On 2/24/2019 at 11:43 AM, ArnhemKnights said:Update: So it has been over 4 months since I stopped accutane. Normally I'd start seeing a lot of bumps form after 2-3 months when I stop accutane, but so far everything has been clear (knock on wood).
My routine consists of using Benzoyl Peroxide on my scalp. I then shave my head with a 2 bladed razor using barbosol aloe shaving foam. I then rinse my head with water and then apply isopropyl alcohol on my scalp using cotton balls. It may sting if you have sores, especially if you cut them. I then apply "High Time: Dare to be Bald" scalp lotion with tea tree oil 30 minutes after I shave. I also shave once every other day and only use the same razor for two shaves (when first starting, I'd use a clean one each time until your scalp clears). One other thing I do is eat a raw clove of garlic each day. Not sure if that is helping since I did all of this stuff at once... I also don't drink alcohol anymore and eat slightly less dairy, mostly cutting milk (still eat pizza and the occasional yogurt and doesn't seem to cause anything). I didn't cut sugar or gluten either...
If you can, I'd go on accutane for a bit, then shave your scalp when it clears. I may look weird being bald at 26, but I feel so much better. It can be a pain to shave every other day (I do it at night, since there is more time) but once you get into a routine, it's fine.
Edit: There is still some redness on the back of my neck, but no bumps are forming.
Hi you guys. I'm here to share my story with scalp folliculitis and let you know what cured me for good. I've always read from this blog so I thought It was my duty to share my cure with you guys.
I suffered from this condition for about 20 years. It started when I was 16-17yo. At first it was easy to manage but when I was about 23 It slowly became impossible. So my medical journey begun.
My dad is an MD, so It wasn't a problem for me to get prescription meds and visit the best dermatologists. To sum it up, they prescribed me medicated shampoos, all kinds of antibiotics for short to long term (up to 16mths) and prescription antifungals to finally prescribe me Accutane. I went on 4 courses of accutane from the ages of 24 to 30yo. The most I took was 80mg for 6 months. The last derm I saw also tried a low dose long term course, that was 20mg for 1.5 years. Guess what? same results, the effect lasted about 6 months and then the bumps slowly returned.
Well, then I went on the natural pad, trying all different kinds of herbs and organic shampoos. When that failed monumentally I was devastated. I thought...I must live with this all my life.
In the next few years I managed to find a routine that worked on reducing about 70% of the bumps and got in a stable state. This consisted on a shampoo that contained salicylic acid and ciclopirox olamine on a daily basis. The thing is that I had to scrub very well my scalp and leave the product at least 10min before rinsing. In 2016 still not satisfied with my condition, I started to do real research into hormones, the microbiome and nutrition. At first I experimented with various types of diets, from raw veganism to keto-carnivore diet. I must say that changing my diet to a whole food balance diet did very well for me, but did not cured the folliculitis. I also did an elimination diet and realized that sugar, dairy and gluten were big triggers for me. I no longer consume any of those, except for gluten from time to time but from whole food sources only. I also realized that sugar was the worse for me. Anyway, cutting those 3 things out of my life got me to about 90% bump free. But the biggest remedy I encountered in my journey was water fasting. I can say that the diet along with fasting took my health to 100%. I've been Folliculitis clear for about 2 years now...not one pimple in my scalp for 2 years.
Back to water fasting....I started with a 3 day fast, and immediately realized that it was the cure. I remember always feeling like heat sensation in my scalp and ears after dinner or after a big meal. Sometimes that was the precedent of a scalp breakout. Well, after those 3 days water fasting that went away for good. I stick to my whole food, dairy sugar and gluten free diet while doing the fast (before and after). Then I went and did a 7 day and then managed a 20 day water fasting. That change my entire health... it's truly amazing. I know now that folliculitis starts in your gut and in order to properly heal your gut you must do a fast. Taking probiotics won't help much as your gut microbiome is already screwed with all those years of bad eating and strong antibiotics. So in order to completely change your biome, you must do a fasting along with dietary changes.
I don't want to extend this, so I urge you to research about microbiome, water fasting and about whole food diets.
If you've being trying meds for a long time and not getting cured, I really urge you to look into diet and fasting...the best part....it won't cost you a thing. You don't need to eat 100% organic to get results or buy expensive supplements or probiotics. I'm talking about, potatoes, rice, fruit, veggies, meat and eggs, no more no less.
I also have to say that I now practice intermittent fasting or window eating, and never eat dinner anymore. I try to do all my eating between 8:00 and 18:00 and my weight is perfect. So I'm effectively fasting for about 13-15 hours a day.
That's it....please give diet and fasting a chance, you won't regret it.
I had to stop Roa due to the severe dryness and pain in the eyes( The head acne cameback. I was put on the highdosage of Itracinazole (antifungal). It seemed better after the month but all came back in 3 months with around 15 new places all over the scalp( I have no idea what to do at this moment and how to stop this devastating condition...
The reason water fasting works is you eliminated the food intolerances that you are reacting to from your daily schedule
It does not need to be a fast necessarily, as long as you don't consume your allergen
Beef only diets accomplish the same thing
Itraconazole for 3+ month did not help. Now I take Tetralysal(Lymeziclin) 600mg a day for a month and 300mg for the second month. Using Chloramfenicol gel 10%(Sintomizin) every day twice a day. It became a bit better after a month butstill itchy and bumps( The gel calms down the itchiness butafter the wash scalp starts to itch terribly. Talking to the derm about all this, she just said that people take lymeziclinfor 2-3 years...
For itchy scalp or skin and/or folliculitis:
Get your dermatologist to test for microscopic demodex skin mites, bacterial infection and a also a fungal infection. Each cause can require a completely different treatment.
Everybody has demodex. They are not a problem unless they get overpopulated. The mites can cause blackheads, papules, pustules and intense itching. The mites can also cause a lot of skin issues like Demodex Folliculorm - plugged pores with white plugs sticking out.
Accutane works by reducing the output of the oil glands. Accutane can starve the mite population of oil but will not kill the mites directly. Once you stop taking Accutane the mite population can rebound and you are back to square one.
A knowledgeable dermatologist can test for demodex, fungal and bacterial infections to determine the cause. The treatment for each condition is completely different. You need the right diagnosis to get a successful treatment.
If you have demodex, there is a highly effective, inexpensive, 2 week, 2 drug oral treatment available. The anti-parasitic treatment uses inexpensive, safe, generic drugs. A group of doctors published the treatment in the May 2013 International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Link to paper below or Google the title to find the current link. If needed show your dermatologist the paper.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197121201315X
"Evaluation of the efficacy of oral ivermectin in comparison with ivermectinmetronidazole combined therapy in the treatment of ocular and skin lesions of Demodex folliculorum"
For immediate relief for the scalp itching try the DIY Borax Shampoo. It really works. Borax kills the mites and is anti-microbial so it can kill fungus and bacteria too.
DIY Borax Shampoo: 1 Tablespoon 20 Muleteam Borax + 1 cup hot water, stir and cool. This is a no-suds shampoo. Massage into hair and scalp like regular shampoo. Leave on while showering, rinse at end. 20 Multeam Borax is available in the laundry aisle of most grocery stores. About $5.59 per box.
Optional Vinegar Rinse to rebalance pH of hair: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar + 3/4 cup water. Stir. Close your eyes - this can sting. Pour over scalp. Rinse. If you get it in your eyes rinse quickly with cold water.
Elaine, thank you for the post. I been having scalp problems for 5+ years and I managed to do some tests.The most dermatologist refuse to it. They say it wontshow anything. The test I did last year was for fungus and demodex, scraping skin and taking hair. It was negative. For bacterial infection it should be possible to take a pus sample which I do not have. All the bumps are deep inside and the area involves 2-10 hair follicles. So I was put on Fucidin cream for a month assuming that it might be Staff infectionwith no relief.
Nevertheless I tried to use liquid Ivermectin, Soolantra cream. I did take oral Ivermectin in the past due to cysticacne and it seemed like worked for a while... so it is not that easy, if it would be just demodex it wouldnt be such a long problem...
rinsing with the vinegar regularly, certainly will try the Borax, I read about it but somehow did not try, thank you
Borax is anti-microbial. So it may help whether the cause is demodex, fungus or bacteria. Demodex can track infection around and back down in the pores. Demodex come out on the skin surface at night to mate and then go back down into the pores.So, itsnot uncommon to have a combination of demodex with fungus and/or bacteria. If its a deeper infection it might take an oral prescription drug to treat it - either an antibiotic or the anti-fungal drug Diflucan.
Good luck with this treatment. I hope the Borax helps.
Elaine, thank you, I ordered Borax, will give it a try. I took antifungal Intrakonazole for 3+ months. It is stronger then Diflucan.After it did not work I took Tetralysal 600mg for 2 months and still on it. Both diminish the symptoms for a while but no cure.. so I am at the dead end, will retry small dosage roaccutane but all these drugs are just to diminish the symptoms but no cure.. the reason is unknown..
The Borax diminished the itching a lot. The problem is still there but not so severe so you can live with it and to sleep... thank you Elaine, for your post... I use Borax just adding the tbs into my shampoo... also I made the solution 1tbs of Borax plus 4 tbs of Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with 200mg of the water- use it all the time when it starts to itch. And added benzoyl benzoate at night..Stoped Tetralysal, no help. Was prescribed Azitromyzin/Rifampicin combination in the high dosage for 4!! Months... after 2 weeks terrible state, sick and no improvement... so stopped...demodexwas not found in the skin scrape.. but read that even biopsy might not show it and that cofocal laser microscopy is needed... just will continue and see.. a lot of info at the earthclinic site.
10 hours ago, Sibel said:The Borax diminished the itching a lot. The problem is still there but not so severe so you can live with it and to sleep... thank you Elaine, for your post... I use Borax just adding the tbs into my shampoo... also I made the solution 1tbs of Borax plus 4 tbs of Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with 200mg of the water- use it all the time when it starts to itch. And added benzoyl benzoate at night..Stoped Tetralysal, no help. Was prescribed Azitromyzin/Rifampicin combination in the high dosage for 4!! Months... after 2 weeks terrible state, sick and no improvement... so stopped...demodexwas not found in the skin scrape.. but read that even biopsy might not show it and that cofocal laser microscopy is needed... just will continue and see.. a lot of info at the earthclinic site.
I'm glad the Borax helped. Demodex are very tricky to count under a microscope. They don't like light so they tend to scuttle to the edge of the slide.
Hey all
I wanted to reply to this topic a long time ago but wanted to leave a long space of time also through my current solution to be sure it works before posting here. As anyone knows who suffers from this irritating issue is that there are plenty of things that clear it up for a month or two but nothing that deals with it long term.
Ive been suffering with this for 12 years and have tried shaving my head, surgical spirits, sulphur cream, vinegar washes, antibiotics, steroid cream and numerous other treatments. Nothing works long term but I believe I have found a long term solution for me and its not what youd expect.
Ive found that not washing my hair regularly reduces the coverage on my head down to about 2%. I have been doing this for almost a year and I can say that my scalp has been clear for all that time. I realize this sounds like the opposite of what you should do and maybe thats the problem.
since I was a kid I washed my hair everyday without thinking about it. When I was a teen I probably did it twice a day and didnt realize I was building up a bad habit. Your hair ( if your a man) does not need to be washed that regularly. I took the advice of my mother and law ( a pharmacist ) to only wash my hair once every 7-10 days and since then I have had no issues. She told me I was destroying the good microbe balance on my scalp and that seems to be the case.
I realize this sounds counter productive and possibly gross but I am free of this horrible, annoying issue for the first time in 12 years and I urge you to try it.
I'm a 23 year old male. I've been on Accutane 3 times throughout my life. 2 times during my teen years (facial acne), and also this past year I was on it for scalp issues. I was taking 80mg for 4 months and that cleared my scalp, but two months later, my scalp issues are coming back. It occurs all over my scalp but usually gets bad on the back of my scalp (just above the neck). I've also taken minocycline and doxycycline but it only helps for a little, which is why I ended up going on Accutane a 3rd time. It seems whatever this issue is, it responds well to accutane and clears almost completely in a week.A
My lifestyle- I buzz my hair short (yes I do disinfect the clippers every time and I have switched clippers several times to test and see if that was the issue. I've also tested the clippers on other body parts such as my legs to see if I get an irritation, which I don't). I go to the gym 3 times a week and shower afterwards. I don't wear hats either. I usually shower at night and use a shampoo, I've been currently testing different shampoos. Currently trying T-Gel but it has not been helping. Nizoral isn't doing much either. I'm going to try a strong Selsun Blue next. If that does nothing, I might just stop using shampoos.
Anyways, these bumps are itchy but I don't scratch. The images below, are before I went on accutane. It's not as bad now but it is coming back.
Anyone have issues like this or know the cause?
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