My previous posts covered much of the material here in more detail. However, I did want to put together an article that outlines my personal best natural seborrheic dermatitis treatment plans. These plans are easy to follow and are generally safe.
I’ve used all three in the past with great success and highly recommended them. Each of these plans is a result of a countless hours of online research when doctor recommended solutions became ineffective.
So here are my 3 best natural seborrheic dermatitis treatment plans:
Probiotic Cleanser, Raw Honey and Clean Diet
This was my most sustained seborrheic dermatitis treatment plan. My last usage of this method lasted about 9 consecutive months and during this time seborrheic dermatitis was nearly inexistent. The hardest part was definitely at the beginning when you start cleaning up the diet and regularly applying the honey.
Here is a breakdown of each element of the treatment:
Probiotic Cleanser
After some research on how to best restore the skins natural defense system I came across topical probitiocs. A quick search on amazon introduced me to a small selection of natural probiotic cleansers. I picked one that had a fair price tag and an ingredient list I could see myself using.
The probiotic cleanser I bought was very pleasant and using it every day was not a problem. Mainly I would use it once a day after showering. However, at times I could go several days without its usage.
Its main contributing factor was that it did not irritate my skin and allowed to keep it clean after workouts or a sweaty day.
Raw Honey Applications
This is one of the more difficult parts of this seborrheic dermatitis treatment plan as it requires you to apply honey to the skin for 3 hours every second day. This constant usage must be kept up for the first 2 weeks of treatment (at least this is what worked for me). Once the skin starts to normalize you can get away with once or twice a week.
To use the honey all you do is mix it with boiled water (at about 5 parts honey 1 part water) and massage into the skin. Once you have honey covering all the affected areas (very important for it to cover all affected areas!) you simply try to forget about it for at least 3 hours. Once the three hours is up simply wash off with clean water (boiled water worked best for me).
Clean Diet
This one is quite self-explanatory. Personally for me it wasn’t about excluding grains from my diet (as you often read online), but instead the focus was on whole foods. By whole foods I’m not referring to whole wheat bread or whole wheat paste, but instead to actual whole foods. When I ate grains I would eat them as grains (quinoa, buckwheat, rye, barley, rice, and everything else) and not in any processed form.
My main focus was not on what not to eat, but instead on what I should eat. The bulk of my diet consisted of potatoes, vegetables (lots of cabbage), fish, rice, and other lean meats. Respectively in that order. I would also enjoy some dessert every once in a while, but made sure to never go overboard.
Other Details
This treatment plan is the most difficult during the first 1-2 weeks while you adjust your diet and get used to the honey treatment. After this initial hardship it is fairly easy to maintain and the results really kept me going.
Grapefruit Seed Extract Face Wash
This was a treatment plan I found online. My longest period using this treatment was about 3 consecutive months. During these 3 months my skin was almost always seborrheic dermatitis free, but if I missed a few days of using the face wash thing would quickly deteriorate.
This seborrheic dermatitis treatment plan could not be an simpler. All you need to do is go out and buy a small bottle of grapefruit seed extract and use a few drops of it to wash your face (no other cleanser needed). Simple as that.
If my seborrheic dermatitis was really bad I would simply use a little extra grapefruit seed extract and let it really soak in (leaving it on for 10 minutes). This seemed to drastically improve effectiveness and make the seborrheic dermatitis fade away.
Other Details
The grapefruit seed extract I bought only indicated two ingredients (glycerin and grapefruit seed extract). This is not always the case so please read the ingredients list carefully.
Also there is some controversy online regarding the effectiveness of grapefruit seed extract. Some people believe that the extract itself does nothing, but instead a cleaning agent by the name of benzethonium chloride is responsible for its antimicrobial action. I have no idea if this is true or not, but benzethonium chloride is used many commercial sanitation products (such as hand wipes). Also the fact that it worked for me gave me more than enough reason to keep using it.
Using grapefruit seed extract never dried out my skin too much nor irritated it, but did leave it feeling a bit too clean (almost stripped).
Water Fasting
This method had the best, fastest and most natural results out of anything I’ve ever tried. On the second day of a water fast my seborrheic dermatitis would be inexistent. Each time I tried this method the results were fast and dramatic.
This method is clearly the most natural since you do absolutely nothing except drink water for several days. The only problem is that when your water fast is over seborrheic dermatitis tends to creep right back. Since you can’t always be water fasting this is more of quick solution than a long term treatment plan.
Is Fasting Safe?
If you are new to fasting and think that there might be some dangers please try to stay open minded. Fasting has been around for as long as humans. Before we had a constant supply of food, fasting was part of everyday life. However Today in the more privileged countries most people think they would become ill if they didn’t eat every 3-4 hours. This is clearly not the case and modern day science has actually demonstrated there is a huge pile of health benefits associated with regular fasting. If you would like more information on fasting please take a look here and here, or you can just simply google fasting.
Summary
These are my three best natural seborrheic dermatitis treatment plans. There are many others out there, but none were nearly as effective as these three. Please give them a try and let me know what you think. If you feel like something is missing from this list and think you know the best seborrheic dermatitis treatment plan, please drop it in the comments for other readers.
I noticed that when I quit drinking all caffeine for two months the SD improved dramatically
But, I also fasted where I didn’t eat after 7pm for the last month. Or eat before 9am Maybe that’s what did it?
Hi Michael,
I am suffering from mild SD on my face and read your Article.
I have several questions regarding your diet that you mentioned: potatoes, vegetables (lots of cabbage), fish, rice and other lean meats.
You stated that you ate quinoa, buckwheat, rye, barley, and everything else but not in any processed form – Does this mean that you bought them raw and then boiled/cooked them? Did you used olive or coconut oil for cooking? Did you eat brown or ordinary white rice?
Also, I wanted to ask you, did you exclude dairy products? Did you eat salt? What about fruits? What fruits did you eat? Do you recommend water fasting once a week? What about using brown sugar like dark muscovado, do you recommend it? Do you recommend drinking tea and what kind of tea?
The second question is about the honey treatment: did you cleaned your face before you put the honey mix and did you put somethng on your face like cream or something after you washed the honey from your face?
Looking forward to your reply.
Hi Sanya,
Your most has many questions, but I will try cover as many as possible.
Currently I basically eat whatever I feel like. However, there are a items you may find interesting:
Hope that covers everything. Let me know if I’ve missed anything.
Currently I don’t really pay too much attention to diet. This is the routine I’ve been following for the past while with really good results.
Hope that helps. All the best.
Hey Michael,
With the grape fruit extract, how long do you leave it on for? And how many drops would you say to use? Thanks
Hey Connor,
When I was using it I would simply use it as a wash and not leave it on for long at all. However, from all the research I’ve seen it’s actually a preservative that’s used in the manufacturing process of GSE that makes it effective and not the actual extract. GSE made without this preservative wasn’t effective when studied. Went into a little more detail on the “Seborrheic dermatitis nose treatments” post.
Have been working on a book for the past while. Here is a link to the seborrheic dermatitis chapter draft.
Personally I’ve been using a solution I made myself for the past little while. Wrote about my approach here.
Hope that helps. Let me know how it goes.
Thanks for the quick reply!
Interesting I think I’ll just try the GFSE and see how it goes, so just leave on for about 10 – 15 minutes and apply how many times per day? And also do I mix with water or apply Stright from bottle to skin?
Sorry for the questions
Thanks Connor
Hi Connor,
As I mentioned in the previous comment I didn’t leave the GSE on the skin.
Typically I would simply use it as a face wash (without leaving it on the skin). Similar to how you would use a facial cleanser.
I was using it mainly once per day.
All the best.
Oh okay thanks for clearing that up, where can I buy it from? Because I went the the pharamacy today and asked for grapefruit seed extract but she didn’t know what it was and pointed me into the direction of grape extract liquid, thanks
Hi Connor,
Here in Canada they sell it at supplement stores.
Alternatively, you can find it online:
http://amzn.to/1P4Rh9O
One thing you may want to check is the reviews.
As mentioned earlier, it appears that the benzethonium chloride is actually responsible for it’s effectiveness.
All natural extracts were shown to be ineffective.
Aspects of the antimicrobial efficacy of grapefruit seed extract and its relation to preservative substances contained.
Identification of Benzethonium Chloride in Commercial Grapefruit Seed Extracts
Hope that helps.
I’ve been using the grapefruit seed extract for 2 days now and seemed to make my skin dark orange almost, I have been wetting my skin and then washing my hands and using 3 drops of the GFSE and rubbing it into my area of SD and leaving it on for 5 minutes and then washing it of, doing it twice a day is there anything I’m doing wrong and how long before it should improve?
Thanks Connor
Hi Connnor,
As mentioned previously I wouldn’t leave GSE on my face. Simply used it as a facial wash.
It’s effectiveness and results are likely linked to the manufacturing process that specific brand uses. As this would determine its antimicrobial content.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
All the best.
hi my name is john from philippines i have sebhoric dermatitis for 1 year now. i keep on using moringa we call it here malungay its very effective. dont waste your money for some worthless chemicals with side effects. you can plant your own moringa tree or if you can buy leaves in the wet market..
you dont need to spend a dollara to cure your sd. promise ..
Hi John,
Thanks for checking in. The moringa tree seems quite interesting based on a quick Google search.
If you have the time, leave some more details on your approach and maybe a brief summary of how your seborrheic dermatitis started.
All the best.
my sd started oct 2014 when inwas working with sprint nextel a very stressfull invironment. my sd got worsen because of stress. i went to 6 dermatologist and nothin happened. i also used salt and salt worsen my sd. i went to my grandmas house and she introduced moringa to me . i use fresh moringa extract and put it directly to my face once it f
dried i cover my face with honey for atleast 4 hours and then my sd is gone.. i also drink moringa juice..
Hi John,
Thanks for checking back and providing some more details on your approach.
Do you think the 4 hour honey treatment has a significant role in the improvement as well?
On their own, honey masks where quite effective for me as well.
All the best.
Nummunal Eczema may also be due to other causes such as: an allergic reaction to the excrement from
house dust mites, allergy to foodstuffs including :. And finally, pulses examples
include lentils, adzuki beans, kidney beans, blackeye
peas and mung beans. Ask at your local health and nutrition store to see what they have available for treating Eczema.
Quick search on Google indicated that Nummular Eczema might be a somewhat different condition than Seborrheic Dermatitis. However, most eczema and dermatitis appear to be quite similar in terms of being an inflammatory based condition.
Yeah I agree with you. For me I found milk caused lots of inflammation in my system. A dead giveaway was my sinuses would puff up and produce tons of mucous.
And the dust mites definitely play a role. However, it seems to me like a two part problem. The excessive oil and inflammation create a perfect environment for them.
Healthy skin does not give them the opportunity to thrive.