My teenage daughter has been struggling with seborrheic dermatitis and more recently fungal acne on her face. She has tried everything- topical antifungals, anti dandruff shampoo, zinc pyrithione soap etc. Nothing worked. She couldn't even cover her spots with concealer when she went out because her skin was so sensitive that any chemical on her skin would cause a further eruption of the yeast infection. So miserable....
A couple of days ago I discovered that there is a clinical trial underway testing to see whether Vaseline will stop a seborrheic dermatitis flare, and my daughter decided to give Vaseline a try. 12 hours after the first application the dermatitis started to flake off. 24 hours later her skin was soft and smooth. 36 hours on and the fungal acne is going down and she has had no new spots since she started applying the Vaseline. If the Vaseline continues to work its magic she should have completely clear skin in days.
I think the medical profession have got their understanding of these malassezia ovale infections completely wrong. On the American Academy of Dermatologists website they state Vaseline makes seb derm worse! Maybe there is more than one underlying cause for these fungal infections- but in my daughter's case it was probably dry air from the central heating that dried out and damaged her skin (southern hemisphere- end of winter here) and enabled the yeast to get established. Most of the medical treatments just further dried out her skin and made things worse.
I hope our experience helps someone out there.
I have seborrheic dermatitis on face with acne prone skin. I tried many things. This works best:
1. Clean face with pine tar soap, once a day. Helps with SD, helps ACNE, helps allergies, good for dy skin.( do your research)
2. Cut refined sugar and such products. Focus on raw foods mosty. Avoid fried foods. Drink lots of water.
3. Get zinc supplements. Daily dosage about 50 mg. Some takes more but doesnt really need to and it can be dangerous taken more than 100-150.
4. Vitamin A, vitamin C, but try getting them from fruits, juicing is the best way (carrot, beets, apples, broccoli.. (also read about alkalizing foods-they are good)
5. If she has been taken lots of antibiotics in the past, it's good to take a course of probiotics.
note: do your own research about this. I found that my own researching is more effective than all the doctors I had visit.
No magic in few days. Give this regime at least a month, if not cleared you will see improvements.
Since she is teen, not sure about bowel cleanse or liver clease, but usually young people are those who eat the junk foods, which can definitely cause such problems.
What ever you try do not use corticosteroids.
Hope I've helped.
I have seborrheic dermatitis on face with acne prone skin. I tried many things. This works best:
1. Clean face with pine tar soap, once a day. Helps with SD, helps ACNE, helps allergies, good for dy skin.( do your research)
2. Cut refined sugar and such products. Focus on raw foods mosty. Avoid fried foods. Drink lots of water.
3. Get zinc supplements. Daily dosage about 50 mg. Some takes more but doesnt really need to and it can be dangerous taken more than 100-150.
4. Vitamin A, vitamin C, but try getting them from fruits, juicing is the best way (carrot, beets, apples, broccoli.. (also read about alkalizing foods-they are good)
5. If she has been taken lots of antibiotics in the past, it's good to take a course of probiotics.
note: do your own research about this. I found that my own researching is more effective than all the doctors I had visit.
No magic in few days. Give this regime at least a month, if not cleared you will see improvements.
Since she is teen, not sure about bowel cleanse or liver clease, but usually young people are those who eat the junk foods, which can definitely cause such problems.
What ever you try do not use corticosteroids.
Hope I've helped.
Is there any specific brand of pine tar soap you use?
Is there any specific brand of pine tar soap you use?
Not really. I red that grandpa's pine tar is the best, but I can't afford it in my country, simply cuz shipment is too expensive. I rotate 3 brands made in my own country.
Pine tar is pine tar. Don't think the brand is essential. I know it's good to be creosote free, but I don''t really care about that...
Is there any specific brand of pine tar soap you use?
Not really. I red that grandpa's pine tar is the best, but I can't afford it in my country, simply cuz shipment is too expensive. I rotate 3 brands made in my own country.
Pine tar is pine tar. Don't think the brand is essential. I know it's good to be creosote free, but I don''t really care about that...
Alrighty, thanks for the feedback. I found Grandpa's on Amazon for super cheap, might have to give it a shot.
how drying is pine tar soap?
Pine tar should be less drying than any other soaps. My skin feels it that way.
Am I doing something wrong? Because the pine tar leaves white residue and leaves my face feeling sticky. I absolutely hate the feeling of coconut oil, which pine tar does contain.
white residue on the face while or after you washed and dried it?
Vaseline isn't comedogenic- you would think it would be because it feels greasy- but it seems pretty safe on acne prone skin in our experience. Actually- in my dsughter's case it seems to prevent acne breakouts that happen from the use of make-up foundation. If she is going out and needs to put on makeup she now puts a really thin film of vaseline on (and wipes off any excess- it really is just the thinnest of films) before she applies foundation. Usually she would have a new spot or two the next day but with the vaseline her skin stays clear. I guess it stops any pore blocking ingredients from the makeup from getting into her pores.She is prone to breakouts from pretty much all foundations- even the supposedly non-comedogenic ones- she has really touchy skin. She eats really healthy too and takes vitamins so there is no bad lifestyle choices behind her skin problems.
I would love to see pics of your daughters skin. I was told I have seb derm but diet, all the antifungals and topicals have not worked. I have extremely large pores and tons of clogs already in my chin but have seb derm there as well. How hard is it to spread on her face and where is the acne vs the seb derm?
Wicky- I don't have any photos of her skin at its worst. She had seb derm on her forehead and cheeks and folliculitis on her chin and cheeks. This is what her seb derm looked like http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/dermnet/seborrheicdermatitis67.html but much more extensive- it covered most of her forehead and cheeks. The yeast follicultis was big pustules- we thought it was a staph infection but antibiotics wouldn't cure it and the pustules finally went away with the vaseline as did the seb derm. Her acne caused by makeup is just a few little red spots that go away in a few days- nothing major.
She used a thick layer of Vaseline several times a day- it is easy to spread once it gets warm from your skin. The yeasts that cause seb derm are living organisms that need oxygen and moisture to survive and reproduce- I think the vaseline works by effectively suffocating them.
She was looking in the mirror yesterday and commented she couldn't believe how completely normal her skin looked now. You would never know how bad things were a few months ago. She has no seb derm at all now or folliculitis. She isn't using thick layers of vaseline daily anymore- she only uses it few times a week now for protecting her skin under makeup. It is coming into summer here and the increased UV in the sunlight is probably also helping to keep the yeasts at bay .
hi. i need your help. i used tretinoin and salycilic acid topicals for 3 yrs and i stopped because i exprience rashes from it. i did a lot of experimenting with the right toner and moisturizer but my face is now very oily yet dehydrated plus very hypereactive to anything. ii went to a homeopath but i only received less results/ my face is now covered with moderate -severe acne and was diagnosed with mild seborrheic dermatitis. i am torn between starting the topical meds ,my dermatologist prescribed. i am scared because i heard antibiotics can make the seb derm worse and i dont know how to get rid of my acne. i am so depressed. plus my husband wants to have a baby., i really dont know what to do. i used to have clear skin but now i dont want to go out anymore. i am always at home searching the web for good treatments. now, i only use cetaphil cleanser but i cant use a moisturizer because every moisturizer that i tried stings my face
I am starting the same course of treatment.
Coal tar soap wash twice a day (morning / night).
Vaseline right after the wash, while skin is still wet.
Nothing has worked so far, to rid me of cysts appearing once or twice a month.
I hope this is gonna work!
Had acne for the past 20 years, and was diagnosed with SD 5 months ago.
ana124, good to hear that Vaseline worked so well. Theres some science to support this. Seb derm is usually caused by a yeast (aka fungus) called malassezia, which is lipid dependent, which means its metabolism requires oil, but these oils or fatty acids required by malassezia are only those oils with carbon chain lengths of C10 to C24. See, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 15731574.
Vaseline is 100% white petrolatum, which is composed of very long carbon chains of C25 to C30, so it has the potential to starve out malassezia.
One problem with Vaseline is that its terribly insoluble in water you cant completely wash it off or combine it with anything else. The stickiness of Vaseline is a an aesthetic problem for long term use, but, Vaseline changes from a gel to a liquid at 120 degrees F, and then it can be mixed 50/50 with any other lotion simply by stirring while hot, and after cooling, it will completely emulsify into the lotion, so you can combine Vaseline with other medicated lotions, for example, anti-acne products.
Aquaphor is similar to Vaseline, but its 41% white petrolatum.
On 11/14/2012 at 12:27 AM, santababy said:hi. i need your help. i used tretinoin and salycilic acid topicals for 3 yrs and i stopped because i exprience rashes from it. i did a lot of experimenting with the right toner and moisturizer but my face is now very oily yet dehydrated plus very hypereactive to anything. ii went to a homeopath but i only received less results/ my face is now covered with moderate -severe acne and was diagnosed with mild seborrheic dermatitis. i am torn between starting the topical meds ,my dermatologist prescribed. i am scared because i heard antibiotics can make the seb derm worse and i dont know how to get rid of my acne. i am so depressed. plus my husband wants to have a baby., i really dont know what to do. i used to have clear skin but now i dont want to go out anymore. i am always at home searching the web for good treatments. now, i only use cetaphil cleanser but i cant use a moisturizer because every moisturizer that i tried stings my face
I made my seb derm super bad by over moisturizing (it developed from one day to the next and it propagated crazy severelyfor 7 days before I had the sense to stop moisturizing) the one thing I tried that I strongly recommend everyone with fungal acne to take isZinc Cream Margarite 1 oz Cream. I got it online & it cleared the fungal acne that developedlike magic
On 10/19/2012 at 2:25 PM, ana124 said:Vaseline isn't comedogenic- you would think it would be because it feels greasy- but it seems pretty safe on acne prone skin in our experience. Actually- in my dsughter's case it seems to prevent acne breakouts that happen from the use of make-up foundation. If she is going out and needs to put on makeup she now puts a really thin film of vaseline on (and wipes off any excess- it really is just the thinnest of films) before she applies foundation. Usually she would have a new spot or two the next day but with the vaseline her skin stays clear. I guess it stops any pore blocking ingredients from the makeup from getting into her pores.She is prone to breakouts from pretty much all foundations- even the supposedly non-comedogenic ones- she has really touchy skin. She eats really healthy too and takes vitamins so there is no bad lifestyle choices behind her skin problems.
Hi, I am intrigued by your post. I have SD & was recommended by my dermatologist to use Vanicream & face wash. These have been helpful in keeping my skin calm. When I have flare ups -irritation, itching, redness & scaling acts up around my forehead, nose and chin I resorted to Vaseline just because I put it on my lips for moisturizing. One day my SD was so bad it hurt to laugh because it would crack the corners of my mouth, so I used Vaseline in the hope it would stop the dryness. I noticed it helped so I decided to apply it on my nose too. It really helps me with the scaliness & itching.Where did you hear of the Vaseline trial? I would love to follow up on this.
On 10/19/2012 at 2:25 PM, ana124 said:Vaseline isn't comedogenic- you would think it would be because it feels greasy- but it seems pretty safe on acne prone skin in our experience. Actually- in my dsughter's case it seems to prevent acne breakouts that happen from the use of make-up foundation. If she is going out and needs to put on makeup she now puts a really thin film of vaseline on (and wipes off any excess- it really is just the thinnest of films) before she applies foundation. Usually she would have a new spot or two the next day but with the vaseline her skin stays clear. I guess it stops any pore blocking ingredients from the makeup from getting into her pores.She is prone to breakouts from pretty much all foundations- even the supposedly non-comedogenic ones- she has really touchy skin. She eats really healthy too and takes vitamins so there is no bad lifestyle choices behind her skin problems.
Hi, I am intrigued by your post. I have SD & was recommended by my dermatologist to use Vanicream & face wash. These have been helpful in keeping my skin calm but when I do have flare ups & the irritation, itching, redness & scaling act up around my forehead, nose and chin I resorted to Vaseline just because I put it on my lips for moisturizing. One day my SD was so bad it hurt to laugh because it would crack the corners of my mouth so I used Vaseline in the hope it would stop the dryness. I noticed it helped then used it on my nose too. Where did you hear of the Vaseline trial? I would love to follow up on this.