Life with Seborrheic dermatitis
Seborrheic dermatitis (let’s call it Sede) is a common skin condition, which symptom is usually inflamed and flaky skin, usually seen on scalp, eyebrows, nose, mustache, and in my weird case insite ears too.
From my experience, finding out, if you are a lucky winner of Sede, could be a very, very, very long process. Diagnosis can be a bit tricky, in my case for many years I had problems just with my scalp, so everyone assumed, I am dealing with basic dandruff issue, but later on, my Sede started progressing and now I am dealing with inflamed skin in my eyebrows, around my nose and in my ears, which is the most annoying place ever (you can really scratch an itch in your ear, which can and will drive you crazy :D). I always had a dandruff on my scalp, they never went away, even after my Mums witchcrafting :D, she tried to put on my scalp literally everything, from eggs, olive oil, honey, vinegar, baking soda, lemon, leaves of horse chestnut, and many other things, which I am trying to forget about :D.
I was diagnosed correctly, when I was around 21 years old and this happened, just because of new symptoms on my face.
After diagnosis I was relieved, I could finally stop trying all the antidandruff shampoos and homemade crazy masks. My Mum kind of have in her mind and I can’t change it, that I have this problem, because I don’t know, how to wash my hair :D and even now, when I will sometimes, by mistake, complaint in front of her, she will tell me : “Hmm Katka I don’t think, you are washing your hair properly, are you washing of all the shampoo???” aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I will be 30 very soon and still... She is not going to stop :D
Anyways, let’s get back to what Sede actually is :) there are few known causes of this skin condition, one of them (the most important one) is a type of fungus, which lives on your skin (you are usually born with it and you CAN NOT spread it to others with physical contact). This fungus is multiplying and having a time of its life, when your scalp or skin is wet, warm, sweaty or oily and you are then left with incredibly itchy, flaky and red skin. Unfortunately, there is no cure or no way how to get rid of this fungus on your skin, it is going to be with you forever, however there are some products available on market, which can help you to keep your skin and your best friend fungus under control.
My journey to find the right products for me was loooong, I went true many different products, so many bottles of shampoo were given to a family and friends, which they did appreciate it, but my purse wasn’t very excited about it :) I realized, how very great would be, if skincare companies will start making little sample bottles or small bottles, which you can try. My scalp is reacting usually very fast, so I don’t need to use shampoo multiple times, I need one test and I can feel reaction right away, which is as I mentioned before: red red red scalp and itching.
I have few categories of products, which I can’t use at all (created during my testing process), these are all the “antidandruff” drugstore shampoos, baby shampoos (surprisingly), anything with oil in it (olive oil, argan oil) but on the other hand, coconut oil shampoo is fine with me, and anything with strong perfumes and lots of parabens.
I have a couple of everyday shampoos, which I am tolerating, it is Bioderma Node Fluide shampoo, which is really good, doesn’t have a lot of foaming agents (detergents) in it, very gentle, but bit more difficult to get in UK + little bit more pricey. So this is a special treat, when I am fed up with using the other one all the time.
Second one is Palmer’s Coconut oil conditioning shampoo, which is quiet perfumy and does have coconut oil in it, but somehow I am fine with it, I don’t know what magic did they use, but it is working :) This one is free of parabens, sulphates, phthalates, dyes, gluten and mineral oils.
These two are my everyday products, but also I have one special guardian, which is with me all the time, but I am trying not to use it, unless it is very necessary and my scalp is crying for help. This little hero is Selsun medicated shampoo, which does contain selenium sulphide and it is life saver for me. I don’t want to use it very often, because I don’t like to use too much of chemicals in general, but sometimes, you just have to do, what you have to do. This shampoo saved me so many times, that I always have at least 2 or 3 at home, just in case, if they will decide to stop making it, or any other apocalyptic situation will happen :D better be ready, than sorry later. It is also very good for face too. My the most affected area with Sede is scalp, but sometimes, usually, when I am under a lot of pressure, or going through rough time, my face will react too and yop, all what I have to do is do wash it with Selsun and irritation will improve straight away. So thank you Selsun very much for everything, what you have done for me and please, don’t even think about stopping this range, because my life without you will be miserable.
Skin care is little bit easier for me, than shampoos, I can basically use almost everything for sensitive skin, without perfumes or with a very little of it. I was always Bioderma fan and I don’t want to change it :) I like quality of their products. At the moment I am using Bioderma Sebium Global, which suits my skin very well, so I don’t feel need for switching it. I am also using a SPF cream in summer made by Bioderma, it’s called Photoderm AKN Mat, which is lovely, because it’s not so heavy and greasy, than usual face sun creams.
Recently I have discovered products called Sebclair, which are non steroidal products for Sede, I liked the cream, which I am using in case of emergency (not every day) in combination with Selsun shampoo. This range contains also a shampoo, which did absolutely nothing for me, I think it is too expensive and it didn’t touch my irritation at all. This little boy is still sitting on my bathroom shelf, and I hope it’s thinking about his failure.
I hope, I helped you to understand, what Sede is, what symptoms does this skin condition have and how can you help your skin. I don’t think, that everyone will react to all the products the same, so every one of us, will probably have to go our own way learning and discovering products, which we can use. But you can try stuff, which I am using and see, if it doesn’t work for you, you can still shift it to me :D I will give them a use :D
You have to know your body better, listen to it and try to find the way, how to live a nice and calm life with it, even if it isn’t perfect.
During my journey, trying to understand my body I figured some tricks, which I am always keeping in mind and they are helping me, to keep my skin under control. There they are :
1. Always dry your hair with hairdryer as soon as possible, after washing it + try not to keep towel on your head for too long : prevent your skin from being warm and wet
2. When visiting hairdresser, always take your shampoo with you, it will save you a lot of hassle with calming down an irritation, which might come after using different shampoo
3. No hair masks with oil, no oily moisturisers on face, if so avoid the Seda area
4. Winter means a lot of itching, wearing wooly hat will not help your scalp (warm and wet, your fungus will have a party), get ready stock up with your first aid products
If you do have Sede by yourself and you have some tricks and products, which are working for you, let me know, I am always open to try new fun stuff and see, what my body thinks about it :D