In the Middle of a Flare-Up? Start Here.

First things first: let’s calm this flare down. All the in-depth details about seborrheic dermatitis and long-term management can come later. Right now, you just want your skin to stop screaming at you. Below, I’ll share the quickest hacks I’ve learned (through plenty of trial, error, and late-night panic) to bring a flare under control so you can function—whether that means getting some sleep or making it through your day without constant discomfort.

Take a breath. We’re going to tackle this. You’re not alone, and more importantly, you’re not powerless. Let’s get your flare to back off—now. Then we’ll dive into the deeper stuff once you’re no longer in crisis mode.

• Cold Water

you likely don’t happen to have something like MCT oil on hand or other sebderm (seborrheic dermatits) approved products but hopefully you have cold water. Either get in the shower or even get a bowl cold water with a little ice and try to get the water on the inflamed areas for as long as you can (at least 5min). Afterwards dry off. avoid using moisturizer if you can, because the product you have will likely feed the fungus causing your aliment, but if you need to, apply as little as you can.

This is my go to if I don’t have my normal products on hand. Its not comfortable while you do it, but it will feel so much better when you are done.

The next most immediate thing you can do is go to a store near you and look for some of these products:

• Nizoral shampoo or other shampoo that contains Ketoconazole

  After using the shampoo you’ll want to moisturize. Try looking for one of these:

• La Roche Posay moisturizer Mat

• Eucerin sun face oil control

• neutrogena hydro boost water gel

• cerave moisturizing cream

  These products should be available at most local stores like a CVS and are verified safe to not feed the fungus Malassezia. I have also had luck with Burts Bees moisturizer.

  Always Use as little of these moisturizers as possible.

The most highly recommended products that you can get online to start treatment:

• Bulletproof C8 MCT Oil

• Gaia Herbs Oregano Oil

• Noble Formula 2% Pyrithione Zinc Bar

• Nizoral A-D (Ketoconazole 1%)

• Plant Therapy Tea Tree Oil (only use with MCT oil)

  All of these will help to treat the root cause of sebderm. Personally I only needed the oregano oil and that cleared up my sebderm completely. The MCT oil and tea tree oil can both help to moisturize and treat sebderm. The top moisturizers to get online would be:

• Dermazen

• Malezia

• Biossance 100% Squalane Oil

  I highley recommend that you stick to the products on this list as different brands can be missing key ingredients or have additional bad ones. Just because a different brand also says MCT oil does not mean it will actually help you.

Example treatment protocol:

As you will learn, one of the most painful parts about sebderm is that everyone has different protocols that work best for them, and sometimes the protocols will quit working after awhile. This is what do which works every time for me when I have a flare up:

• Luke warm/cold shower with Nizoral A-D (Ketoconazole 1%) on the scalp and face to help kill the fungus immediately. Leave the shampoo on the face for a few minutes before rinsing off. You can also use Noble Formula 2% Pyrithione Zinc Bar instead. I usually only need to do this 2-3 days.

• I then moisturize with Burts Bees. I find the colder I make the shower, the less I need. I would advise using Bulletproof C8 MCT Oil or Biossance 100% Squalane Oil over Burts bees, but thats what I already have and its good enough for me.

• I start taking Gaia Herbs Oregano Oil every day. I do 4 capsules for the first few days then drop of to 2 a day.

  Important: for me, this is an aggressive protocol for when i’m in the middle of a bad flare up. I usually have perfectly clear skin within a week of this; it is good to cycle off the oregano oil after 2 weeks and only use when you feel it starting to come back. I will have articles on long term care in other parts of the website. This is just the quick and dirty to get you by for now.

you now have the basics to help you make it through the week. I highly recommend browsing the rest of the site in your free time to learn what sebderm is, what else you may have, what your triggers are, and how to formulate your own chronic treatment plan.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, the information on this site is not medical advice.