How to treat seborrheic dermatitis

We also call seborrheic dermatitis seborrheic eczema. Seborrheic dermatitis is a type of skin disease. The occurrence of seborrheic dermatitis causes great harm to the patient's skin, but the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis takes a certain amount of time. Therefore, we must do a good job in preventing seborrheic dermatitis. Once the symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis are found, we must actively treat it.

There are many ways to treat seborrheic dermatitis. We can use general treatment methods, topical medications to treat seborrheic dermatitis, and internal medications to treat seborrheic dermatitis.

Seborrheic dermatitis in infants usually tends to heal on its own, while seborrheic dermatitis in adults is often a chronic relapsing process that usually requires long-term repeated treatment.

1. General treatment

Live a regular life, get enough sleep, adjust your diet, eat more vegetables, limit high-fat and high-sugar foods, avoid drinking alcohol and spicy foods, and avoid excessive mental stress.

2. Topical medication

(1) Glucocorticoids

It is mainly used for skin lesions with severe inflammation. Medium- or high-potency glucocorticoid preparations can be applied externally, which have good therapeutic effects, but should not be used for a long time, especially on the face. Low-potency glucocorticoid preparations (such as hydrocortisone) are less effective and are suitable for infants and young children.

(2) Antibacterial drugs: 2% erythromycin ointment or gel, 5% metronidazole cream, or a cream containing 1% chloramphenicol and 0.1% dexamethasone.

(3) Selenium sulfide lotion has the effect of killing fungi and inhibiting bacterial growth. It can also reduce sebum secretion and the content of fatty acids in sebum.

(4) Zinc pyrithione lotion

The concentration of zinc pyrithione shampoo is 1% to 2%. In addition to being used on the scalp, it can also be used on other parts of the body, such as the face, brow arches, and trunk. Do not apply to eyelid margins to avoid eye irritation. Apply the medicine to the affected area, leave it on for 1 to 2 minutes, and then wash it off with clean water. Apply 1 to 2 times a day. When symptoms are under control, change to once a day, but you must persist in applying it to avoid recurrence. The shampoo has an inhibitory effect on the proliferation of epidermal cells. In addition, it has a broad-spectrum antibacterial effect and can inhibit the growth of Pityrosporum ovale.

(5) Antifungal preparations

Antifungal preparations, especially imidazole drugs, have good therapeutic effects. Shampoos or creams containing ketoconazole (2%), itraconazole, econazole, clotrimazole, miconazole, oxiconazole, isoconazole, or ciclopirox and terbinafine (1%) preparations are commonly used. In addition to antifungal effects, antifungal preparations also have multiple effects such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and inhibition of cell wall lipid formation.

(6) Sulfur and/or salicylic acid lotions and others

Sulfur and (or) salicylic acid have antibacterial and desquamative effects and have certain therapeutic effects on this disease, but they are not as effective as zinc pyrithione and selenium sulfide, and are very irritating. Coal tar preparations have anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antimitotic effects, but are colored, smelly and irritating, so they are usually only used on the scalp.

3. Internal medication

(1) Glucocorticoids such as prednisone are used to treat cases with large skin lesions and severe inflammation. The course of treatment is usually limited to 7 to 10 days and should not be too long.

(2) Tripterygium wilfordii glycosides are suitable for patients with obvious and large-scale inflammation. The effect will be better if combined with low-dose glucocorticoids.

(3) Antibiotics

The lesions of seborrheic dermatitis with more severe inflammation are often accompanied by bacterial infection (mainly Staphylococcus aureus infection), and sometimes even pustules and enlarged cervical lymph nodes may appear. Appropriate use of antibiotics is beneficial, such as tetracycline or erythromycin.

(4) B vitamins include vitamin B2, vitamin B6 and vitamin B complex. Long-term oral administration may have certain benefits for this disease.

Above we introduced what seborrheic dermatitis is. We know that the occurrence of seborrheic dermatitis causes serious damage to the patient's skin. We must actively treat seborrheic dermatitis. There are many treatments for seborrheic dermatitis. We can use general treatments, as well as topical and internal medications to treat seborrheic dermatitis.