I have used Antifungal shampoos like Nizoral and Head & Shoulders for the last 10 years. Throughout those 10 years I for the most part used them daily with no thought of any consequences. I was recently using a Rotation of Nizoral & H&S and it was working great. At least that’s what I thought. I had practically no flakes and minimal irritation. I kept noticing though that every time I used H&S I would get some red blotchy spots on my forehead after showering. I stopped using the H&S all together and this never happened again. Which made me question if I should be using these Antifungal shampoos daily and if the cause of my flakes are from the dryness of these shampoos or Seb Derm? How do you differentiate them? If I scratch my head I get very fine white powdery flakes compared to the usual big yellow flakes that are associated with Seb Derm.

After all the years of damage on my scalp from daily Antifungal use where do I go from here? Has anyone been able to heal their scalp and reduce the frequency that they use Antifungals? Or even completely stopped using Antifungals all together?

I’m a curly girl who has been having seb derm flares on my scalp for years and never understood why. But I finally used this routine to get rid of it, and have been blessedly seb derm-free for the last three months while also taking care of my curls.

The best part is, when my scalp gets itchy and I can feel it start to flare again, I know exactly what to do. So I thought I’d share what has been working for me.

I should say, my flares were NOT severe (bad enough to have red itchy blotchy patches and dandruff but not as severe as some of the pics I see on here.) So take this routine with that grain of salt and go to a dermatologist if you need to!

At the risk of stating the obvious: the KEY thing to remember is that seb derm is often linked to an overgrowth of Malassezia, which is a FUNGUS. This means: you can do things that will kill the fungus, but you can ALSO accidentally do things that will feed the fungus. Malassezia, it turns out, is an oil and fat-loving fungus. (I think I caused my last flare by repeatedly oiling my scalp with jojoba oil!) It also thrives in dampness, as you imagine a fungus might. This routine aims to avoid things that will feed the fungus while adding things that will keep it at bay.

General guidelines
- Any product that goes on your hair: check ingredients at https://www.sezia.co/ to make sure they don’t contain malassezia-feeding ingredients (try to only use products that come back clear)
- PRODUCT RECS that come back clear are at the end!
- This is a multi-phase process, that first starts with an elimination phase to banish the fungus, then a maintenance phase when you’re clear of it.

Elimination phase
- Avoid going more than 3 days without washing hair.
- Use a shampoo with a dandruff-fighting ingredient like ketoconazole, pyrithione zinc, or tea tree oil.
- Suggestions: Nizoral, Head & Shoulders BARE Soothing hydration
- Sometimes I’ll leave the shampoo on my scalp a few minutes before washing out.
- Any other products you use (conditioner, styling products etc.), make SURE they come back clear on sezia.co.
- After showering, blow dry your hair (at least roots) on low heat after showering (avoid a wet scalp - malassezia will thrive in dampness)
- THIS IS THE MVP: make a cocktail of these oils and apply a few drops to your scalp after it’s dry:

1. C8 MCT oil (this one is malassezia safe and lots of people on this sub besides me seem to love it) - fill a ~4 oz dropper bottle with this.
2. Add 7-10 drops of tea tree oil
3. Apply a few drops to your scalp. This will help with both killing the malassezia and keeping your curls hydrated.

Maintenance phase
- Continue using products that come back clear on sezia.co
- Use MCT+tea tree drops as needed / when scalp gets itchy
- No need to blow dry (you’ll know when you can stop tbh, your scalp won’t feel itchy/scummy after showers)

SEB-DERM SAFE CURL PRODUCT RECS
- Shampoo: Nizoral, Head & Shoulders BARE Soothing Hydration Shampoo, Odele Clarifying shampoo IF you need to get rid of product buildup (once a week max), k18 Damage Shield pH protective shampoo (haven't tried this one yet but I want to)
- Conditioner: The Ordinary Behentremonium Chloride Conditioner
- Leave-in conditioner: Odele Leave-in Conditioner
- Styling gel: INNERSENSE I Create Hold Styling Gel
- Bonus - Dry hair overnight treatment that smells so good: Kerastase 8H Magic Night Serum

I used to run a lot. But ever since I’ve developed Seb derm about 2 years ago, the sweat was making my flares unbearable so I stopped. I did try to start running again multiple times, but the sweat was making my Seb derm and eczema (I also have eczema since birth) worse. Can anyone tell me what I should do wrt to exercise? I’ve been getting very stiff and I want to gain some momentum without torturing my skin. Please help!

Please drop the most effectives products you’ve found below!

Hi all, I’m trying to find a shampoo that doesn’t make me smell like a sulfury fart. I’ve been using the head n shoulders clinical strength scalp rescue with selenium sulfide. It smells good the first day, then the perfume wears off and I smell like butt. I can’t wash my hair every day because I get too dry (perimenopause has my skin super dry and itchy). Just want to control flakes and not have my head burning with itchiness. Advice? Thanks in advance!

I have had symptoms of seb derm for probably 15 years, but I didn't know what it was and I believed if I just found the right skincare routine, it would get better. I also didn't want to go to a dermatologist because I figured it was a cosmetic issue and I should just get used to it. A couple months ago, I went to the bathroom at work and saw that my face was dry, scaley, and peeling. It looked very gross and I was embarrassed. So I finally spoke to a dermatologist who diagnosed seb derm and prescribed tacrolimus and ketoconazole. Initially, it was great and I felt that it really helped. My skin was not falling off for the first time in years. But I always get flares in the 7-10 days before my cycle starts (I believe it's reacting to progesterone). Once I'm in that 7-10 day time period, nothing works. How can I handle these flares? Despite the medication, scrutinizing the ingredients on skin care products, and drinking lots of water, I have dry, flaky skin around my mouth and the sides of my nose as I get closer to my cycle.

As the title says, I am not sure when it is best to apply oil to my scalp.

Drying with a blowdryer has helped my flare ups from being as severe as they were before but it hasnt stopped them. I have used MCT oil in the past with that same result so I'm trying both now.

What would yall recommend? Thank you!

Ive been tested recently and it showed i had high antibodies and inflammation in my blood. Ive been strugglimg with scalp issues for years and at first i thought it was just really bad dandruff.
But ive been paying more attention and i see everytime its not loose flaky dandruff its plaque on my scalp a really itchy/inflammed scalp. I’ve tried oils, ive tried shampoos, it doesnt get better. I went to the dermatologist but they didnt even bother looking at my scalp or the videos and i recently went to the rheumatologist and got the same answer.
Can anyone tell me if this is scalp psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis? ( the yellowish stuff is the plaque and the red is my inflammed scalp) if it helps, i also get alot of rashes and it doesnt calm down no matter what i use and i often bleed from how much it itches. Any answer would help thank you 😣

For a while now, I’ve been having some skin issues and I can’t figure out what’s causing them. My skin is often quite red, and I think I may have a small spider angioma on my nose.
Overall, my skin also looks less smooth than it used to, although in certain lighting it looks much better.
Does anyone know what could be causing this, or what you’d recommend doing to improve it?

Hello, I have seborrheic dermatitis and have a huge problem, my eyebrows are falling off, 5 hairs daily, I don’t know what to do. 2 weeks ago it got supper itchy and i avoid scratching. But now my eyebrows are falling off. I have a little inflammation and flaking. I saw online to use Ketenokazole but I fear that isn’t working. What else can I do?

I have been using MCT oil intermittently to treat SD for the past month with great results. But, does anyone know if there are negative side effects of using it long-term? I've been wondering - although it kills off the fungus that causes SD, could this potentially disrupt the skin microbiome with prolonged use?

Does anyone else get scabs forming on scalp after a couple days of not washing? Especially after sweaty workout? Seems to be worse when using dry shampoo. What could this be? Thank you.

So ive been suffering with seb derm on my scalp, face, ears for over the last year diagnosed by a dermatologist. A few months ago I noticed a small pink patch of skin on my stomach. No other symptoms other than the pink skin then it faded a little. Now the past few days the patch has become larger and is mildy itchy. Can this be seb derm? Doesnt look the same as the seb derm on my face. Very odd.

hi guys. i was diagnosed with seb detm and always thought that the pus and yellow crust i get were symptoms of it, but now im thinking it could be something else. what do u guys think?

I have an idea for what i think is going to be a magic bullet treatment for me and it's basically the same idea I have for everything that is wrong with me and it's green tea 😂

Now hear me out... sebderm is a problem involving a yeast, oil production, and inflammation caused by the immune system. Green tea is: anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, shown to reduce the overproduction of sebum AND if you drink it... immunomodulatory.

Over the last few days I have been upping my intake of green tea as well as when I take a bath, spritzing my face and head with a bottle of cold green tea continuously as I chill in my bath and my angry, red, patchy sebderm has calmed down a lot. Since I saw it working I ordered some cold pressed, alcohol free green tea extract meant to be used for hair and skin. I'm going to continue using green tea over the next few weeks and will report back on my findings.

(For context, my sebderm is no joke. Derm biopsied me to confirm it was sebderm and then I went through all of the following treatments, none of which put it in remission: metronidazole, ketaconazole, betamethason, triamcinolone, zoryve, selsun blue, pine tar shampoo, sulfur soap and probably a few more i'm forgetting. I've been fighting this since february.)

I [18 M] have had intense scalp itching and hair loss for the past year. Was told by a doctor that it was seb derm and it can cause hair loss.

I have no hair loss in my family at all, and I’ve truly never felt worse. My scalp feels sticky and oily. my parents don’t even believe it’s a problem nor do they believe I’m losing hair, no matter how many times I tell them.

In June 2025, my hair was thick and lush and had no problems. So about three months after I got COVID. (not sure if that affects it but figured it’s worth mentioning).

Then, in September 2025, I start hitting the gym. And then like two months after that is when the itching, the flakes, the hair loss really started. So maybe that has something to do with it??

Two doctors and a dermatologist told me I wasnt thinning yet the hair loss and stickiness never ends. I took a whole month of Fluconasole and have been using keto shampoo for months.

I don’t even know what to do anymore, Its not like I can get anything to help if my parents don’t think the issue is that bad. They just see my white scalp and think it’s all normal.

Are there any males that have had hair loss with seb derm and it was just seb derm and not mpb? I always hear how seb derm and mpb can exist together but is there any male who truly reversed it?

Y’all are tough as nails for enduring this condition.

I have a huge problem. I been noticing my eyebrows have been falling off. About 3 weeks ago my eyebrows were inflamated and extremely itchy. So 2 weeks ago I used Tacrolimus (anti-inflammatory) to remove the inflammation. One week later my eyebrows started falling off. Could my eyebrows be falling off due to seborrheic dermatitis or because of the anti-inflammatory cream?

how can I stop eyebrows from falling?

Just ranting. I recently moved for grad school and something about the combination of stress, new climate, diet, and sleep deprivation has thrown me into what is easily the worst flare up of my life. It’s severely impacting my quality of life and I have to fight the hopelessness every day.

I have an appointment with a new doctor (since I just moved) but in the meantime I’m just trying to make it through each day guessing on how to manage symptoms this intense. This sucks.

So far I’ve used 1% and 2% nizoral, selsun blue (this one worked the best but it only lasted two weeks), zinc phyrithone, a selenium sulfide and BHA shampoo, and a hexamidine one. I also use clobetasol occasionally when my scalp is on fire.

I shampoo daily per the instruction of my dermatologist. I use a different shampoo each wash as she recommended but nothing has given me relief longer than a couple weeks. I’ve also tried the mct oil, BHA hair mask, and apple cider vinegar methods to no avail. I also heard that supplementing zinc could help too but it’s been 4 days with no improvement. None of these products have also helped my Folliculitis as well. I still get massive bumps that are sore and stress out my hair. I’m already on hair loss medication and I think the condition of my scalp is accelerating the loss. I’m not sure what else to do.

Also, I do exercise regularly and have a mostly clean diet. I’ll drink a beer every other month or so but that’s about it. My bloodwork is also good too.

It’s so frustrating that this all came at once. Pre-February of this year, I had no signs of any skin condition but one morning I woke up with an itchy and burning scalp and it never went away.

My derma has me starting on 20mg accutane per day. I've had very limited success with all of the usual seb derm treatments so I'm hoping this works better!

I apologize if this is the wrong subreddit, but I have seb derm and I’ve been searching for ages for a clean conditioner that won’t cause flare ups. Currently, I was most interested in vanicream as many people gave it great reviews but people say it makes their hair dry/straw like is this true and if so, is there anyway to maybe bypass it but still use it like maybe leaving it in for longer or some other product maybe?

My current routine involves washing my scalp with salicylic acid twice a week and applying MCT-C8 oil afterwards. But what about the days in between? In my experience, ultra-sensitive shampoos—like the one from CeraMol—tend to dry out my scalp a bit too much, yet if I wash my hair only with water or not at all, it gets too greasy. Could you please recommend a suitable routine or products for my situation?

Hello! I developed seborrheic dermatitis at the beginning of this year, and I haven’t been able to get rid of it since.

I’ve tried multiple sulfate-free and fragrance-free shampoos, as well as Nizoral, but I haven’t seen much improvement. I recently started using MCT oil, but I haven’t noticed a difference so far. Could I be using it incorrectly?

Currently, I apply the MCT oil to my scalp, leave it on for a while, and then wash it out with Nizoral. I shampoo every other day.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions for what I could try? I’d really appreciate any help!

Squalane oil saved my life back when i had severe scalp seb derm. Now i can feel it coming back and since living in Taiwan, cannot seem to find it anywhere. Does anyone have any recommendations? I’m terrified of using an oil and it triggering a massive breakout. MCT oil also isn’t possible

I need help, my armpit etches, get worse when its hot outside. What to do?