[“Cured” is not the medically correct term, since it implies it’s never coming back. The correct term would be “remission” but I don’t imagine many people are searching for “How I put my seb derm into remission…”, so I think I can help more folks by using “cured”. ]
I’ve had problems with sebborrheic dermatitis since I was a teenager. The symptoms (scaling, redness) would come and go, but were gradually getting worse.
When I was first diagnosed I used dandruff shampoo, which helped some, the the coal tar stuff, which helped more but stank to hell. Eventually I was prescribed Nizoral which was great in the beginning but lost its effectiveness over time. This would be the way with everything I subsequently used: wonderful at first, then almost no effect after extended use.
Things I used: Head and Shoulders, Coal Tar, Nizoral OTC, Nizoral RX, Ciclopirox ($$$$!!), Ketoconazole foam, Elidel, Protopic.
All of the above worked to varying degrees but eventually stopped working and they all had concerning side effects.
Though I tend to be skeptical of internet cures, I was getting desperate, so I started Googling “natural cures for seborrheic dermatitis.” A lot of folks recommended apple cider vinegar. It did help some but smelled weird and required a lot of maintenance. Finally I found a post that recommended eating garlic. This sounded like bullshit to me, but it was cheap (like 1 dollar) to try and what did I have to lose?
The garlic worked! I peeled and ate about 1/3 of a clove and within 24-48 hours the redness around my nose disappeared and my chest patches cleared. Even the redness around my lips (which is incredibly treatment-resistant and gives the embarrassing impression Ive been slurping Kool-aid) had disappeared.
After a week or so of eating the garlic at bedtime, I became a little complacent. I had no garlic for about 4-5 days and my symptoms returned. I went back on the garlic and I’ve been nearly symptom-free for a couple months.
It turns out garlic contains sulfur-based anti-fungal chemicals that have powerful anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties (not unlike the topical coal tar products). Yes, it smells a little but there are ways to mitigate that.
I know this isn’t my usual post-type, but I’m hoping it will help others. Garlic is cheap and effective. Give it a try!
Hi, does it still work? How often do you eat garlic? How did you mitigate the smell of garlic?
Cheers
Yes, it does still work. I don’t use it every day.. Maybe once a week. I break a clove into pieces and swallow a few whole at night. No issue with odor. Best wishes.
Hi, where was your SD located? Mine is on my forehead and spreading to my eyebrows, nose bridge, chest. is your skin back to normal now ? Did you use the garlic topically? I am thinking about doing so, but concerned it might burn my skin. Thx
It was face, scalp, chest, nose. Everywhere at one time or another. I eat a clove nightly and there is no smell. The topicals that actually work are smelly. Eating it works if done consistently.
Hi nice to here about garlic. I m going to try it. Tell me do u avoid things like dairy, processed food etc among with garlic ?