"Therapeutic and prophylactic effects of crude honey on chronic seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff.
Al-Waili NS.
Dubai Specialised Medical Centre and Medical Research Labs, P.O.Box 19964, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. waili2000@hotmail.com
Honey has antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidants activities and has high nutrient value. In this study we investigated the potential use of topical application of crude honey in the management of seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Thirty patients with chronic seborrheic dermatitis of scalp, face and front of chest were entered for study. Twenty patients were males and 10 were females, their ages ranged between 15 and 60 years. The patients had scaling, itching and hair loss. The lesions were scaling macules, papules and dry white plaques with crust and fissures. The patients were asked to apply diluted crude honey (90% honey diluted in warm water) every other day on the lesions with gentle rubbing for 2-3 mins. Honey was left for 3 hr before gentle rinsing with warm water. The patients were followed daily for itching, scaling, hair loss and the lesions were examined. Treatment was continued for 4 weeks. The improved patients were included in a prophylactic phase, lasting six months. Half patients were treated with the topical honey once weekly and the other half served as control. All the patients responded markedly with application of honey. Itching was relieved and scaling was disappeared within one week. Skin lesions were healed and disappeared completely within 2 weeks. In addition, patients showed subjective improvement in hair loss. None of the patients ( 15 patients) treated with honey application once weekly for six months showed relapse while the 12/15 patients who had no prophylactic treatment with honey experienced a relapse of the lesions 2-4 months after stopping treatment. It might be concluded that crude honey could markedly improve seborrheic dermatitis and associated hair loss and prevent relapse when applied weekly."
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"How I successfully treated my seb derm.
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.
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. Later on I switched to raw virgin coconut oil.
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 antifungal, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and antiviral properties of honey. However, during the summer and well into the fall you will be able to get inexpensive raw honey from local beekeepers (enter your zip code here) 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.
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 one month and then switch to one treatment a week, for maintenance.
Start out with a couple of dripping teaspoons of honey. Mix that with room temp water and apply some to your face, first, then to the scalp. If you need to make another batch to finish you scalp, be sure to make just enough (a chemical reaction occurs when honey is mixed with water). If your hair is long, then you may want to start applying on the scalp first.
You 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. I tried with a hair color brush and it was a complete mess.
So, every other day, you'll cleanse first (I use Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser) and apply the honey treatment for three hours then rinse off with lukewarm water (if you take a shower, shampoo your scalp just lightly and don't let the shampoo or hot water touch your face) and moisturize face. Cleanse and moisturize again before going to bed.
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. If possible, use a moisturizer in cream form during this month as lotions often are just watered down versions of cream formulas. (The cream I use contains hyaluronic acid [HA] -an essential nutrient that allows the skin to hold on to water-, as well as ceramides, which act as a water reservoir.)
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.
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.
Since switching to the coconut oil, I've been using it once a week on my face/scalp (I leave it on overnight and in the morning I shampoo twice - my hair has never been this shiny) and I use it on my face two or three times a week, as a moisturizer.
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 so, depending on how warm you keep your place during the winter, you may need to soften/melt the oil which is easily done by just placing the jar in a bowl filled with hot water for a few minutes (microwaving the oil is not recommended)."
