Earth Clinic Mobile: Home Remedies for People and Pets

Apple Cider Vinegar for Seborrheic Dermatitis

5 star (36)		80%
4 star (3)		7%
3 star (2)		4%
1 star (2)		4%
(2)		4%

Franny (Chicago, IL) on 05/04/2008:
5 out of 5 stars

Apple Cider Vinegar helped my seborrheic dermatitis. Over six months ago I developed seborrheic dermatitis under my nostrils and the sides of my nose. The dermatologist prescribed a steroid cream which did not help and which lots of people have advised not to use long term. After finding this site I tried the ACV. I apply it on the affected area once a day with a cotton ball. After doing this a few days the scales dried up and I was able to pick them right off. But what I think has really helped is drinking the ACV. I drink it with boiling water and honey. About 2 tablespoons ACV. I use the boiling/hot water because the honey doesn't dissolve in cold water. And I drink it with a straw so it doesn't ruin my tooth enamel. The affected area is soft and smooth now!! It's still a bit red but the scales are gone. Much easier to conceal. I still drink and apply the ACV almost every day.

Thanks to this site for a natural remedy that works!

Julie (Seattle, WA) on 11/21/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

I've had moderately severe seborrheic dermitis of my face, scalp since puberty, and in the 15 years since then, I have seen 4 dermatologists and tried every OTC dandruff/sd shampoo and every prescription cream, corticosteroids, etc. My facial skin was always red, inflamed or recovering from a flare up, or about to have another one. I really believed that I would always have to deal with this. On your site, I read about treating my skin with a cottonball of ACV. I tried it, it stung the skin until it dried. But immediately there seemed to be a benefit. After 3 days, my skin looked noticeably better and was soft and the inflammation went away. My skin completely quit flaking. I do treat it with a cottonball of ACV at least once a day it has successfully treated my problem since the first day I used it, 6/11/07, about 5 months straight! I've NEVER had anything work like this. It is almost unbelievable. My theory is the ACV kills the microscopic fungus that likes my chemistry on my skin. If I skip ACV for several days, I notice my skin slowly starts to get red and flaky again. ACV stings the most over the "flared up" areas, barely at all on healthy skin. I can't say enough about how thrilled I am about ACV for SD

Dorey (San Jose, CA) on 11/21/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

I'm a 21 year old female and I've had Seborrheic Dermatitis for about a year now. I first started noticing it because the part of my scalp around my bangs above my forehead would get itchy and whenever I scratched it these big, gross dry flakes would fall all over the place. I didn't pay much attention to it until months later I woke up and noticed these two itchy bumps behind one of my ears right by my hair line. I then started realizing that I had quite a few dry, flaky patches all over my hair line, some worse than others. Sometimes it would get so dry and flaky that when I scratched, my scalp would bleed. I was starting to get embarassed about it so I saw a dermatoligist and then the health physician at school. Both said I had Seborrheic Dermatitis and that I needed to use a shampoo with ketocenoconozole and salicylic acid. So I bought a million different shampoos....all the typical ones recommended...head and shoulders, t-gel with coal tar, nizoral both 1 and 2%, tea trea shampoo, a natural pine tar shampoo, and the list goes on. None of these things, no matter how well I followed directions worked. The health physician at school gave me a prescription for a mild steroid solution which I was scared to death of. She convinced me it was ok to use for a short period of time. I tried it for two weeks and it went away, but as soon as i stopped using it, the flakes came back even worse! I wasn't about to use the steroid again because I read so many horrible side effects and diseases that could be accumulated from using such a horrible drug. Why would they make such a frightening thing legal? I started looking up natural remedies, which I should have just done in the first place. I found this website, and tried about 6 different ways of using ACV on my scalp. I tried the spray bottle with part ACV, part peroxide, part water--this didn't work so well. I tried using a dropper and dropping it on the parts of my scalp--this didn't work so well either. I tried pouring capfuls of straight ACV on my head before shampooing, after shampooing, between shampooing....and tried leaving it on for 10 minutes, 1 hour, half an hour....just to see what the best method was. Although this got rid of many flakes, there were still some, and it still drove me crazy. Finally, I tried shampooing my hair with an all natural jojoba treatment shampoo, then conditioning with the jojoba treatment conditioner, and combing off the flakes very carefully with the conditioner in, on my scalp. I rinsed my hair, and poured capfuls of a mixture of a 70% organic (braggs brand) Apple Cider Vinegar, a dash of hydrogen peroxide, and a little bit of distilled water all over my scalp and hair. I put my hair up in a towel for about an hour and hung out smelling bad in my house :) After an hour, I showered and washed it all out, then I combed my hair and put organic ACV on a Q-tip and rubbed it into the specific flaky, inflamed areas, and left it on all night. Now, this sounds crazy, but after trying everying, I woke up this morning, and I am like 95% flake free. The really bad inflamed, dry flaky spots have improved like 60% and look better than they ever have. After trying everything, I was shocked to see that just trying different methods led me to discover a very natural, very safe solution to a very annoying problem. I will let you know if it comes back. Good luck and stay healthy everyone. We will find a way to rid ourselves of this miserable problem!

Julie (Seattle, WA) on 11/21/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

Teekup (Metrowest, MA) on 11/14/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

I have "suffered" for more than 15 years with red, scaley, itchy scalp. It's so embarrassing. I have tried all kinds of shampoo: with salicylic acid, zinc, ketoconazole, coal tar, selenium sulfide. I finally gave in and bought a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar. Last night, I poured some over my head and rubbed some on my face, since it was really red, itchy and flaky too. The smell was horrendous! Thank goodness my family was asleep! I watched a little tv and after the ACV dried, I then washed my face and scalp. I could not believe the difference. This morning, I look nearly "normal". No flakes, and almost no redness. And no smell either! Who would have thought that a few dollar's worth of apple cider vinegar would work? On a related note, I used a little diluted ACV on my daughter's diaper rash and the next day it was cleared up! I am going to start taking ACV internally next week after I get some litmus strips to test my internal pH. Thank you so much

DZ (CT) on 09/12/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

I have had seb derm in the creases at the side of my nose for the last 15 years, on and off, mostly on. The doctors all prescribed steroid creams and antibiotic lotions, which worked temporarily. 2 weeks ago I decided to give apple cider vinegar a go. I stuck a clean q-tip in my bottle of acv and then applied to my clean skin, dabbing all the area around my nose that has the dermatitis. I did this 2x a day for the first day, then 1 more time on day 4. Then I gave it a break. The dermatitis cleared up on day 6 and hasn't yet returned. I no longer look like I always have a cold! The redness that accompanies the dermatitis is almost gone.

I figure I will apply the acv once a week for preventative measures. This is undoubtedly the best treatment I have tried thus far. If it stops it permanently, I will be thrilled. However, in the past the dermatitis flared up after consuming a lot of dairy products, so I always thought it was an internal condition... We shall see! I will report back in a month or so.

Lynne (Dayton, Ohio) on 08/15/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

ACV cured my psoriasis on my scalp. I have been aflicted with psoriasis on my scalp for twenty years. I have tried more "remedies" than I care to count with little or no success. After reading about how people were helped by putting ACV on dry spots on the body I decided to try it on my scalp. I put undiluted ACV in a spray bottle and sprayed it on my scalp before going to bed. Within a few days I could see that the scales were getting thinner. In two weeks they are practically all gone! Even if the scales never fully go away, the ACV has made the scales easier for me to live with. By the way, ACV is better at drying up acne that any treatment on the market.

Randy (Rincon, GA) on 05/21/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

I had dandruff for many years and dermatitus for 4 years or more. I read on this site how acv works and tried it. wow ,i took a q-tip and would rub the acv on the areas with the dermatitis, and in two days it disappeared. I also started taking acv tablets and my dandruff is totally gone. thanks to everyone for the helpful advice

Josh (Elk Ridge, UT) on 01/12/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

Hi all! What a great website this is...finally; I've been looking for a resource like this for years! Anyway, I have moderate to severe eczema that flares up in the winter and is more mild in summer. Anyway, I went several days without using steroid creams or immune system inhibitors (Protopic ointment)when I tried the following regime. I would take a cold shower, then spray myself with potassium alum (dissolved in water and put into a spray bottle) when I was still slightly damp. Also, I was taking 1 T apple cider vinegar internally twice a day. My eczema didn't seem to get worse until I missed 2 days of the potassium alum treatment. I even had a semi-cold bath with 1 C ACV and soaked for about 20 minutes, but I forgot to do the alum. When I do the alum, it helps my skin to calm down. It gets softer. I don't use lotion.

A friend of mine gave me the potassium alum stone with his story of severe eczema in Thailand. The generous people there gave him this stone to try and it cured his eczema. I've been using it as deodorant and it works very well; no chemicals or additives. I think you can get the stones at a health food store (or do a google search for them).

Get a clean spray bottle and break up about 1-2 Tablespoon size chunks of alum. Put this in about 1 cup of water and then fill your spray bottle with it. I spray a few sprays on my hair and massage it in my scalp. Some under arms for deodorant and then I give a few sprays all over my limbs and body, rubbing it into my skin. It has a weird texture; it seems to sink into your skin quickly - that's why the spray works so well. I'm thinking of trying an application in the evening as well and maybe by then I'll have more of a cure. Experimenting with the frequency... Let me know how this works for you. I used to have bad eczema in my hair that would flake all over; very embarrassing. I cured it by soaking my head with straight ACV and covering that with a shower cap overnight, but I don't like smelling like a pickle throughout the day. :) Now, the potassium alum has prevented it without the smell. Good luck to all, and hopefully we can cure our debilitating eczema.

Lara (Boonton, NJ) on 01/07/2007:
5 out of 5 stars

When my brother tried to commit suicide in Feb. 2006, my scalp suddenly became extremely sore & huge pieces of it began to slough off. This wasn't like little bits of dandruff here & there. The pieces were sizeable square inches of skin. Because the pieces were so large, they wouldn't fall off because several hundred hairs were still threaded through them. The pieces looked like off-white tissue paper hovering about 1/2 inch above my scalp. It was a very alarming sight (though not as alarming as the condition of my brother). I first tried Scalpicin from the hospital pharmacy, but that only provided a very brief, cooling sensation. I looked on the internet & read about apple cider vinegar. The recommendation for scalp problems was to dilute the acv with water. I was in a state of extreme anxiety due to long hours in the ICU, & just wanted very fast relief. So I poured several cap-fulls of acv on my scalp & massaged it in a bit. The only thing I noticed was the vinegary smell & a very slight tingling sensation. I sat for an hour or so, & then rinsed my hair & scalp. It's hard to believe, but after that one treatment, the horrible huge pieces of skin stopped rising up from my scalp immediately. I repeated the same treatment one week later, just as a preventative measure. The problem never returned, despite several months of equally stressful hospital experiences.

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