Hi,
Seb derm is thought to be caused by a few major factors, one of which is oily skin.
There are only 2 ways you can get oily skin:
1. overproduction of sebum – this is when your body produces too much oil. This can happen due to a multitude of factors including hormones, stress, and even dry skin.
2. applying oil on your skin – this is when you use topical oils or heavy creams and emollients that don’t get absorbed well, leaving your skin feeling greasy.
Having oily skin doesn’t increase your risk of getting seb derm if you have no other predisposing factors. However, if you already have seb derm, the wrong oil on the skin causes 2 major issues:
1. Oil feeds Malassezia, increasing the number of yeasts on your skin.
2. Oil irritates the skin and causes more inflammation
This can aggravate symptoms of seb derm and prolong your flare. Not all oils are bad. Some oils may even help prevent flares and improve seb derm symptoms. Tea tree oil, rosemary oil and many other essential oils are natural treatments for Seb Derm.
But there are only a few carrier oils that I deem safe for seborrheic dermatitis. These oils are easily absorbed by the skin and don’t contain long-chain fatty acids (LCFA). This is because Malassezia yeast feeds off LCFAs. Oleic acid and other LCFAs have also been shown to cause skin irritation in people with seborrheic dermatitis.
Find out which oils are good and which to avoid like the plaque in this article.