Herbs for seboreic dermatitis

My son has it mostly on his scalp more or less since babyhood and he is 13 now. We tried variety of things - chaparral, variety of essential oils, castor oil, milk of magnesia, ACV, etc. Some helped somewhat, but not much. Right now we are trying strong burdock root infusion, and I just got burdock seeds in the mail and I am making strong decoction with them, but I also put some seeds in the oil (jojoba and rose hip) to try. Any other ideas, in case this one won't work...Oh, by the way, I always try things on myself first, and burdock root infusion made my hair become stiff, but after I combed it out with my favorite hair brush, which detangles nicely, my hair looks much thicker and more curly. it looks almost like I styled it or something. My son's hair is short, so he didn't get any styling benefits, LOL.

I thought for a while that I had seboreic dermatitis, but it turns out I have psoriasis. Anyway, when I thought I had seboreic dermatitis, I read about using honey to treat it. I imagine it's a lot easier to apply it to a scalp that has short hair than it is to apply it to my waistlength curly hair scalp! Here's the study done on it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11485891

Here's another article on it: http://www.skindrone.com/2014/11/basics-of-treating-seborrheic-dermatitis-with-raw-honey/

I also remember at that time making a hair tonic made by infusing chamomile, rosemary, sage, nettle and horsetail in Apple Cider Vinegar. I can't remember which were for seboreic dermatitis, though...


Ah-ha! Rosemary, chamomile, nettle, and sage were all said to be good for the seboreic dermatitis (http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/dermatitis, http://noskinproblems.com/seborrheic-dermatitis-on-scalp/, ). Turns out horsetail might CAUSE it (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2932297)

I'd definitely try the honey treatment if you haven't already. It even helps some with my psoriasis.

Green tea.

It has amazing properties to help heal the skin.  I have a recipe for a skin cream, but it takes about a month to make (send me a PM if you have the patience to try that).  To get something to use right away, you could try melting some coconut oil, cutting open bags of green tea, and mixing it until you have a paste you can apply to the skin.  With the leaf parts still in, it's going to be a little messy, but I think you will be surprised at how quickly you will see results.

(Note: just melt the coconut oil, don't get it hot enough to fry the tea leaves.  The healing components are heat sensitive.)

John Elliott wrote:Green tea.

It has amazing properties to help heal the skin.  I have a recipe for a skin cream, but it takes about a month to make (send me a PM if you have the patience to try that).  To get something to use right away, you could try melting some coconut oil, cutting open bags of green tea, and mixing it until you have a paste you can apply to the skin.  With the leaf parts still in, it's going to be a little messy, but I think you will be surprised at how quickly you will see results.

(Note: just melt the coconut oil, don't get it hot enough to fry the tea leaves.  The healing components are heat sensitive.)

 Do you think very strong green tea infusion would work? I have loose green tea, so I can make it very strong. Fat is messier and harder to wash out, but if it has healing properties combined with green tea, then we would do it.

Nicole Alderman wrote:I thought for a while that I had seboreic dermatitis, but it turns out I have psoriasis. Anyway, when I thought I had seboreic dermatitis, I read about using honey to treat it. I imagine it's a lot easier to apply it to a scalp that has short hair than it is to apply it to my waistlength curly hair scalp! Here's the study done on it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11485891

Here's another article on it: http://www.skindrone.com/2014/11/basics-of-treating-seborrheic-dermatitis-with-raw-honey/

I also remember at that time making a hair tonic made by infusing chamomile, rosemary, sage, nettle and horsetail in Apple Cider Vinegar. I can't remember which were for seboreic dermatitis, though...


Ah-ha! Rosemary, chamomile, nettle, and sage were all said to be good for the seboreic dermatitis (http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/condition/dermatitis, http://noskinproblems.com/seborrheic-dermatitis-on-scalp/, ). Turns out horsetail might CAUSE it (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2932297)

I'd definitely try the honey treatment if you haven't already. It even helps some with my psoriasis.

Honey is very messy, but I guess we could try...Making him be with honeyed head for 3 hours will not be easy... yes, I read about sage as well. Got one plant today and planted in my garden. Thank you.

Applying the honey in the evening seems to be the best time, and even just doing it once a week helps. Does he have a baseball cap or beanie that he doesn't like? Maybe put that on after you do the honey to contain it...and that way if anyone stops by randomly, he won't look funny with sticky hair. We live out in the boonies, so I'd wrap my hair in an old t-shirt to keep the honey from dripping everywhere. I went outside to take out the compost and my neighbors' kids were on my property searching for their remote control airplane! They probably wondered what was up with their neighbor wearing a white shirt on her head     .

Oh! And FYI, honey has natural hydrogen peroxide, which helps with the SD, but be aware that using it multiple times will slightly lighten your hair color, akin to sun bleaching. Depending on what hair color he has/wants this may be an advantage or disadvantage!

Sage and rosemary, on the other hand, supposedly darken hair.

Joy Oasis wrote: Fat is messier and harder to wash out, but if it has healing properties combined with green tea, then we would do it.

I agree, it is messier, but it does have the additional healing property of keeping the skin from drying out.  If you rub it in good, like with a lotion, it's not as messy.

Did the burdock infusion or any of the others mentioned end up working for your son? I would love to know because I have the same issue! Thanks

Mikael Cejtin wrote:Did the burdock infusion or any of the others mentioned end up working for your son? I would love to know because I have the same issue! Thanks

Many things helped him as long as we kept up with it daily, which is hard to do. Best results in terms of external stuff I noticed from using DMSO mixed with a bit of Lugol's iodine and a bit of herbal salve made with lanolin, applied twice a day, sometimes, when I managed three times a day. It went away completely in about 2 weeks, but as we got busy and stopped doing it, it came right back.
Then we started supplementing high doses 50-100 thousand of vit D3, 15-30 mg K2, magnesium, boron in borax solution, CoQ10, and B vitamins, and even though the first few weeks it became worse, eventually it resolved to the point where he has a few flakes there and there, but no red inflamed areas. Oh yes, we also started making our vit C into liposomal version, just the jar method (no ultrasonic machine or anything like that).
I don't remember, what herbs I used in making salve, but most likely plantain, comfrey, and calendula. I don't think it matters, any anitinflamatory herbs should do. Lanolin is important part though as it is best to protect dry lips and any dry skin as well.

I think just like any chronic disease it is caused by toxicity and deficiency combination.
Here is more from my notes about possible solutions:
"I had intense burning of the scalp and thinning hair for 9 years. I also had a chronic cough, and was exhausted 24 / 7...no matter how much sleep I got. And my acne was also way out of control. Went to the dermatologist... was told I have seborrheic dermatitis. And all the doc did was treat the symptoms with a topical steroid. But I wanted to know why I had it.... I wanted to find the trigger or cause. I did some research.I immediately started taking 1000 IU's of vit  D3 with my favorite multi vitamin every morning......I saw improvement of ALL symptoms within a week... Then I upped my dosage to 2000 IU's a day. ALL my chronic symptoms are gone after 3 months!!! My scalp feels amazing after 9 years of pain and my hair has started to thicken back up. "
Most people with this are severely vit D deficient. Have your blood tested, if you can. 30-70 is considered normal, but being 100-150 is probably the most optimal. If you get over 120, ease up a bit on vit D3. Although some diseases like glaucoma and many autoimmune issues will not resolve, if level is below 125. In that case you might want to go up for a while and then slowly back down.
Sample plan to take vit d and its cofactors:
take 10 000IU (250mcg or 0.25mg)of vitamin D3 a day, more if obese or very tall, much more, if very deficient or having autoimmune disease
take up to 45 mg of Vit K2 mk4 form, divided in 3 doses 15 mg each, best a bit away from vit D
take 500-1500mg of elemental magnesium, also best divided into 3 doses
Vit A 10-25 thousand IU 1-2 times a week or less more often.
One study showed, that almost everyone with seborrheic dermatitis had blood level of D vitamin at 20 or bellow. Here is a link to a woman sharing about hers being 10, whe she started taking d3:

Some people think, that this disease is a sign of candida overgrowth in the gut, and that's why some poeple healed it by going gluten and grain free.
"I found that my seborrheic dermatitis was the result of a biotin deficiency. It was very bad ever since my 20's and kept getting worse. I started taking 2000mcg but found I needed to take 10,000mcg a day for it to go into total remission. I want to say it was very bad; my scalp would scab and my face (eyebrows, forehead, cracks of nose, and cheeks) would be very red, scaly and inflammed.That was confirmed by a doctor who studies "partial biotinidase deficiency". But once I had my genetics we were able to see it in my biotinidase genes and in a gene called HLCS! It is caused by a yeast called Malassezia that lives off of a certain type of skin oil/fat. It seems when people have a biotin deficiency will create more of that fat so the yeast thrives. " from phpenixrising forums post
Seborrheic dermatitis is vit B6 (pyridoxine) deficiency disease according to Velma Keith and Monteen Gordon book The How To Herb Book. It can also go with increased urination. B6 is found in bananas, brewers yeast, beef, cabbage, molasses, eggs, green vegetables. If taking supplement, make sure to take it with b complex. Better to divide dose and take several times a day. Take 200 mg a day at first to correct deficiency and then reduce for maintanence. Zinc, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and biotin deficiencies can be involved as well. Take up to 200mg of biotin a day, however some people took 5000mg twice a day (sublingual form) and didn't notice any toxicity problems as our bodies easily excrete its excess. It is probably better form as it bypasses digestive system. Some people reported, that not much change occured until they took that larger amount. It may be a good idea to take manganese with biotin for best results. Experts suggest that manganese indirectly supports biotin in its healing effects for certain skin conditions (e.g., psoriasis and acne). Biotin needs certain enzymes to function in the skin that manganese helps to activate.
Possible molybdenum and manganese deficiency
"I dissolved one heaping teaspoon of borax in 8 oz. of boiling water (borax doesn't dissolve well in cold or even warm water) and then washed my hair with it, letting it sit for a few minutes (while I continued washing the rest of my body)." comment online
Mix borax with a bit of water and apply. You can add a bit of dmso for better effect.
Borax in tiny amounts can be taken internally as well.  Put one teaspoon of borax into a quart jar. That is your solution. One teaspoon of this solution will give you about 2 mg of boron. Put it in your cup of tea or water or juice. At this strength there wan't be any noticable taste for most. 3-5 times a day is a usual dose.
Seboreic dermatitis is inflamatory problem, so antiinflamatory herbs can be useful-calendula, chickweed, chamomile, ginkgo, echinacea, feverfew, devil's claw, oregon grape root, mullein, marsh mallow, oats, turmeric, yucca root, wild cherry bark.

I am going to admit I am uncertain about your son's particular condition, since I am not as familiar with psoriasis-type dermatitis, so what little I can offer in terms of experience should be taken with salt.

That aside, my husband recently had 6 weeks of radiation therapy on his sensitive scalp, and after testing a mix of creams, lotions, and aloes, I actually found that a really strong calendula formula soothed all the burn itchiness on his scalp, and he avoided having any burns for the duration of his therapy. A bit of honey helps, too, although honey is terribly sticky and very challenging with hair. Lol.

It's a strong extract of calendula emulsified in raw olive oil. I actually grew and harvested a bunch of it last year autumn to make the cream for my skin, but it ended up also being the best for his skin too. (I have extremely sensitive skin generally, and suffer from eczema which is worst on my hands) I have found calendula to be very calming to reduce redness.

Now that he is one month post treatment, we actually just switched him to a rosemary salve for his head, since it is not only very good for the skin, but can also apparently stimulate hair growth fairly comparable to Minoxidil but without any of the (ghastly) side effects. I sometimes use rosemary cream myself for my irritated skin, especially in winter when my legs become extremely itchy. (Didnt know about the hair growth properties before. I will now blame the cream for my hairy legs hahaha)

In another observation, I dont make my own shampoo but I do also often buy a Rosemary organic/natural shampoo and the guy prefers this over my lavender or lemon options as he sometimes gets dandruff and the rosemary shampoo prevents it.  He also likes the natural tea tree oil shampoo and bar soap we get for the same reason, not too strong to irritate, but seems to help eliminate his dandruff and prevent his scalp from getting itchy. (He gets much oilier scalp than I do… but the poor guy has skin almost as sensitive as my chalk-paste complexion)

My 5 cents. I hope you have luck with some of the methods you've found!

Sionainn Cailís wrote:

It's a strong extract of calendula emulsified in raw olive oil. I actually grew and harvested a bunch of it last year autumn to make the cream for my skin, but it ended up also being the best for his skin too. (I have extremely sensitive skin generally, and suffer from eczema which is worst on my hands) I have found calendula to be very calming to reduce redness.

!

Thank you. How do you make your calendula salve? Do you make tincture first and incorporate that into the oil somehow? We have lots of calendula flowers right now, and I dried some, because in this climate it grows only until it gets hot.

I harvested and dried my flowers, then took all the petals and put them into a jar and poured in raw virgin olive oil to cover and left that infuse for about a month, shaking it around whenever I remembered. After that (which is when i decided I would like a salve over a plain oil) I strained out the petals, squishing them down and pressing them to try and get all the good stuff, and melted the oil together with some beeswax on a low heat. I think you could probably add some other stuff at that point. Then jar it and voila! Winter skin care, and also burn cream.

Next time I might add evening primrose oil  or some essential oils like like lavender or  rosemary to make a kind of all-purpose salve. Calendula is great for my continually chapped, itchy hands and cracked knuckles, and it also worked so well on my guy's skin burns from the radiation. The doctors were surprised how much his scalp improved in a week of me starting to use the calendula daily. Plus you can always pick the leaves and add into your salads. :P

**Editing to add that my original description was poorly worded, my apologies. Should be strong calendula in oil, emulsified with beeswax. Otherwise its just a thick, yellow oil :) the beeswax gives it the body to use as a salve.

The oil itself might actually be better for hair, since the thicker the product, the more difficult it is to work through the hair. My hair anyway, since those copper wires are far too coarse and unruly to let even fingers through, hah. Oil is much easier to work through, and saves you the step of melting beeswax (although it does smell nice). Plus you can put it into a bottle for easy pouring.
 

Thank you. That is what I do with my salves as well. I usually add a few herbs  to infuse. If you want to make super strong, you can infuse twice -other herbs in the same oil.