Does Drinking Alcohol Affect Seborrheic Dermatitis?
April 14, 2009 by Chris
Filed under Recent News
During my visit to the dermatologist last week, the subject of drinking alcohol and it’s affect on seborrheic dermatitis came up. I’ve enjoyed my beer for quite some time, and have occasionally read where alcohol can cause seb derm to flare up or be worse.
I told my doc…”if you can tell me that if I quit drinking, (which I love), my seborrheic dermatitis would get better or go away, I’ll quit today”. His response, “I would probably tell you you’re better off drinking than quitting”.
I was a bit shocked by his response! In fact, he went on to say, “for most skin problems, I’m not aware that alcohol has much, if any affect on it”. He did say that rosacea does seem to have a bad response to alcohol.
So…I was shocked by the response, but I have to say the part of me that loves a cold beer was rejoicing a bit! Now…is my dermatologist accurate in his statement? He’s the doctor…not me. I’d love to hear from other doctors or people that my have more experience with this subject.
Does alcohol make seborrheic dermatitis, (or other skin conditions) worse?
I’ve noticed after a big night of drinking too many beers my SD has a tendency to flare up. This also happens with wine. I think it has something to do with yeast. Whiskey and bourbon has less effect on my SD.
Mine does seem to be worse after drinking a “lot”. I’ve always wondered if there was a “yeast” connection? That coupled with the alcohol helping to dehydrate and dry out the skin.
Chris
It definitely makes mine far worse. After a heavy night its awful.
I think your doctor doesnt have a clue what hes talking about!
Yes. I have found this out through my own experience. I used to take a lot of beer. It worsens SD. Stay away from alcohol. Please consult with an Ayurvedic practitioner.
SD will definitely get worse with regular alcohol consumption on people with fair skin.. I drank at least 2 glasses of wine every evening and had increasing sd. My Chinese dermatologist had mentioned to me during my last visit (about 4 years ago) that the best way to treat SD was good rest (go to bed before 10:30 pm), reduce stress at work/home and quit alcohol…
I stopped completely the drink 1 week ago and it made a huge difference. I had a constant mark on the forehead and cheeks which are gone. the skin feels also a lot smoother too…
For your info, beer would do my SD no good either, actually it was worse with beer due to the yeast !
A large part of the reason why drinking alcohol effects dermatitis, is because it intoxicates and weakens the liver, which is responsible for cleansing toxins from the blood, the body. The liver is the filter for toxins, and if it is weakened and poisoned with alcohol, it will not function properly, and the toxins will then surface on the outside of the body, through the skin. Anything “outside” is a result of what’s happening “inside”. Also, alcohol contains very large amounts of sugar which causes excessive yeast formation in the body and lowers PH levels – Balanced PH is essential for over-all health. Basically, alcohol imbalances the body’s natural cleansing system, depletes oxygen in the brain and blood, intoxicates organs, increases yeasts and encourages the growth of bad bacterias, throws off PH, and so….dermatitis is caused and/or aggravated.
If you want to manage dermatitis, stay away from sugar, refined food, alcohol, caffeine…and be sure to get lots of excercise(movement increases circulation, oxygen, helps the body expel toxins through sweat and breath, and expels stress which is responsible for most of our ailments[and leads us to want that drink!]), and get lots of fresh air, and good sleep.
Take care…the body/mind/spirit is one, and no problem is separate, the whole must be looked after, not just the symptoms.
After a night of HEAVY drinking, my SD does seem to be worsened for a small amount of time. But I had something similar before I even had SD – skin would be worse the next day. I really don’t think it makes much of a difference really, in the longer term, unless you’re drinking a lot daily.
I concur..it TOTALLY makes mine worse. I drink heavy on the weekends and have one a day during the week. I stopped drinking for a week and it went away, too. Your doc has his head up his arse! Lay off the booze as much as possible…although if ya love beer, it’s tough to quit. Howeve, seb derm is annoying as well…good luck
Beerdrinker – I can’t help but think that mine is somewhat worse after drinking heavy on a weekend. I have tried laying off a week and mine certainly didn’t go away, but probably was a little better. It’s hard for me personally to tell after just one week of giving up beer. I may have to do a month long study to see what happens. Wait…did I just say I wouldn’t drink beer for a month?!?!? I’ll have to think about that one!
SD has thinned my hair and I now wear a wig. Would this make my SD worse. I have had this condition for over 3 months now being a women feel very unfeminine with such fine hair. You can even see my scalp through my hair. Also I have a lot of grey hair and cannot dye it in case it makes my SD worse. I’m only 45 and I feel old already with thinning grey hair. Does your hair ever recover once the SD is controlled?
Hi Susan,
Sorry to hear that SD has caused you such issues with your hair!
I lost my hair at an early age…but of course I’m a male and it was just in my genes…not due to SD.
I’m actually planning to write up a report on SD and thinning hair as soon as I get done with some other projects I have going. But in a nutshell…here is what I’ve been hearing from doctors and others that have lost hair due to SD. They say that your hair should definitely come back once you SD under control. Now I’m not a doctor and I don’t think anyone would guarantee it…but you “should” re-grow your hair. I think the big thing now is just getting control of it.
In my own case, I believe mine is caused by hormones or I’ve inherited it from my parents. SD struck me in 2004 when I was turning 40. The fact that your case is kicking in around the 45 year old range “might” indicate that it’s hormone related? Something you might ask your Dr. about?
So what products have you tried? Any products work better for you than others? SD can be a tricky condition to fight…what might work for me, won’t necessarily work for you. Sometimes it’s simply trial and error.
Most of all…hang in there! You’re not alone and there are a lot of people here than can sympathize with what you’re going through. Keep us informed and feel free to ask questions!
Best of luck!
Chris
Hey all,
I just found these blogs for the first time, and I can’t tell you all how happy I am to read things you all have wrote. That may sound cliche, but it’s really nice to talk to people who are experiencing what you are (even if your “talking” is actually typing). I’ve tried all the requisite treatments and suffered the many itchy nights that you all have with SD. One thing that has unfortunately worked for me has been no exercise, as when I begin to sweat, my scalp starts itching. I am a college runner though, so while it may make me want to train less, I’m still exercising some 2-3 hours a day. My friends don’t understand why I have been so “lazy” recently in not wanting to train, but its mostly because I hate that itchy feeling that gets exaggerated when I start to sweat (i.e. run).
What has worked best for me (beyond not exercising, which I shouldn’t recommend), has been sleep, not itching it, and not stressing out. Actually, the best period I had was when I was using no treatment at all. I went out and bought a really expensive shampoo (that had its pH marked). But when I came home from school, it flared up worse than ever before. I have since gone out and purchased selsun blue, and while its desiccated my hair to some extent, it’s definitely not as itchy. I’m curious to know, does this condition ever go away? I know my doctor says it’s chronic, but I’ve read that a few people no longer have it. If this has seemed rambling, I apologize. Again, I want to thank all of you for writing things. It’s really great. Glad I found this.
Oh, and as the resident twenty-one year old in the room, booze definitely makes my SD worse.
Hello Cy,
First off…my apologies for not responding sooner. Glad you’ve found the site and hopefully you’ll benefit from it in some way…even if it’s just being able to talk about the condition. I’ve found that most people, (spouses & significant others included), don’t always understand how SD affects our self esteem & self confidence…so just being able to chat with someone that can relate can be pretty refreshing!
I know that when I wear a ball cap my scalp will sweat and when it does…it can definitely make a mess of my skin. I can rub my hand across it and the skin just rolls up in little balls. Mine doesn’t itch too bad, but it can become itchy at times.
Does it ever go away? Good question and one that I don’t know that anyone could answer with much certainty. In your case…21 yrs old and dealing with the pressures & stress of college and everything that goes along with it, you’re probably in an “ideal” position to have SD. If yours is related to hormones, (which often can be a trigger), then there is a good chance yours will pass…and you’ll hopefully never see it again. I never had SD until around the age of 40 so I tend to feel mine is either hormone related, inherited…or a little of both.
Does anyone else in your family have it?
Keep us informed of how yours is doing. If you find something that works to control, (or eliminate) yours, let us know!
Regards,
Chris
Hi everyone,
I have had SD since I was around 14 years old, I’m 30 now. I have found that the best way to keep it under control is to use tar based shampoos….the best shampoo I have found is called Capisal and it can be bought over the counter. In addition to this I would definately recommend Betnovate scalp application, which I use about twice a week. Using both of these together takes away most signs of my SD and most of the time I hardly notice it….but if I stop using either of these products it comes back really bad.
It may be different for different people but hopefully this helps someone !
Oh yeah and booze also tends to make it worse !
Sally
hi everyone…..i dont know if anyone will agree with this but I am positive that when i am in the sun on holiday my sd is completely non existant. my doctor told me that there is no cure for sd and that it can only be treated with cortizone cream and specialist shampoos which i use. for this reason she will not recomend to a dermotoligist.
i have done some research and vitamin d is what the sun gives us. i am now going to buy some vitamin d supplements and see what happens. i am also not convinced that the shampoos make any difference as we all still have flare ups even though we use the shampoo every day. the shampoos make the skin very dry and in turn will lead to flare ups and dry flaky skin.
has anyone else dabbled with vitamin d or can anyone else shed any more light on my comments?
beer makes it far worse for me, makes me angry why not on my back od under my arms, why in my face???? i too thinkthere is a yeast, wheat connection to it. we all kno wif we go ive on a muntain and drink juice and never do anything bad all wil be well nut i don;t live in that world. Few things work for me, selsun blue or anything with selenium sulfide. Tons of sweating. and of course less booze.
Thanks for your input Tony. Yes, I suppose I’d rather my SD be located somewhere other than my scalp and face, but I suppose it forces me to face the problem and deal with the self esteem issues that it causes. I try to put a positive spin on it because being negative surely doesn’t help.
Hang in there…
Chris
I am in agreement that it appears drinking beer makes my SD worse on my scalp. I am currently using prescribed shampoo & a very strong steroid topical that my derm. prescribed. The results have been pretty poor. After hearing everyones comments about alchohol/beer impacting SD, well I may have to shy away from beer. It’s worth a shot for starters. (don’t think I’ll totallly ever give it up though as I am big on great tasting beers). I’d guess that stress may be an impact as well. Doing what I can to reduce that, but sometimes that’s a tough thing to battle. Just don’t understand sporadic flareups I have had over the past 20 years.