Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic Dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition in which the skin looks flaky and scaly. It affects men more than women and in infants it is commonly seen in babies below three months old. The scales can be white or yellowish in color and it may appear on the oily areas like scalp, face, chest, creases in the legs, arms, groin etc. It may even affect the scalp of the babies and is then called cradle cap.
Symptoms of Seborrheic Dermatitis
This infection seems to affect the areas like scalps, creases of nose, eyelids, eyebrows, creases behind the ear, corners of the lips, skin folds in the body etc. The skin in these regions appears to have scales. The skin scales may be white or at times it becomes yellowish and adherent. This condition may later turn in to skin lesions. There may be mild itching on the affected region along with a mild redness. If it affects the scalp then there may be hair loss too.
Causes for Seborrheic Dermatitis
Seborrheic Dermatitis is a result of a fungal attack and the fungus that causes Seborrheic dermatitis is malessizia fungus. This fungus in combination with oily skin causes the problems like scales and flakes. At times this disease is found to be associated with hormones as this infection is common at infancy and may disappear during puberty.
Risk Factors for Seborrheic Dermatitis
Certain conditions like stress, weather conditions, fatigue, oiliness of the skin, obesity, use of shampoos that contains alcohol, unhygienic handling of hair and skin, other skin disorders etc adds risk of getting this skin infection. Some neurological diseases like stroke, Parkinson’s disease, head injury etc also increase your risk for getting the disease. HIV is also act as a risk factor for Seborrheic dermatitis.
There are some medicated shampoos and over the counter creams to treat this infection. It will be good to scrub the skin gently for about five minutes a day.
