Seborrheic Dermatitis cure: myth or miracle?
What exactly is Seborrheic Dermatitis?
Seborrheic Dermatitis is a skin condition where creamy/ yellow crusty flakes appear in patches on the skin. Often this is on the scalp where sebum - that thin protective, mildly-oily layer - resides.
Before we get into details let’s understand:
Why is my scalp flaking?
3 answers:
Stress, sleep and sebum imbalance.
Let’s discuss
Stress
When cortisol runs high it can affect our sleep. Thus overnight our heart rate can go through the roof, waking us up because we feel under attack during sleep.
Exogenous and endogenous factors influence our skin responses. The brain perceives an attack your scalp goes into overdrive. Several studies have demonstrated a relationship between stress and Atopic Dermatitis (your scalp is a body of skin).
Psychological stress produces various neuroendocrine mediators, including adrenocorticotropin, β-endorphin, catecholamines, and cortisol, which in turn activates local neurogenic inflammation and disrupts skin barrier function,
We are told topical applications will ‘solve’ our scalp problems such as ketaconazole shampoo and tar-containing products, but they never work long-term. Research shows managing stress, as research shows, is IMPERATIVE to eliminating seborrheic dermatitis.
Sleep
Lack of sleep, broken or interrupted and irregular sleep is a stress on the body
Disrupted circadian rhythms can cause hair loss due to abnormal sleep cycles, according to the American Journal of Pathology.
When we experience irregular sleep patterns long-term this puts us under stress. Our bodies as a result decide to protect vital organs and key functions such as blood pumping, heart beating and brain function. Hair growth is considered a secondary function and therefore does not take prevalence leading to hair loss.
The impact of sleep goes far beyond haircare, extending to mood regulation, ability to focus and ensuring steady energy levels.
Sebum
When sebum isn’t sebuming - Our scalps first line of defence against pathogens is sebum: this is a slightly acidic microfilm covering our scalp. Made up of salt, sweat, bacteria and dust, sebum naturally protects our hair and keeps oils balanced.
When sebum is imbalanced our top layer of skin regenerates at a far faster rate which creates a visible skin or what looks like our scalp peeling off. Aka dandruff, or sebhorreic dermatitis.
Scientifically-speaking this is just cell turnover. Frustratingly, the speed at which cells are turning over are higher than the normal rate because it creates literal flakes, or in Sebhorrheic dermatitis case thick, crusty flakes on the scalp.
Often scalp issues are a body’s warning sign that something else is going on, whether you’re aware of it or not. The body keeps the score.