The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Lemon
Posted by Tara (Madison, WI) on 12/06/2008
★★★★★
I have tried both ACV and Lemon Juice and the Lemon Juice actually worked better for myself. I took a Q-tip, dipped it in the lemon juice and rubbed it on my dermatitis. It does sting and burn a little bit. It helped dry it up pretty quickly so it could heal faster. I only did this at night before I went to bed.
Zinc, Magnesium
Posted by Debra (South Charleston, Ohio) on 09/28/2008
★★★★★
As a dental hygienist, I had developed contact dermatitis from wearing gloves. Last spring I started taking Zinc 15mg & Magnesium 400mg daily. My hands are free of dermatitis!!!
Shea Butter
Posted by Ginger (New York, New York) on 06/25/2008
★★★★★
Contact Dermititis: I recommend 100% organic shea butter....great healer for a lot of skin problems.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Francy (Lewisville, Texas) on 12/18/2007
★★★★★
Ok. After 20 years of dealing with dyshdriotic eczema, allergic dermatitis, contact dermatitis... essentially every skin malady recognized under the sun... I think I can provide some help. While steroidal creams such as diflorasone diacetate provide relief, they do not cure or prevent. The problem is organic. Here is the cocktail that I have found keeps me quasi-remissive with the least amount of side-effects: 1200mg of Lecithin, 50mg of zinc, 400 I.U. of vitamin E and 500mg L-Lysine once daily after a meal. For some reason, the anti-hystaminic effects of loratadine are more effective for skin disorders than other common OTC anti-histamines. I suggest one 10 mg loratadine once to twice a week to give the skin a "calm-down" period. Works for me...and I cook for a living.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Jill (MH, usa) on 07/04/2007
★★★★★
I have been taking coconut oil soft gels for 2 months now. It has tremendously took my dermatitis away. I have suffered from dermatitis for 5 years now. Used tons of creams and ointments. Yet still never got full relief. Since taking the pills I have been irritation free. I feel as good as before I developed it. It to me its just amazing.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Janet (Morayfield, Queensland) on 05/19/2007
★★★★★
I have suffered from skin ailments all my life. I had heard about coconut oil but it seemed too simple an idea to really work, and I had tried every remedy, scientific and natural, under the sun and nothing ever worked. So after reading all the latest hype about coconut oil I decided "why not?' Well, sometimes I wish wasn't such a sceptic and then I might have tried it years ago. How it works I don't know but after less than a week of applying it twice a day my rash had cleared up, the redness and itching was gone, and has stayed gone despite the fact that I have stopped using my usual prescription anti-inflammatory cream. The kind I use is the extra virgin pure coconut oil made without chemical processes. I'm now taking it orally too.
Cold Showers
Posted by Katrina (Sterling, VA) on 08/28/2006
★★★★★
After the death of two very close friends and a lot of stress, I ended up with stress induced psoriasis all over my head, neck and shoulder. I tried EVERYTHING OTC and nothing worked so finally, I gave up, and started saving money to go to the doctor. I came across the cold water therapy on this site and although I did nto intend to use it to treat this issue, it sure cured it. I started taking cold water showers in the hottest months here in Virginia. Immediately I noticed the increase in energy and my hair is SUPER SOFT even after months of harsh psoriasis shampoos that had my hair turning to straw. Call me crazy, but it seems my shower doesn't get as grimey as it did before when I was using hot water. My complexion has improved, and there is an obvious difference in my pores. Basically, I have nothing bad to say about cold showers. After 2 months of them, I can't even STAND a hot shower now.
Swimming in the Ocean
Posted by Eion (Los Angeles, California) on 10/13/2015
★★★★☆
First I want to thank all people who post on this site. A community of people sharing remedies for healing outside of the Big Pharma profit paradigm is a beautiful thing.
I read so many interesting regimens for curing dermatitis but I was wondering why mine had come back in the first place. I have not had it at all for 9 months and all of a sudden it's back on my face.
After doing my detective work I have realized there is one factor which makes all the difference for me. 9 months ago I moved close to the ocean. The only time I have left my home area in those 9 months was to work in Puerto Rico for the summer (and I was in the ocean all the time there). Only now that am I away from the ocean (Toronto) has my dermatitis returned. I am a regular ocean man. I am in it every other day now that I live close by and now that I look back on it, since my reconnection to the sea water, I have not had ANY dandruff of facial Dermatitis. Until Now, having been away from the ocean the last 2.5 weeks I have a flare up again.
So, for anyone suffering from Dtitis who lives near the ocean, now's a good time to take up surfing.
All my best, Eion
Apple Cider Vinegar, Yogurt
Posted by Deborah (Cork, Ireland) on 07/11/2014
★★★★★
Hi there, I suffered from very mild dermatitis a couple of years ago, but then it got worse until I had a terrible outbreak, did the usual thing and visited the dermatologist , did the antibiotics and steroid cream for about 2 months. all was well until finished the cream , a week later I got out of bed looked in the mirror and was horrified, my skin on my face was swollen , itchy , the corners of my mouth and eyes cracked, I was in a terrible condition. So I found this site, yahoo!!, tried the suggestions of firstly making a face mask of natural organic yougurt mixed with organic honey, oh the relief!! Then I dabbed my face with diluted apple cider vinegar with the Mother, it stung but I was desperate. I started to drink the ACV daily and continued to use the face mask twice daily, by the following week my face was completely clear, it was amazing.I've never had an outbreak since thanks to drinking the ACV daily, I've not looked back since.
Dead Sea Salt
Posted by Anilove (Holland) on 06/03/2014
I've tried almost ANY treatment listed here, calendula ointment, coconut oil, acv, neem oil, tar soap. ACV spread the rash further! So did the coconut oil and calendula. Yogurt masks only helped a little bit and still left my face dry and tight.
As I believe it's caused from the inside and I think my reason is I react badly to Magnesium stereate, clogged bowels/liver while I've been suffering from constipation as well besides eating gluten/dairy/egg/nut free. Please look into candida and or parasites as well which I believe may play a big role in this! Flushing with castor oil works wonders in cleaning out the bowels and healing my skin.
Now when it comes to treat it topically:
please please stop using any lotion, ointment, oils natural or not!!! It only spreads the rash further (learned it the hard way).
1. buy some Dead sea salt (make sure it's 100% pure).
2. I usually use a bowl and fill it with warm water, dissolve about 1 tbsp in it.
3. I then wash my face with warm/slightly hot water to open my pores and splash my face with the sea salt water. Yeah it will sting and burn and seem irritated, but a good sign, the yeast is reacting to it.
4. After splashing my face a few times with it, I end washing my face with cold water. Pat dry with a clean towel.
my face actually doesn't feel tight or dry after it at all. If it does I moisturze carefully with a tiny bit of cod liver oil cream.
My redness was decreased almost 100% overnight the next day!!! Do this once in the morning and at night.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Don (Irving, Texas) on 10/05/2012
★★★★★
I really enjoyed reading some of these posts as I have struggled with seb dermatitis for years. Never really new what it was until one day the dermatologist matter of factly told me and gave me some gel for it.
To the point, about 4 months ago I had a food sensitivity test and found out I was mildly sensitive, not intolerant to gluten. I decided to cut it out altogether or at least not eat anything that obviously would contain any significant amounts of gluten. The psoriasis/dermatitis I had on my arm went away within a week of stopping eating gluten. I lost about and inch over my waist and my hair actually began to grow on my head in thinning places. No other reason I can figure for these changes since I had tried many things for months to get rid of the dermatitis, bloating and and the only change was eliminating the gluten. So, I believe that the gluten was most likely a big factor.
The dermatitis on my face which comes and goes but never really goes away totally for long even got better and went away in some areas. This is even with the use of Elidel cream twice daily. After reading these posts I decided to apply ACV to my face morning and night and within three days it has almost all disappeared. I also began taking biotin and probiotics even though I am not sure how much of a factor they have been.
Thanks to the folks here who posted about ACV. I have taken ACV before at times but never used as an astringent on the face. I don't know how long it will have an effect but hopefully I can cut down using it once a day and maybe longer as time goes on. My skin actually looks somewhat normal now. Wooohoo.
Dandruff Shampoo
Posted by Lily (Ny, Usa) on 03/02/2012
★★★★★
I do have PD and try many things like most of u, from pills, creams and many home remedies, but this was what work for me. I started treating my PD as mites or fungal infection. I use dandruff shampoo (which is and anti-fungal shampoo, generic brand for head n shoulder because I have sensitive skin. The lady on this site recommended nizoral- too strong for my skin) to wash my face with it (the first time I letted sit in my face like for ten minutes and I saw a big differece right way) dry all the bumps, ichying was gone. After I rinsed my face and dry it well I applied an anti-fungul cream (oxistat 1% is RX but lotrimin is over the counter) 3 days later big improvement. Now that my condition is better I am going to put lanolin (lanolin is to help heal sore, cracked nipples, fos women that breastfeeding) to help the skin healing process faster (like I said nizoral was to strong for my skin so it buned my skin a little). I hope this help others. I will post later to let u all know how's going. thank u Earthclinic for this site.
Dandruff Shampoo
Posted by Lily (Ny, Usa) on 03/08/2012
Updating I'm my PD. I can happily say my face is 95% clear now. I am still washing my face with dandruff shampoo and applying antifungal cream 3 times a day. There are 2 area (each side of my nose) that still shows a litlle PD. So this morning I applyed an antifungal liquid call NO MORE FUNGUS (sally hansen brand) and wow 3 hours later big different! Please don't give up, keep trying this is what I did untill I found the remedy that worked for me and I am sharing it cuz maybe might work for someone else too. Thank u Earthclinic for this site! :)
Dandruff Shampoo
Posted by Jrheats (Nebraska) on 03/17/2016
★★★☆☆WORKED TEMPORARILY
I have tried dandruff shampoo and apple cider vinegar. After using each a couple times, the dermatitis would flake and seem to clear up with no more bumps present; however, it has returned both times after it had appeared to be gone.
Lily, how did it turn out for you?
Chlorine
Posted by Andream7878 (Knoxville, Tn) on 12/30/2011
★★★★★
I found that chlorine helped- at least that is my best guess- as it was the hot-tub that cleared it up. I know it sounds strange, but mine went away within a month or so just by immersing the lower part of my face into the hot tub each day (sometimes every other day)... I had the POD for a few months- much to my embarrassment and had previously tried the ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar- organic) treatment, externally and internally, as well as eliminating as much of the SLS (Sodium Laurel Sulfates) from use as possible. Perhaps I just didn't get quick enough results, so when I noticed sitting in the hot-tub one time had such a profound effect (when I woke up the next day the whole area had flaked up and revealed improved skin when flakes removed), I just kept doing it. Now, it is completely gone... and the red area where the rash was, is starting to disappear as well.
Dietary Changes
Posted by Martin (Melbourne, Vic) on 12/03/2011
★★★★★
I stumbled across this page as I was also looking for natural remedies for dermatitis as an alternative to the mometesone furoate that I've been applying for years.
What I immediately noticed is that everyone talks about how to control the symptoms, but none of you seem to delve into why it is that you have this condition. I was much the same for many years, as GPs and dermatologists all just kept prescribing corticosteroids and telling me that I will have this the rest of my life, and the best I could do was manage it.
It wasn't until I decided this wasn't acceptable, and did my own research and testing. What I found was that if I overindulged for a series of days, i.e., ate heaps of sweets, junk food and drank alcohol, I would flare up more the usual.
I suspected dairy was my issue, so eliminated it from my diet. Lo and behold, no more dermatitis! I then went to a naturopath who specialises in digestion, and she informed me I had leaky gut and put me on a gut repair program. I also did an igE blood test which tested me against 99 different foods. The results showed I had a strong dairy allergy, followed by yeast, and a few other mild ones. For 6 months I followed a strict elimination diet, and I didn't have a single breakout. I also slimmed down as I was always prone to bloating as a result of the intolerances.
Since then I do lapse occasionally as I suffer from a sweet tooth! And when I do flare up (it takes weeks now to show, instead of days as before) I've been using the mometesone. I wish to stop all together, as I suspect it has affected my fertility - that's a whole other story!
Anyway, I want to share my story, as the more I learn about digestive issues and related intolerances the more I'm fascinated to learn how many effects can be related.
P. S. I also stop snoring if I eliminate the foods I'm intolerant to, which my wife enjoys most of all! :)
Contact Dermatitis
Posted by Debbie (Melbourne, Australia ) on 11/06/2011
Donnalsm, some good ideas to help prevent the symptoms of ezcema and dermatitis but I believe you need to get to the root problem in the first place rather than just treating the symptoms.
I believe that dermatitis and ezcema and many other skin rashes/conditions are caused by Candida/yeast infections. If you only treat the symptoms, the underlying cause is still there. Often antibiotics are the cuprit for getting candida/yeast infections.
Iodine is one of the best ways to cure candida/yeast/fungal infections. If you are lacking in iodine the yeast will take over your body and cause many problems throughout the body. Dr. Orian Truss in 1953 used an Iodine Protocol on many people with many disease problems and cured them. He found that other problems that had plagued them including depression were cured after he gave them iodine. Google him.
Apple Cider Vinegar, Calendula Cream
Posted by Sally (Perth, Wa Australia) on 10/29/2011
★★★★★
I'm in my early 30's and always had clear skin, much to my shock after several months on lots of antibiotics(had a severe pneumonia), I broke out with a rash around my mouth, just under my bipap mask which I wear 24/7. Anyway went to dr, told it was dermatitis and was prescribed topical steroids which I took for 10 days like everyone else it made it worse. Thankfully I found this site stopped the steroids (however I am on a low dose orally which I need for my breathing), and started the apple cider, which did give me relief. I used it topically twice a day, drank it twice a day and I started taking a probiotic. Within 10 days it was better then what it was, but my face was still very red and dry, I tried coconut oil, then I tried paw paw ointment and both made me break out. So I had read on here that calendular ointment was really good as its antifungal, antiviral antibacterial and anti inflammatory. I decided to stop using the ACV topically and I bought the pure calendula ointment and to my surprise 24 hrs later I could see a improvement, 10 days later it is nearly all gone. I put it on very regularly(every 60-90 min if I remember)and it really soothes the skin etc
Things might have cleared up if I had used the mother ACV but I couldn't get any in stock at the time, also having a mask over my dermatitis did not help as I never got any fresh air on it.
However if you don't get perfect results with the ACV I recommend the calendula ointment, thank you to whoever posted that initially, it has really helped :)
