If you look around online you will find lots of testimonials on how people are able to control their seborrheic dermatitis symptoms with the use of sea salt washes, baths, and lotions.
Could something as simple as sea salt be the cure for seborrheic dermatitis?
This article reviews the most popular ways sea salt is utilized for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis and covers various usage tips that may be relevant if you go down this path.
If you’ve arrived here based on the idea that sea salt (specifically dead sea salt) may be a seborrheic dermatitis treatment that reduces the malassazia yeast population on your skin, you may be have a completely different understanding by the time you finished reading this.
How People Use Sea Salt to Treat Seborrheic Dermatitis
Below are the three most popular methods in which people have successfully used sea salt to manage/cure their seborrheic dermatitis.
The reason I said both manage and cure seborrheic dermatitis, is that there are people who report complete remission of their seborrheic dermatitis using sea salt.
1. Sea Salt Water Soaks for Seborrheic Dermatitis
Some people have found that mixing a fairly strong solution of about 1 teaspoon of sea salt per half a liter of water, then soaking the affected skin for about 5-10 minutes extremely effective.
Magnesium rich sea salt appears to be superior
Various literature examining the usage of sea salt for the treatment of various skin conditions suggests that magnesium-rich sea salts (such as dead sea salt) appear to have superior effectiveness [1, 2].
2. Sea Salt Water Shower Rinses for Seborrheic Dermatitis
Another popular way to utilize sea salt is in the shower. Instead of taking the time to soak your skin in a salt solution, simply prepare a bit for the shower. Once in the shower take a handful of your pre-prepared mix and apply to the skin. Leave it on while you continue with your regular shower and simply rinse off with cold water at the end.
Typically most people recommend about the same proportion of sea salt to water as the soak above. Specifically 1 teaspoon per 1/2 liter of water.
3. Sea Salt Nasal Irrigation Sprays
Recently I had a stuffy nose and someone told me to use some saline nasal spray. It was something I’ve never seen before, so it was a great discovery. The one I bought is just disinfected isotonic (which means its the same concentration of salt as your body) seawater and produces a very gentle mist.
It seems it would actually be perfect for misting the face with. The concentration will always be spot on, it will likely have more trace minerals present than strictly sea salt (if it’s actual seawater), the way it disperses the salt water solution evenly is a great benefit, and the convenience factor is there as well (easy to take with you).
However, since my seborrheic dermatitis has been controlled (using the approach discussed: here, I didn’t bother attempting this. If anyone gives this a try, please leave your findings in the comments.
Additional Tips for Treating Seborrheic Dermatitis with Sea Salt
Now that you know several sea salt treatment approaches you can try, there are a few treatment tips you should keep in mind:
- Follow-up with a light moisturizer if you find the skin overly dry
- Avoid contact with eyes
- Try different types of sea salt (dead sea salt has the most evidence)
Dry Skin After Sea Salt Treatment and How to Moisturize It
Many individuals find that sea salt water treatments can be quite drying when you first start. In this case, a simple moisturizer can be helpful.
However, this is where it gets a little tricky since many popular moisturizers on the market actually aggravate seborrheic dermatitis. To maximize the positive results obtained from the sea salt it is critical to find a suitable moisturizer. For this you can take a look at my previous post one moisturizers I recommended for seborrheic dermatitis.
Most moisturizers contain a variety of oils which are believed to feed the exact fungus (Malassezia yeast) which is believed to be an integral part of the seborrheic dermatitis problem. The key is to use one without any oils known to aggravate seborrheic dermatitis.
Alliteratively if you can get away without moisturizing at all, even better!
Be Careful When Applying Sea Salt to Facial Skin Affected by Seborrheic Dermatitis
If you plan on applying the salt water solution to the face, close your eyes and cover your entire face. Once your ready to rinse off, make sure to rinse thoroughly so none of the salt water gets in your eyes. If it does get it your eyes don’t worry too much as it’s not going to do any long-term damage, but it will sting quite a bit.
What Type of Sea Salt Works Best for Treating Seborrheic Dermatitis
All the people that have provided successfully testimony for this treatment have used various sea salts with great results. For me personally, I did not notice much for a difference between the different types. The two that a lot of people swear by are Dead Sea Salt and Himalayan Pink Sea Salt.
Dead sea salt has quite a bit of evidence that suggests it’s quite effective for psoriasis (a condition with many similarities to seborrheic dermatitis) treatment [3, 4]. However, Himalayan Pink Sea Salt does not appear to be very different than regular sea salt and this makes it a little questionable in my opinion.
How Dead Sea Salt Differs
Dead Sea Salt is quite high in magnesium especially compared to regular sea salt. Research evaluating the effectiveness of dead sea salt suggests that this is the key characteristic that makes it effective for various skin disease [1].
Additionally, since magnesium is known to act as a fairly strong anti-inflammatory and this could truly explain why some people report improved results with its usage.
Which Sea Salt Should You Use
In the end, it’s up to you. For me, good old regular sea salt worked just as well as the other options that I’ve tested.
For reference, here is a review of some popular salts:
- Dead sea salt
- Himalayan pink salt
- Magnesium salt (magnesium chloride)
- Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate)
And if you do end-up experimenting, would love to hear how it goes.
Research Data You Should Consider – Impact of Sea Salt on Malassezia
During my time with this website, sea salt treatments have continued to come on my radar in one form or another. Whether it’s balneophototherapy (combination of salt water solution and UVA/UVB radiation) as a natural psoriasis treatment [5] or magnesium rich salt water soaks to improve atopic dermatitis [1], it seems that salt holds tremendous potential for those of us affected by inflammatory skin issues.
When it comes to seborrheic dermatitis treatment, there were certain findings that contradicted many things I originally understood about the effect of salt water on our skin condition. Perhaps these findings will be as eye-opening for you as they were for me:
- The understanding that application of a dead sea salt solution reduces the skin’s yeast population is speculative at best [6]
- Killed malassezia yeasts applied to the skin of rabbits results in skin symptoms similar to those reported in seborrheic dermatitis and plaque psoriasis [7]
- Similar outcome (to that of the above study on rabbits) was also demonstrated in a small study group of ten human participants [8]
- A more recent paper from 2018 evaluating the impact of “dead sea climotherapy” (a treatment approach that requires travel to the dead sea to expose the skin to the combined effect of extended sun exposure and bathing in the salt-rich dead sea) actually showed that therapy induces a malassezia outgrowth – where these yeasts being to dominate the fungal flora of the skin post treatment
- Application of concentrated deep sea water resolves atopic dermatitis through its effect on immune response regulation and reduction of inflammatory hormones [9]
- The concentration of sodium is increased during bacterial skin infection; sodium influences immune system activation; and a high salt diet appears to aid against infection []
Taken together, the data suggest that the positive impact of salt on seborrheic dermatitis is likely to be the result of its effect on the skin’s immune response (reducing inflammation and regulating the way the immune system responds to malassezia yeasts) – rather than fighting the malassezia yeast head-in.
My Own Experience Using Sea Salt
For me, topical treatment with sea salt produced various outcomes. In some cases, it led to drastic improvement, while at other times, successive treatment could lead to worsening and aggravation of the condition.
My biggest success with salt came from loosening my dietary sodium restriction (based on the recent trends in health and nutrition). As I began to introduce sodium back into my diet, it seemed to have a significant impact on dampening my level of skin inflammation in areas affected by seborrheic dermatitis
My skin started to return to its previous condition and other health problems were also positively affected. It must, however, be noted that initially my sodium intake was practically nil and this led me to experiment. If your sodium intake is already high (from sources such as processed foods) it is highly recommended to first reduce these contributory sources before adding sea salt to your diet.
However, please take this with a grain of salt. 🙂 During this time, sodium intake was not the only thing that changed and it’s likely that the combination of my efforts had lead to the progressive improvement of my condition.
Perhaps chasing that single magic trick that will rid you of your issues forever is not as worthwhile as it first seems. Taking the time to understand your skin issues at a fundamental level is likely to prove a more resultful endeavour for most. And reading through the Seborrheic Dermatitis – The Owner’s Manual can be a good starting point for most readers.
Summary
Dead sea salt has been used for thousands of years. Ancient civilizations held high regards for its healing power and it was traded in markets all over the world.
- Many individuals have provided strong testimonials on the effectiveness of topical sea salt application in treating and sometimes even curing seborrheic dermatitis
- The most commonly used method is to mix a teaspoon of sea salt with 1/4 liter of water and use this to soak the skin for 5-10 minutes
- When using sea salt soaks; following up with a moisturizer, avoiding eye contact and trying different types of sea salt can be useful
- Most online communities suggest that sea salt treatment can prevent malassezia overgrowth and partially works through its antifungal properties, but the research suggests otherwise
- Dead sea therapy can actually result in malassezia outgrowth and it’s most likely the positive effects of sea salt treatment are related to its impact on the skin’s inflammatory response
- Based on current nutritional advice many of us aim to reduce our sodium intake, however, dietary sodium may play a beneficial role in the health of our skin
- Searching for a single cure is likely to be less worthwhile than using the time to further understand your skin issues at a more fundamental level
In the end, I believe that sea salt treatment (sea salt of any kind) remains one of the most influential, yet poorly understood natural treatment approaches to seborrheic dermatitis. If you would like more information in regards to my approach or would like to share your experience please drop a comment below.
Hi i was just wondering , did the sea salt remedy help out with reducing the redness?
Reply PermalinkHey,
Haven’t updated the site for a bit.
The sea salt remedy was really great at first and reduced the redness fast. Made my skin almost a pale/tan color. However, after that it was on and off (sometimes worked, sometimes didn’t). I stopped using it since it made my skin dry.
Recently I finally found a pretty solid solution for my skin though.
Reply PermalinkI’ve sent you an email to the address you provided with the details. Please let me know if my method works for you.
Michael can you email me that solution also
Reply PermalinkHi Ted,
Thanks for leaving a comment. I’ve gone ahead and just written out my current regimen on the website.
You can see it in detail here: https://skindrone.com/2014/09/seborrheic-dermatitis-skin-regimen/
Please let me know if you want more details or feel like I’ve left anything out.
Reply PermalinkWould be happy to help as seborrheic dermatitis was really affecting quality my life at one point.
Hi! Just to give a big thank you from portugal! Started using sea salt and it helps a lot!
Reply PermalinkHi Roberto,
Reply PermalinkThank you for the positive comment.
Glad to hear that it helped you!
In which method are you currently using the sea salt?
Hi, I have been suffering from SD on my scalp for a year and half now and I
Reply Permalinkhave been to a few dermatologists and all they give me is prescriptions for
cortisteriods and dandruff shampoo but research further these things are temporary
fixes and in the end you will lose your hair faster . So I ordered a natural dandruff
shampoo it doesn’t smell all that pretty but applying a bunch of creams does not
either so you weigh the two evils right? I live by the ocean and started going to
the beach every weekend, filled up two gallon jugs of beach water changed to a gluten
free diet not that I was allergic to gluten but I may have a sensitivity and actually
my scalp felt good going to the beach… well now the weather is getting cooler and
my scalp is in aggravation mode so last night I took my dead sea salt and purified water
and dissolved it to a two cup rinse and 8 oz to a spray bottle and used it on my scalp this
morning nice… M intuition told me to try it I did and I will keep on doing it . I believe in my
heart that salt makes the difference like yourself I wasn’t much of a salt person but since I
developed this I have actual cravings for salt and the salt water has proven more beneficial
then creams and shampoos from a dermatologist and saved my hair from probably more
falling out. I hear all of you that suffer from this it is rather depressing but learning in your own
way how to deal with it you find the hope that is not the end. I miss nice smelling shampoos
but the aggravation of what I feel could not match the one day of a nice smelling shampoo
that is for sure so bland I will be … Salt and more salt is what I say… oils be gone!
Furthermore, pure aloe is wonderful if yo u live in an environment that can grow it please
Reply Permalinkmake yourself a plant of aloe you will be so happy you did. The aloe in it’s purest form
soothes the inflammation of the dermatitis even on the scalp … I use pure aloe on my face each morning
instead of anything chemical …
Can the mixture be put on your scalp?
Reply PermalinkHi Susan. Thanks for the details.
Glad to hear that you found something that works for you!
Which natural anti dandruff shampoo did you end up trying? Jasons?
For me I ended up getting some natural one from Amazon with Pale Shale Oil, but it was like 30 dollars for a small tube. So that was a bit too steep for a re-order.
Currently I’m just using a “mostly” natural moisturizing shampoo, seems to be working fine.
The salt added back to my diet seems to really have helped. Also avoid milk as much as I can, as it seemed to closely correlate with flare ups for me in the past.
Stuff with gluten makes up large part of my diet. When looking for the cause of my seborrheic dermatitis other forums convinced me that gluten was responsible.
At that time I did everything I could to stay away from gluten, but honestly avoiding gluten didn’t seem to have any direct effects for me.
Also washing with sea salt is really nice. Seems to almost fortify the hair.
Reply PermalinkYeah, I heard great things about Aloe.
It’s been used in my family since I was little and my parents always have a few plants around the house.
For some reason anytime I tried to apply freshly squeezed aloe on my seborrheic dermatitis, my skin would go crazy, becoming even more inflamed!
Knowing how amazing aloe vera is I kept attempting to use it against the seborrhea, but always had the same result (inflammation).
However, I’ve read quite a few posts of people saying it has done wonders for their dermatitis.
Reply PermalinkFor me this was a prime example of “Everyones skin is different”.
When using sea salt on my scalp I usually massage it in. Leave it for a couple minutes. Than shampoo the hair to remove the residue.
Other times I don’t even shampoo. However, using too much or too often seems to dry the scalp for me (which is why I usually shampoo).
Before when I had thick scaling on the scalp. Baking soda seemed to do the trick a bit quicker than sea salt.
All the best.
Reply PermalinkHi, I started salt treatment almost two weeks ago. It’s a carnalite dead sea salt, and i’m adding one and a half teaspoon for 1 litre of hot water. I mix it in a bowl and then soak my face in it for several minutes (5-10). After 1st week there was a huge improvement on the affected by SD areas (i have it around my nose and under eyes, on ‘good days’ you can see almost a full butterfly. In my case it’s only reddish, it doesn’t flake, before salt treatment it was greasier than other parts of face and i had to wash it few times a day cause it got sweaty.) All redness ALMOST disappeared, you could still see from close distance that something is not alright. 2 days ago, after 12 days of doing my morning/evening soaking regime, SD returned and i don’t know what to do. It seems that my skin got used to salt, becasue in first week when i was working out i litteraly sweated out all this salt I ingested in by soaking. I also felt like i ate some salt, not anymore, it’s like my skin stopped absorbing it. Can you please give me some tip? Should I continue my regime, buy a new pack of salt (this one is going to end i few days) cause maybe it will change for good(little pimples appeared, since SD started in octobre i havent got any in infected area). I’ve read about honey treatment on your GREA GREAT site and I think that I’ll try it next if salt completely fail, but six months…man, it’s so long. I’m 20 and deeply depressed, I’ll appreciate any help from you. Greetings
Reply PermalinkHi Mathieu,
Thanks for the positive feedback.
It’s hard for me to say if you should keep going or that the sea salt won’t help any longer. My experience was pretty much identical to yours. At first they worked exceptionally well (skin calmed down, flakes went away). Then one day (couple weeks in) the salt treatments just seemed to stopped working. Flaking and redness returned and the salt became ineffective. Hard to say why this happened/happens.
In terms of the honey treatment, the one documented in the medical study is quite intense. I was never able to stick to such a strict regimen. Maybe that’s why I was never able to fully make it go away with the honey. However, overall it did seem to be better for me than the sea salt treatment. Even after it became less effective, it was still quite good at controlling it and keeping flakes at bay. The biggest issue was the amount of time the treatment took.
Not sure if your have read this post, but I try to sum up mostly everything I tried (some stuff is missing, but it’s a huge post as is). Towards the end of it I describe my current treatment technique. That regimen has been working out quite well for me and my seborrheic dermatitis hasn’t bugged me for ~9 months now.
Additionally I believe the whole depression, stress, and anxiety add another layer to the seborrheic dermatitis problem. It seems to almost create a cycle, which can drastically diminish results.
The right information is good, but too much information seems to create a ton of problems.
Lot’s of the forums I have come across in my journey have had a lot of disheartening info… This definitely didn’t help. Reflecting and mentally going back to when things were normal really helped calm the mind.
Hopefully you find something that works for you on a long term basis as well.
If you do end up trying my approach, let me (and other readers) know how it works out.
Best of luck and take care!
Reply PermalinkJust really started treating mine after realizing my eyebrows are disappearing. Didn’t have any sea salt in hand so used table salt. Worked some at least. I feel so clean right now.
Reply PermalinkIm testing this method I went to mama jeans health food store and picked up “real salt natures first sea salt” is that going to be what I would use
Reply PermalinkHi Amber,
Thanks for the update. Yeah I always wondered if table salt would be as effective. In a way I thought it might potentially even work better due to the added iodine.
What method did you use to apply it for the eyebrows? Just the simple facial soak?
Reply PermalinkHi Kathi,
Thanks for the update. Hopefully it works out for you. Personally I think most the sea salt is the same. The expensive dead sea salt from Amazon had worse results for me than regular Trader Joes stuff.
If you find the time, drop an update as you have some time to test the salt. Additionally this post might be of use. It’s my most comprehensive summary of my whole experience with seborrheic dermatitis.
All the best and look forward to any updates.
Reply PermalinkI mixed a pile of salt in my T-gel shampoo lol. Let it sit for a few minutes. Washed my face with the salt/shampoo.
Reply PermalinkSounds like a crazy combination. Lol. T-Gel was powerful enough for me on it’s own. You think the combo made it better?
Also a good friend of mine used Castor Oil and Caffeine to get a grasp on premature balding. Maybe something too look at. However, not sure how it either of those would interact with seborrheic dermatitis.
Best of luck.
Reply PermalinkMy scalp irritated easily with this problem. I e tried three different dermatologists and nine work. Only relief I get is when I have very short hair so I have to cut my hair ever 10-14 days. How much salt to water do I need to use for my scalp and how long do I keep it on. Thank you in advance
Reply PermalinkHi Art,
Sorry for the delay in response. For the salt I was using about a teaspoon mixed and just rubbed it into my scalp.
For me it seemed to help better than most of the other natural treatments. However, sometimes it would work while other times it wouldn’t. Not sure why this happened. Apple cider vinegar on the scalp was okay as well, but same thing (sometimes worked, sometimes didn’t).
Anti-fungal shampoos (Head and Shoulders or Tgel) always seemed to work though. However, they often left the hair feeling unhealthy. For about the past year I stopped doing everything and just switched to a highly moisturizing shampoo and it seemed to work. But, here again I’m not sure if it’s because of the shampoo or from taking l-glutamine. Take a look at this post, I’ve tried to outline my whole journey (most the treatments I tried are here).
Short hair did seem to help when I had issues, but I don’t think it was the decisive factor.
Hope that helps and look forward to hearing any updates.
Reply PermalinkI have it really bad. Knew I had scalp issues but didn’t realize it was the reason my face was so red until my eyebrows started disappearing and I had to do something. T-gel gave a bit of relief, but mostly just left me itching crazy. So I discovered salt. Helped a bit more, but ultimately it has proved not to be any kind of quick cure.
Apple Cider Vinegar is a God sent so far. Haven’t been this white and flake free in years and this with a few applications in one day. I pour some diluted over my head in the shower. I have some diluted in a spray bottle for touch ups which also gives my hair a lot of body! And I have some in a little container to use as an astringent. Much better than salt!!!
Reply PermalinkI’ve been using dead sea salt for my scalp. At first, it was almost magical (though extremely painful) to use. I was mixing it with my conditioner to make it easy to apply. Now, it doesn’t seem to make quite a strong improvement. It really only ever reduced itching and reduced the amount of flaky. It never cleared up my SD completely. I saw your other post about your current regiment and might have to give those things a try.
Is there a better way to be using sea salt on my scalp as a topical relief? Direct application in the conditioner can be quite painful if there are open lesions or cracking. Would soaking my scalp in water be better? If so, what do you think would be a useful concentration?
Reply PermalinkDiluted apple cider vinegar gives serious relief.
Reply PermalinkThanks for the update. Great to hear that it’s working out so well.
Reply PermalinkIf you like, send I can append your specific approach to the main ACV post.
The best way I found was the head dunks. Rubbing the salt into my scalp was okay as well, but not as effective. For the soaks I was using about a teaspoon and half for about 2-3 litres of water. It was never precise thought, I just kind of put in as much I felt would make the water similar salinity to ocean water.
Not sure how this would work out, but looking back I might have considered adding a drop of iodine to the water if I was still going with this treatment approach. Way back I tried directly applying pure iodine on the spots, but that was way too crazy and slightly burnt my skin.
It’s strange to see why the salt stops working so quickly. For me it was quite magical at first too, for about a week I was riding high and thought I had everything figured out. Then it kind of just stopped working.
Even now though, I still think sodium and iodine might play a role however. I eat quite a bit of iodine rich foods and I’m not really watching my sodium intake as intensely as I did before. This seems to help the sweat glands behave more naturally.
Let me know which route you end up perusing. Best of luck either way!
Reply Permalinkhi
Reply PermalinkI am suffering fron SD too on my face nd scalp
Right now I am applying the creams and shampoos which r prescribed by dermatologist but I am not getting the effective results.Even I feel like this SD becomes worst when I apply facewash.What should I do? Should I use dead sea salt or apple cider vineger? I scared of SD.Plzz reply soon
Hi Neerja,
Thanks for checking in. Sorry, but I don’t really have a clear cut answer.
This is the regimen that has worked for me. Other readers have reported great results as well, but others didn’t see any changes. Additionally, it might be fairly difficult to find the Restoraderm wash in Indian, but I’m not sure. Perhaps you can update in this regard.
Overall these appear to be the three most popular treatments on this site so far:
Another post that might be of interest to you is this one. It’s basically an outline of my experience with everything that I had attempted.
Hope that helps and sorry I don’t have a clear answer for you.
Unfortunately, seborrheic dermatitis appears to be quite complex and differs significantly among sufferers.
I’m currently going through a ton of medical papers trying to find a more concrete answer. Will update as I have more details
All the best.
Reply PermalinkThanks for response MICHAEL
Reply PermalinkCan u tell me one more thing?? From where should I oreder it online?? I mean which one will be the best…
Hi Neerja,
Just to clarify, what are you trying to order?
Reply PermalinkApple cider vinegar
Reply PermalinkHi Neerja,
Braggs apple cider vinegar is really popular here in North America. However, in my experience it really doesn’t matter all that much.
Seems like any quality apple cider vinegar is practically the same.
Perhaps check out some local stores. I would imagine it would be available.
All the best. Let me know how things turn out.
Reply PermalinkIm really interested to all the information re: SD. Right now Im suffering itchy scalp and some small rashes in different areas of my body and I am already so depressed about it…
Reply PermalinkThanks for the info…
Hi Nenita,
Hope some of the info helps. If you haven’t done so already consider reading through this post.
It’s a quite long, but covers my whole experience with SD. Strange enough my scalp went away as my face got under control.
Hope some of the information on the site helps.
Reply PermalinkAll the best.
I tried the pink himalayan salt baths and afterwards it gave me terrible terrible itching… Dont understand why
Reply PermalinkHi Eateban,
It’s really hard to say why this happens.
I’ve had similar experience. Sometimes it would burn, other times it calm it instead.
However, I wasn’t using himalayan salt, just regular sea salt or dead sea salt.
Also I had magnesium salt flakes. These burnt my skin like crazy.
Strange thing is that it (the magnesium flakes) would burn and then actually provide relief. But it didn’t really provide a fix though.
Hope that helps.
Reply PermalinkHi Michael,
I have had seborrheic dermatitis on my eyebrows for almost 5 years. it started as a Gunk of dead skin on my eyebrow and grows into a full blown flaking all over my eyebrows.
the problem with SD in eyebrow is that it causes serious hair-falling and get me stressed, sparse eyebrow looks terrible on me, and the worst part is that i am a 17 years old teen boy. my appereance matters so much for me :’( :’(
all these 5 years, i tried to treat my eyebrow with Shampoos like Head nShoulders, Selsun, and Nizoral 2%, LIMITED TO NO SUCESS AT ALL :’ :’
so, my question is, is it safe to apply Sea Salt to my eyebrows??
i am a little bit obsessive and i don’t want my eyebrows to fall, each time it falls my heart mourn out of anxiety and depression,
thanks for reading,
reading your post actually sparks a new hope in me!
i hope someday, we will ALL be freed from SD .
THANKS
recently i moved from indonesia to New zealand, the weather in NZ was so cold and it gets my SD worse,
Reply PermalinkHi Nicholas,
Sorry to hear about your story, however you are not alone and quite a large number of people face the same issue you as you (me being one of them). Best thing to do is to try and stay calm, and perhaps start a food journal.
One of the biggest things that had a negative impact on my SD was all the crap information on the internet regarding the topic. So be careful online and always be sceptical when reading.
Sea salt is safe for all skin, however you might have issues if your skin is excessively raw and damaged. In this case the sea salt will cause burning and can irritate the skin further.
A way to overcome this obstacle is by simply diluting with more water, until no irritation occurs. However, then the solution may not be as effective.
If you haven’t yet, consider checking out the “Overview of Seborrheic Dermatitis Face Treatments” post. I’ve covered as much as possible from my experience there. The Cetaphil products mentioned in that post have had fairly good success for a significant amount of people, but some reported irritation. So try to get samples if possible. Additionally, you may want to consider joining the community, as it’s a good chance to communicate with others going down the same road.
I’m currently trying to write a book on the subject. However, it’s quite hard as most of the medical community currently has no clear explanation for why some of us have SD, while others don’t. However, I believe I’ve uncovered a few things that may connect us. Will email you with any updates on this (need to do a bit more testing).
Hope that helps and all the best.
Reply PermalinkHey Michael,
Reply PermalinkI used the salt method last night for my facial SD using the mixture of half a tea spoon to 250ml, I watered my face then poured the salt mixture of my face leaving it for 5 minutes then I washed off, in the morning (now) the redness was reduced but the SD is still there, so I have a few questions, how long should I keep doing this method for e.g 1 every day or twice a week? And will my SD be gone in how much time ? Thank you
Hi Connor,
If your SD keeps improving, simply keep at it. On average I found that it takes about a week for everything to clear up (if treatment is actually working).
For me though, the sea salt seemed to become less effective over time and then stopped working all together.
A more complete outline of everything I’ve tried is outlined in the “Overview of Seborrheic Dermatitis Face Treatments” post.
The Restoraderm mentioned there has been working for about a year now. However, just in the past month I think I may have found a more specific (food) related issue. However, I still need time to know for sure. If you want a preview of that approach there is a link and password for it in this comment on that overview post.
Let me know if I’ve missed anything or if you want any other questions.
Reply PermalinkHope that helps mate and best of luck.
Okay yeah I’ll keep it up for a couple more days and see how it goes! I’ll read the other overview of seboherric dermantits later in the morning. Perhaps a preview would be good thanks
one more question, should i just wash it over my skin or let in soak in and use a cotton bud? Which method is better in your opinion? Thanks heaps Michael
Reply PermalinkAlso when I do apply the salt with water on the face it doesn’t seem to sting? Is that normal
Reply PermalinkHi Connor,
Reply PermalinkFor me, I found that the facial soaks were much more effective than just washing with it. After the soak, I would typically rinse with cold water and let air dry.
All the best.
In terms of the stinging, I found a big factor to be the state of the SD. If the skin is damaged you may experience some stinging. If it is just in the general inflamed & dry state, the sea salt shouldn’t cause any stinging. However, I guess the concentration of the sea salt will also play a role.
Reply PermalinkYes this actually seems to mirror my own experiments in regards to my thinking in slightly changing my my skins ph using added sodium chloride aka table salt in a 2ltr bottle of water and drank over the course of 2 hours in the gym. I have found that the skin around my nose and sides of face became clearer currently I have stopped this to check what happens and I’m having a flare up going on to use it again and I’ll post back
Reply PermalinkSounds good. Thanks for the update!
Reply PermalinkI’ve sent you a private message as well, with all the current done book chapters (still working on the editing though).
All the best mate.
I am trying a higher salt diet along with Sea salt plus distilled water face soaks at 1/2 tsp per liter h2o.
Reply PermalinkThis new research study lead me to try this.
“Cutaneous Na storage strengthens the antimicrobial barrier function in skin…”
With a conclusion that increasing sodium content in the skin by a high salt diet boosted activation of macrophages and promoted cutaneous antimicrobial defense. Now you have a mechanism of action for the healing of seb derm.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the article. Good to see some data to explain what I had experienced as well.
The only issue though is it may not be a good approach long-term or individuals who have medical reasons for avoiding too much sodium.
How has this approach been going for you?
This is what I’ve been doing for a bit more than a month now.
All the best.
Reply PermalinkMy problem is seboreich derm in my eyebrows bad to the point of so much inflammation and scale til eyebrow hair is falling out. I’m gonna try this because my sodium is always low and this seems to sound very interesting
Reply Permalink