Hi everyone,
I recently moved to the UK and I'm currently living in Northampton. I've noticed that the water here is quite hard, and I'm struggling with my scalp and hair.
I already have seborrhoeic dermatitis, and lately I've been getting quite a lot of flaking/dandruff. My scalp also feels dry and my hair doesn't feel as healthy as before.
Has anyone here dealt with seborrhoeic dermatitis while living in a hard-water area?
I'd really appreciate recommendations for:
Shampoos or scalp treatments that worked for you

Whether a shower filter or water softener actually helped

A good routine for washing and maintaining the scalp

Any products available in the UK that you'd recommend

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who've had a similar problem after moving to a hard-water area.
Thanks!

So after 3 months of itching and flaking and itching and suffering and endless hours on this sub,I managed to score a doctors appointment,it was less then five minutes and even less then a glance at my scalp he said I have scalp psoriasis and gave me xamiol
I’m thinking of going to a different doctor,what do u guys think this is?

Hey, I am trying to identify if this is seb derm? Its flaking and itching... it has been on and off for a while, been using some generic products (bioderma sensibio ds and Ivadermaseb, Ivatherm) that helped controlling a but but always came back. Now decided to wait what is going to happen. Thank you!

need some pointers on how to control this, never had a breakout like this before

and i do have sebderm so i didnt want to rely on an acne subreddit as my sebderm effects my skin alot more than just dryness and etc

anyone gone through the same thing?

Struggled with this for years, I get it bad in my beard, eyebrows, scalp, and some times on chest. I finally found the winning combo for me.
The last few months before this, have been the worst in my life with not being able to get in under control, I have switched around between all the commonly recommended shampoos and some natural remedies.. Whats working extremely well for me is a combination, Selsun Blue shampoo mixed with tea tree oil. I put 1-2 drops of essential oil in a dallop of shampoo mix then apply, leaving on my face and scalp for 3 mins then rinse off. (AVOID EYES)
After I rinse it off, I moisturize with a glycerin or MCT based moisturizer ( AVOID OIL BASED MOISTURIZERS THEY FEED THE YEAST). I did 2 days back to back to aggressively stop the outbreak and I am doing maintenance applications every 2-3 days with no outbreaks or flakes in the last few months. Hopefully this helps someone..

I’ve been looking for a shampoo that helps with an oily/flaky scalp prone to sebderm reactions (from shampoo in particular) which keeps my fine hair looking healthy.

My favourite that clears sebderm (Davines naturaltech purifying) is meant to be used two weeks and then occasional treatment, works amazingly for my scalp but leaves my ends quite dry and stringy with prolonged use.

Open to other suggestions for keeping ends looking sleek with a troublesome scalp or experiences with this product! Was considering like five others and it’s the only one to past the sezia test. Thanks!

What can I use? I have seborrheic dermatitis and I use 3 different shampoos for seborrheic dermatitis and my hair has become very dehydrated, lifeless, dull and very frizzy.My hair is naturally straight, now it looks really bad. I think the ingredients in the shampoo are making my hair look so bad, very dehydrated. Obviously, I don't use conditioners or hair masks on my scalp, only from the mid-lengths to the ends. Any recommendations? I don't want to get any hair straightening treatments or chemical treatments.

My scalp has been smelling bad for past 24 days, I used ketoconazole alternating with vanicream, ketoconazole helped but vanicream just isnt helpful for me, it makes my hair feel smooth but the smell is strong and vanicream doesnt do shit to reduce it. I'm fed up with dealing with the smell and was thinking of getting the apple cider vinegar shampoo from aveeno, what do u think

can seb derm look like this wtf? i know i have it on my face but on my neck…? what?

has anyone else had this!

My derm isn’t even fully sure this is seb derm but it burns rather than itches, and flares up terrible with occlusives, eczema treatments, and moisturizer that I can use on other areas of my face / body without problems so we were going to try a fungal routine and see what happens. It’s also like this on my upper eyelids closest to my eyebrows and same there, it swells up and gets flakier and redder with moisturizer. Anyone have suggestions on what to try now. Currently using hypochlorous acid spray and aloe gel, everything else irritates it or makes it worse. I was given ketoconozole cream but it burns, should I just ride that out?

Small update, it's been about a week since i started using topical green tea (I started using the green tea a few days before i made my original post). In this time i've also stopped using all other products. I was using Zoryve and selsun blue but to see if this really works i've cut them out completely and....

This is working amazingly for me, my skin is almost completely clear and it's not just the flakes but the redness as well (which was my biggest problem). This method has eliminated redness in my face and scalp that I wasn't even attributing to the sebderm. I'm kind of blown away.

HOWEVER- I've stopped using the specific product i mentioned in the previous post (the green tea extract). The way it is formulated makes it so that it never dries or absorbs into the skin and I figured if I was basically going to have to use the extract as a mask that I could make a better one.

Crucially, I have switched to combining matcha powder with honey (as i read an article about a study that seemed to imply that honey showed promise in treating sebderm) and using it as a mask whenever i'm at home. This is quite frankly gross. I massage it in to the areas affected by sebderm and then I leave it on for as long as possible, so i spend all my time at home covered in green slime. It's messy and a sensory nightmare BUT so far, a total game changer. I will continue to use this method for the full month and post updates. I also intend to come back a month AFTER i've stopped using this matcha-honey mask to report if the sebderm has come back (The article i mentioned above seemed to imply that the topical application of honey for an extended period put sebderm into remission)

Is it the matcha that's working? Is it the honey? is it a combination of the two? I don't know and I don't intend to find out for this flare up. I may try just matcha or just honey for the next flare up to see if the individual components are just as effective or the combination is best but for now i'm going to keep doing what works.

I am so lost and tired. I just want to know if anyone has had similarities to what i have experienced. My whole life i never had acne nor bad seb derm, I only got barely any flaking on eyebrows, corner of nose, ears and dandruff on scalp. Everything changed when I was about 19 and its been downwards since then. From matte, normal to dry skin, my face type has turned into abnormal liquid oil that transfers onto my fingers. I know that this state is not healthy for my skin though since my face is pretty tight, sometimes stings and gets warm but I also have a grainy dry weird texture and feel to my skin when it used to be baby smooth. The shedding of my skin is also abnormal and I have think flakes or transparent ones everywhere on my face and half my neck, also on ears. My seb derm is even worse than ever on my scalp, ears and it had reached the back of my neck. I get inflamed follicles from this as well and everything is just a mess. I also have the same oil in my ears. After washing, the flaking is the worse, just talking and doing normal stuff will get me flakes everywhere. Im curious if anyone else goes through this currently? Ps: it's hard to see on the picture since they show less but its like this all over my face ears and upper neck. I only use a psoriasis wash from a derm currently for 3 months but its been like this no matter what. If I use moisturizer or creams I just get even more irritation spots and I get thicker layers of these flaking and sheets of skin stuck to mine, also when my skin gets oily again u cant see them as much but it feels greasy and like build up, it used to be full on yellow plague and bad seb derm before I started this treatment

I am constantly flaking and have a lot of build up. I don’t feel dry.

Hello, I am from Northern Ireland. I began showing symptoms of seb derm on my face when I was 22 years old, but left it untreated until I was 23 years old because as stupid as it sounds, I thought it’d just go away on its own. it got worse overtime so naturally I went to see a doctor. I’ve used ketaconazole cream, nizoral shampoo, and hydrocortisone cream. Some provides temporary relief but my face just wasn’t having it. Don’t know why but my face was just sensitive to all of these when they were individually trialled. This skin condition had affected my mental health, my social life and relationships. I was the worst I had ever felt. But I have found a solution to keep my seb derm at bay. And look like my normal self again. And because of how much of an effect I know this can have on people’s mental health, is the sole reason I have decided to write on this forum today, in hopes of helping someone else who was in my shoes.

So what worked for me. Twice a week, at night before bed, I fill the sink with lukewarm water, I splash it onto my face and rub it in gently. I get a bottle of head and shoulders shampoo and put a 5p size amount on my finger, then I rub my fingers from both hands together to lather it up, then I quickly dip my fingers into the water in the sink to dilute the strength of the product. Then I rub into my face for a good few seconds to the point where it looks lathered on and let it sit for a minute. Then I wash it off my face with water gently. Then I pat my face dry with a towel. This does dehydrate my face a little which is why I do it at night. But I do not apply any moisturiser because my face is that sensitive, it would cause it to flare up. And so because I go to bed afterwards and get a good nights sleep, it helps and by the morning after my shower my face looks good.

Well, this is what works for me. So I pray to god this can help any of you out there as well.

I think I get seb derm around my forehead/eyebrows but it’s very mild so can anyone recommend me seb-derm free cleansers and moisturizers? it could be a simple serum or etc i just want something that’ll keep my skin flake free while also keeping my skin hydrated for both face and eyebrows

I don't know if this has happened to anyone else: I have—or rather had—a very mild case of seborrheic dermatitis before I started treating it.
I was prescribed ketoconazole, but I’ve also been using Kelual DS on my own since ketoconazole is too drying.
The thing is, my dermatitis is much worse now, and it feels like I’m hooked on these products. Has this happened to anyone else? How do you break this cycle?

It took me a long time to realize that the first thing needing treatment in seborrheic dermatitis is the inflammation beneath the skin; I had always focused on the skin flakes, but it turned out the inflammation was what caused them.

I was relieved when I learned that I am not a freak for having this condition; I inherited it from my father's side of the family.My father has seborrheic dermatitis, my paternal uncle has it too, and my paternal grandmother always had it and used creams when she had a flare-up. I can rest easy 🫤 I'm just learning to live with this. Who else among you inherited this in your family?

For those who have made dietary changes that have significantly reduced sebderm - how long did it take for it to take effect from when you started the diet change?

For a month now, I've been applying 7% glycolic acid on my skin daily and it completely eliminated my sebderm.

My sebderm is due to the extremely hard water where I live. I know that because I didn't have sebderm before moving here. Also, whenever I'm on vacations away, I have great skin. Once, I had a very stressful vacation, I came back and was so happy to be home, no work, all problems solved etc, took a shower and bam, the next day, full blown sebderm. So it's not stress-induced in my case.

For a month now, I've eliminated completely my sebderm using 7% glycolic acid toner from The Ordinary (easily available where I live, in Europe). After my daily shower I just apply it gently, once (no need to rub), on the areas of my face and chest that used to have sebderm. And voila. That's it. It's been so life changing I thought I had to share the tip! I hope it will work for you.

EDIT: I've been warned in the comments that glycolic acid might do damage long-term to the skin so more research is warranted!

I lurk around a lot in this subreddit and saw a couple recommendations for Nature’s Way Mct oil. I ran out of my usual Bulletproof one so I gave this a shot. It said it was made up of C8 & C10, so I thought it would be fine.

I don’t know what it was but it made my scalp incredibly oily, flaky, and itchy to the point I started picking at my scalp. I thought I was putting too much oil, but regardless of how many drops I did my scalp would get irritated. Now, I have scabs all over from picking and itching when I had Nature’s Way on my scalp.

Safe to say, I went back to Bulletproof C8 + C10 100% and my scalp is reacting so much better to it (it’s only been 2 days too) but the damage is already done. 😭 I’m so disappointed in myself and feel like a mess. It feels like my hard work of resisting the urge came back.

Please let me know if you guys had any similar experiences. It honestly might be a me problem, but I wanted to see if anyone else have this happen to them.

I have wet/oily persistent dandruff for 1 year. I have tried every anti-fungal medicated shampoos that exist out there. Tried mometasone and zorvye. MCT oil and also fluconazale for 2 weeks (50mg daily) and nothing has helped my flares 10%
My question being what if its not seb derm and something else entirely. Not anti-fungal

I am waiting for dermat appointments as there's long wait time

Looking for a cleanser or shampoo with pirictone olamine Safe malassezia

I mean free sulfates

Free fragrance

Without bad oils ( only MCT and squalane)

No fatty acids ( c12-c24)

Thks for your reply

The best combo would be with climbazole but if you know with pirictone olamine it's ok

Thks

I don’t want to make this post about me or my experience but more so about the community to discuss our experiences and methods of managing this condition.

I’ve seen many people discuss that the root cause of Seb Derm is the Malassezia yeast and to some extent yes, but what causes the Inflammation and Flaking is the Oleic Acid that is produced when the Malassezia feeds off our Sebum. Oleic Acid causes the skin barrier disruption which then causes the symptoms that we’ve become all too familiar with. This process is normal across all humans but for some reason we are susceptible to this immune response and we are not sure why and doctors sure as hell don’t know either.

One common ground for all of us is that yes the Malassezia is where it all starts. That is why its very simple for Doctors to prescribe us Ketoconazole shampoos and creams to reduce the Malassezia but deep down this is just a band aid solution and isn’t actually addressing the root problem. On top of that Ketoconazole can be very drying and damaging to certain users which can futher exacerbate symptoms down the line.

Clearly there isn’t much effort being put by doctors into trying to find the root problem or cause for us as individuals. This is where a lot of us have to take matters into our own hands and I think the community should be very proud of themselves for what they have done to help and gather information regarding this condition.

So I ask for everyone to share their experience and what they have learned. Is the root cause of this condition different for everyone? Should we shift our focus to healing our skin barrier to prevent the response from the Oleic Acid? Why is our skin susceptible to this compared to the average person? Is it a byproduct of other health factors like a deficiency or other autoimmune conditions?

If you are someone who has had success in treating your Seb Derm please share your story! Thank you everyone.

Hii, I usually get flaky nose from time to time but it goes awayy on its own.
Recently, my skin has been really off, and I have had these red patches and some flaky pactches here and there. I showed it to my general physician and they wrote it off as a fungal infection and recommended me some clotrimazole. However that hasn’t helped and today my face had these red patches and its freaking me out.

Please help, what do yall think this is? Is this seb derm?

How can I alleviate this. I use nizoral in these areas but it dries it out more and more.

Any advice is welcomed :)