Dry and Flaky Skin: Seborrheic Dermatitis

The following information has been gathered and compiled through personal experience while traveling, teaching T’ai Chi, Qi Gong, Chinese Herbal medicine, martial arts and other health related subjects. The article also contains feedback from students and anecdotal information from readers of my columns. The following are my opinions and deductions from those sources.

Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a somewhat common skin condition and similar to dandruff. The condition is caused by an over secretion from the skin’s sebaceous oil glands. The oil becomes rancid and breaks down into an organic chemical irritant called organic peroxide. Organic peroxide causes a natural defensive reaction by the skin, resulting in a higher rate of skin cell production in an effort to eliminate the irritant. The excess skin is what causes the clumping and flaking of SD. Dandruff and SD appear dry and oil-less but if you take a piece of dandruff and press it between two pieces of paper, you’ll find it leaves an oily spot.

You can treat the symptom or go to the cause:

Treating the symptom is usually accomplished by stopping the oils from turning rancid. This is how most anti-dandruff shampoos work. They contain antioxidants which slow or stop the oils from turning rancid which irritates the skin and causes the excess production of skin cells.

Antioxidants can be taken orally but caution is advised and it is recommended that if you go that route, you should consult with your health care provider or qualified nutritionist. High doses of many antioxidants can have side effects, negative interactions with other drugs, and cause serious problems.

The cause of the problem is too much oil production which is controlled by hormones, specifically the male hormone androgen which is produced by the adrenal glands (both sexes produce male and female hormones). If your hormone production is out of balance, in this case too much androgen, you need to work on balancing and strengthening the adrenal glands.

Stress and sugar depletes and burdens the adrenals faster than anything else. Read my articles on sugar and on the adrenals and thyroid glands for more information.

B-vitamins are specifics for adrenal health. Sugar depletes B-vitamins as do highly processed foods and simple carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates and whole foods compliment adrenal health.

Your health care provider can perform tests to calculate adrenal function. Here’s an indicator of hypoadrenia. If quickly standing from a sitting or lying down position makes you light headed, see stars or pass out, the chances of suffering from hypoadrenia are high. Over stressed adrenals aren’t able to deliver the hormones necessary to keep the blood from pooling. When the blood pools in the lower extremities and isn’t delivered to the brain and other vital organs upon rising, the body can shut down.

Stress is a major contributor to adrenal exhaustion. Stress can be from hot summer days, cold winter nights, over exertion, emotional upset, wind, chemicals in our food and any number of things depending on the individual. I’ve known for years that hot, dry winds stress me out and I try to schedule my life around them which, unfortunately, isn’t always possible.