis (thanks to the dermatologist who didn't give me warning on steriod creams. using steroid creams on seb dermatitis may result in perioral dermatitis which may last up to three years sometimes. I've had it for like 16 months now). they are slowly healing. I started to watch what i eat about 8 months ago and there had been great improvement in everything in a short amount of time. less redness, pealing. It got to the point that I am happy how it looks most of the time (there always are brief flareups. and there is this one spot on my chin that annoys me). So according to a book i have ('Prescription for Nutritional Healing' by James Balch and Phyllis A. Balch. Great book!), to treat seb dermatitis you should take (well there is a lot of things they suggest so i am just going to give the things i've been taking which seem to help. The first two being very important):

Essential Fatty Acids (like flaxseed oil, primrose oil). i take 1-2 Tsp of flaxseed oil.

Vitamin B complex (very important for hair and skin. i use one with good amount of biotin and from food source. Most don't). i ran out of some and didn't use it for 3-4 weeks, because, well, I was lazy, and i noticed my skin conditions looking a little worse.

Multi vitamin with minerals (i take half dose at differnet time than i take the B complex).

Coenzyme Q 10.

also thinking about starting to take vitamin E

Don't overdo with vitamins. too much of some is a waste and too much of others may have negative effects on your body. That'w why i only take half does of multi. i eat well so i figure i don't need that much.

Also says to avoid chocolate, dairy products, flour, fried foods, seafood, nuts, and anything containing sugar. I don't avoid all these foods but i am a vegetarian so i get a lot of raw vegetables and fruit, and i avoid frying food as much as i can. Try using a cleanser that is for sensitive skin. I use one from Aubrey Organics. It's good for me, but everyone is different. Use sunblock!! and don't stress. Studies show that stressing aggravates skin conditions; meditating is supposed to have the opposite effect.

richie79 · 10-06-2003, 12:52 PM

Also, i wouldn't use the cortisone/steroid creams at all. Like i mentionned, it ****ed up my skin. Don't know why dermatologists love this stuff. They must own stocks in the companies. There are other options.

Lindarella · 10-06-2003, 09:40 PM

I've used a 1% solution of hydrocortisone cream for nearly 10 years now and it hasn't done anything bad except keep the dermatitis away. I used it daily until the dermatitis went away then a couple times a week to keep it away. When I get lazy and quit using it, it comes right back. Seb dermatitis isn't curable. The best you can hope for is to find a treatment that works for you and stick with it. There are many other things you can try.

Here are a couple links where you can read about some other things that may help. [url="http://www.umm.edu/dermatology-info/seborr.htm"]http://www.umm.edu/dermatology-info/seborr.htm[/url] [url="http://www.sfsu.edu/~shs/skinclinic/seborrheic.htm"]http://www.sfsu.edu/~shs/skinclinic/seborrheic.htm[/url]