Rosacea Support Community

UPDATE: I've put together a FAQ about the raw honey & virgin coconut oil treatment. Here's the link: http://www.rosaceagroup.org/The_Rosacea ... post241862

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There's no cure for seb derm, unfortunately. Antibiotics do not help. I don't know if an oral antifungal (e.g., Lamisil) would help; they tend to be very heavy on the liver, btw. Please do not use steroid creams on your face, they will cause major problems in the long run.

Some people get very thick scales (sometimes so thick they are referred to as "plugs") and flakes on face and scalp while others get very little or no flakes at all. Dryness, redness and itching seem to be the most common symptoms.

In my case, seb derm presented itself most likely as a result of hormonal fluctuation back in March '09. I had no idea what had hit me until I found this forum.

Following recommendations, I tried several products (creams and ointments containing zinc, Head&Shoulders shampoo, tea tree oil, jojoba oil) which did not work. Luckily, one day I learned about this study, and decided to give this natural treatment using raw honey a try.

For this treatment you need raw honey sold at health food shops in crystallized form (it should look like this - can't comment on the brand in the picture because I buy mine from a local beekeeper).

Supermarket honey is liquid because it's been heated to prevent crystallization; unfortunately, the heating process destroys the beneficial properties of honey. Fortunately, during the summer and well into the fall you will be able to get inexpensive raw honey from local beekeepers which will be in liquid form because it's just been extracted from the hives. No need to buy that very expensive Manuka honey for this.

If you live in the US, enter your zip code here to find apiaries/beekeepers in your area.

If you live overseas try contacting the National Association of Beekeepers in your country. Ask around in your area, there are beekeepers in every town. A friend of a friend may know someone who keeps bees in his/her backyard. Go to a farmers' market, someone there will help you find good local raw honey.

Now, for the treatment, basically, you have to mix honey and water (90% honey, 10% room temperature water) and apply it all over your face and scalp and leave it on for 3 hours, you'll do this every other day for four weeks and then, if your symptoms have subsided completely, you will switch to one treatment a week, for maintenance.

Two dripping teaspoons of honey (meaning, measure generously) should be enough for your face and scalp. If your hair is long, you may want to start applying on the scalp first. How do you measure 10% of water? I just eyeball it. Less than half of a teaspoon of room temperature water may just do the trick.

If you have dandruff or flakes/scales near your hairline, you will need to apply on the scalp even if it does not itch because, if you don't, the fungus that causes seb derm will colonize the areas where the honey isn't applied.

For the scalp it's easier to just part the hair and apply the honey with your fingers, to the scalp only, not the hair. I tried using a hair color brush and it was a complete mess, it's easier and faster using your fingers.

So, again, every other day, you'll cleanse first (avoid using soap, something like Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser would be fine, if it doesn't irritate your skin) and apply the honey mask for three hours then rinse off with room temperature water and moisturize face (if you take a shower, shampoo your scalp just lightly and don't let the shampoo or hot water touch your face).

The day in between the honey treatments, cleanse and moisturize morning and evening.

Cleansing is very important because it removes rancid oils and dust. Moisturizing is vital to keep the skin hydrated. Before I learned about virgin coconut oil, I used to use a moisturizing cream but the oil works much better.

During the first week, I could see results: less itching, fewer flakes, redness started to subside. By the second week my face felt hydrated and supple. By week 4 all seb derm symptoms were gone: no itching/dryness/redness/inflammation and no visible flakes.

This treatment is very messy but it really works, nevertheless, please be aware of the fact that the fungus that causes seb derm will recolonize in no time if you interrupt the treatment. I should know. After two months of weekly maintenance treatments I got lazy and stopped applying the honey. Two weeks later my face started to itch, not much, but it was obvious that the seb derm was acting up again. A week of every-other-day treatments was necessary to get things back under control.

Then, this summer, I learned about raw virgin coconut oil, which happens to have the same anti inflammatory/fungal/microbial/viral properties as raw honey and is very effective in the treatment of dermatitis (and other skin conditions) so I decided to give it a try.

Incidentally, coconut is not a nut. It's classified as a seed botanically, the seed of a drupaceous (stone) fruit, which has typically not been restricted in the diets of people with tree nut allergy.

Treating with the coconut oil is MUCH easier. However, please note that I had already gotten my seb derm completely under control when I started using the coconut oil so I don't really know what would happen if you start out with the oil.

But I can tell you for sure that applying the honey masks and moisturizing with the oil twice daily gives the best results. I think it's the perfect combination.

Still, if applying honey to your scalp freaks you out, you could try the honey treatment on the face and apply the oil on the scalp.

Now, if you'd choose to skip the honey treatment altogether, then you could do this: just before bed, cleanse your face and apply coconut oil as a moisturizer then apply the oil to your scalp. Leave it on overnight and shampoo in the morning. Do this every other day for a month. Use the coconut as a moisturizer twice a day (incidentally, my husband and I have been using the coconut oil as a body lotion after showering, with great results). The day in between treatments you could use the moisturizing cream after cleansing.

This is very important: Please do not apply virgin coconut oil to face, scalp or body as liberally as you would a lotion or baby oil because it will most likely cause breakouts/rashes. You only need to apply a tiny bit of this oil. Keep the jar in the fridge, that way the oil will stay solid and easier to measure. Take a little bit, the size of a small pea and rub it between your hands to melt it then apply to your face. It will feel as if you are not applying enough and that's exactly what you want. If your face looks shiny after ten minutes, you've applied too much. A tablespoon of virgin coconut oil is enough for the whole body when used as a body lotion after showering.

Supermarkets, in general, do not carry raw virgin coconut oil but health food shops do. Good quality oils I've tried: Jungle Products, Tropical Traditions, Nutiva.

The oil should have slight coconut scent and it stays solid or semi-solid below 76F / 25 C.

If you have any questions, I can be reached at:

namgb
@
live.com

Thanks for the blog post, great to read your story. I'm sure it will be useful to everyone else as well.