5 Proven Home Remedies for Seborrheic Dermatitis on the Scalp

Hi James,

Personally, not sure. I remember one person on here had good results with Manuka honey as well.
The only one I tried was raw honey (one I bought from the store and one I got from Amazon). The one I bought from the store seemed to be more effective, but hard to really say…

Have you tried using it yet?

Hi Michael,

I have been facing serious hairfall issues since I was diagnosed with Seborrhoeic dermatitis. I just came across your site and have started using the honey water solution. I have been taking medications for more than a year. The dermatitis goes away for a while but comes back soon. So, I was just looking for such a home remedy. How should I go about taking care of the hairfall?

Thank You

Hi Shivam,

Regarding hair-fall, personally I only experienced a tiny bit on my eye brows, which went away as soon as SD went away. However, from all my research so far, it seems that topical arginine (a non-essential amino acid) may be beneficial for restoring and stimulating hair growth. However, most of the information is contained in patents (example) and not medical trials. Perhaps you may want to look for arginine containing product. Additionally, it helps in wound healing and may even act as a antibacterial. The shampoo I use, the lotion I’ve made for myself and the Restoraderm lotion I used previously all contain arginine.

This medical paper may a good read as well.

A friend of mine swears by castor oil for hair-loss, however I haven’t done much research around it.

Also, it appears that medical anti-fungal shampoos (such as Nizoral, Head & Shoulders) can also stimulate hair growth and prevent hair loss. However, I’ve moved away from these products. Personally, I believe they were part of creating my issues in the first place.

Hope that helps. All the best.

Thank you Michael

I’m glad that you are helping us out here. Please update anything that you cognize about hairfall due to Sebborheic dermatitis and its cure.

Hi Shivam,

From everything I currently know it appears that the associated hair-fall is reversed once the infection of the sebaceous glands is resolved. The malassezia that is believed to be in part responsible for SD loves to reside in and around the sebaceous glands. This can result in the hair fall you are experiencing. However, the products that you are using must also be considered.

Hope that helps.

So, If I find this honey-water solution effective, then should I stop the medications, as they may cause side effects when used for a long period, from the dermatologist and continue with this solution and a mild shampoo?

Hi Shivam,

Sorry for the delay in response. It’s really hard for me to make any specific recommendations because everyone is different and I’m not a medical professional.
From my own experience the hair loss stops and reverses as soon as the SD is contained.

Also, in terms of the medications, it really depends what you have been prescribed, how long you use it, and how often.

Hope that helps. All the best.

Sorry to sound ignorant, but how much is considered a “part” in reference to the honey and boiled water remedy?

Hi Judy,

Basically by part I meant in proportion to the water.
So 1/5 of the teaspoon would be water and 4/5 would be honey.

Hope that helps.

Just a warning that rubbing raw garlic on the skin can cause dermatitis! I have it at the moment from preperation of raw garlic.
It is a common allergy and particularly affects people in the catering trade.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the update. Will probably remove that garlic method all together. Seems way to aggressive and I would also imagine it may do more harm than good.

All the best.

Great post, Michael! The only home remedy I’ve tried is Tea Tree oil with no success at all. I’m so tired of Rx solutions with inconsistent results and visits to the dermatologist.

Prior to reading this post, I was planning to start an ACV treatment. Now I’m not so sure. My itching is BAD to damage is probably extensive. I can’t imagine the burning that may result.

So I’m thinking honey, but here’s my question… How in the world will this work with long, think hair?! The stickiness seems like it would be impossible to get out!

Hi Adriane,

Thanks for the feedback.
Yeah, tea tree oil wasn’t too effective for me. Typically made things worse on the scalp and was quite intense for the facial skin.
Lot’s of people seem to have fairly good results with the ACV, but over time it seems that it’s only a partial solution. For me it didn’t really take hold at all.

The honey method I was never brave enough to attempt it on the scalp/hair. Just seemed to messy and tedious. However, had really good results on my facial skin, but again was hard to maintain the procedures.

This is what I’ve been doing for the past ~1.5 months with good success:
My Seborrheic Dermatitis Skin Regimen

It started as a home remedy approach, but took a lot of time to fine tune.
Have been doing a ton of actual research on the subject and you can access the draft copy of the SD chapter of a book I’ve been working on here:

All About Seborrheic Dermatitis

It goes into detail on the majority of info I have collected on SD.
Hope that helps.

Adriane, I use honey all the time on my hair! I have super thick hair that is way past my shoulders, and I have had no trouble with honey. Start off with a honey rinse, once you feel more comfortable you can gradually move onto mostly just honey (I use a table spoon with a tiny splash of water just to loosen it) this is then massaged into my scalp. I don’t really use a conditioner as I find honey leaves it soft and without tangle :slight_smile: sometimes I’ll use ACV rinse as a deep conditioner but this is usually once every two weeks.
As October has hit, naturally SD has come fighting so I’ll be upping the anti! I only seem to get it on my scalp, although this may have something to do with my weekly facial scrubs which are also all homemade remedies.
Hope this helps :slight_smile: honey is amazing!

Hi Kstones,

Thanks for sharing!
Happy to hear that this approach has worked well for you. :slight_smile:

All the best.

Hi Michael,

In the honey-water solution,
Should I use raw honey only or can processed honey also work?

Re the “Honey/Boiled WAter” treatment. Can it be used on the scalp? If so, where does shampooing fit into the routine. Same question for the ACV treatment of the scalp. Please share the steps to be taken as Step 1, Step 2, Step 3 etc. Sincere thanks. RK

Hi Shivam,

The research paper used crude (raw) honey. Based on this I strictly used raw honey when using this treatment.
However, others on here have reported results with regular high quality Manuka honey.

Hope that helps. Best of luck.

Hi Rita,

Personally do not have much experience with using raw honey on the scalp. For me it just seemed too messy.

However, in the study they simply applied the honey-water solution to the scalp at the same time as all other affected skin and left it for 3 hours before washing. No mention of any special recommendation for shampooing were made.
Another person recently shared her approach in this comment.

The ACV vinegar treatment has been described in more detail in the “Treating Seborrheic Dermatitis With Apple Cider Vinegar” post.
For additional information please check the comments section of that post. Lot’s of good information there.

Hope that helps. All the best.

Hi, thank you for your advice, I have read it but it does not say to use the treatment before or after shampoo, would you please advise?