If you want to read the first part you can click the link Seborrheic Dermatitis and the Gut-Skin Axis

The first part explains my personal story of my giving up sugars and fruits temporarily to heal my gut and now I will write about the prebiotics and probiotics, with a little help from Gemini, that will help heal you gut. For most people, it takes 3 to 6 months of consistent dietary and lifestyle changes to fundamentally heal the gut, repair the intestinal lining, and establish a deeply resilient microbiome.

Because the gut is linked to so many chronic diseases, optimizing your digestion is crucial. If your bowel movements aren't regular and your stool consistency isn't healthy, fixing your gut health should be your first priority.

Pasteurization keeps our global food supply safe, but it strips away gut health benefits.

By killing off all bacteria—both good and bad—pasteurized foods can't provide the live probiotics your lower gut relies on.

To help alleviate this problem we must introduce good bacteria to feed our gut daily. Notice these yogurts must be rotated to get the different culture strains into your gut, so don't stick to just one brand.

How Bacteria Strains Target Different Parts of the Gut

The digestive system is segmented by environment, and different bacterial families (genera) thrive in different areas:

• Upper Gut (Small Intestine): This area is dominated by the Lactobacillus genus. These bacteria prefer the slightly more acidic environment of the small intestine. They excel at breaking down lactose, synthesizing vitamins, and preventing harmful bacterial overgrowth in the upper GI tract. [1, 2, 3]
• Lower Gut (Large Intestine / Colon): This oxygen-free environment is the primary home of the Bifidobacterium genus. These strains are highly effective at fermenting dietary fibers, regulating bowel movements, easing constipation, and supporting lower-gut immunity. [1, 2]

Store-Bought Yogurt Types, Strains, and Gut Targets

Below is a breakdown of the common types of yogurt found in grocery stores, their typical bacterial strains, and how they interact with your gut:

What to Look for on the Label

When shopping, check the ingredient list for the phrase "Live and Active Cultures." Standard starter cultures (L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus) turn milk into yogurt, but they often die in stomach acid. For maximum therapeutic benefit to your lower gut, look for brands that explicitly print additional strains like Lactobacillus acidophilus or Bifidobacterium lactis right on the label.

Store-Bought Non-Dairy Probiotics, Strains, and Targets

For these foods to contain live bacteria, they must be raw, unpasteurized, and found in the refrigerated section. Shelf-stable canned or jarred versions use heat pasteurization and vinegar, which kills all beneficial live bacteria.

The Grocery Store Cheat Code: Avoid the Pantry Aisle

When buying these products for gut health, always look at the packaging:

• The Refrigeration Rule: If a pickle or sauerkraut is sitting warm on a standard grocery shelf, it has been pasteurized with heat and vinegar. It contains zero live probiotics. It must be kept cold in the refrigerated deli or produce section.
• Look for "Raw" or "Fermented": The label should explicitly state "naturally fermented," "raw," or "contains live cultures." If "vinegar" is listed as one of the primary ingredients instead of just salt and water, it was pickled chemically rather than fermented biologically.

Prebiotics are a type of specialized plant fiber that acts as food for the good bacteria in your gut. To put it simply: if probiotics are the live beneficial bugs you swallow, prebiotics are the specific foods you eat to feed and multiply those bugs.

Your body cannot actually digest prebiotic fibers. Instead, they pass completely unbroken through your stomach and small intestine (the upper gut). When they arrive in your large intestine (the lower gut), your live probiotic bacteria ferment them, using them as fuel to thrive and crowd out harmful microbes.

Prebiotics vs. Probiotics: A Simple Analogy

Types of Prebiotics and Where to Find Them

Prebiotics naturally exist in many everyday grocery items. They usually appear on scientific labels as specific types of carbohydrates, such as Inulin, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), or Galactooligosaccharides (GOS).

You can find them in high amounts across these common food groups:

• Vegetables: Garlic, onions, leeks, shallots, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, and seaweed.
• Legumes & Grains: Oats, barley, lentils, chickpeas, black beans, and whole wheat.
• Fruits: Slightly under-ripe green bananas, apples (due to a fiber called pectin), and grapefruits.
• Nuts & Seeds: Flaxseeds, chia seeds, almonds, and walnuts.

Why Your Lower Gut Loves Prebiotics

When your lower gut bacteria eat prebiotics, they produce highly beneficial byproducts called Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs), such as butyrate, acetate, and propionate. These compounds act like fuel for the cells lining your colon. They help seal your gut barrier, reduce systemic inflammation, and signal your body to stay regular.

Hey guys, I’ve had this on and off issue that involves these red spots/blotches that will appear on my face usually around my mouth/mustache area. They are always flat and they don’t hurt or itch but they sort of just appear and go away within like 30 minutes or so.

Im trying to see if anything triggers it and I’ve noticed it sort of happens whenever Im laughing/talking a lot or when eating.

I don’t know if this has anything to do with my Seb Derm or if its something related to Rosacea or something completely different involving irritation of the skin barrier.

Does anyone else experience something similar? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you everyone.

I’ve posted on here a few times but I realised I never actually provided a photo 😭 its been two months of this persistent flaking around the perimeter of my face and on and off flaking in my eyebrows… it has never been itchy, stingy, or anything- i wouldn’t say there is any discolouration (unless someone disagrees by seeing the photos 😭), i will say the region near my side burns looks slightly yellow but I feel like its been like that my entire life?…. Also no one has noticed the flaking and whenever I show someone they dont know what i’m talking about… i know thats probably hard to believe seeing those photos- but it only looks that severe because i pulled my hair away… the flakes seem to shift very easily whenever i touch it or pull my hair… i had flaking near my eyes and between brows but that went completely away with a cream- i do put cream in the regions in the photos but I dont know if its just not penetrating because of the hair- anyone have any thoughts?

Oh also my hair isnt greasy in this- this is after washing my hair 😭😭

Current collection. Many have been thrown away already.

Hello, I have seborrheic Dermatitis. Problem is I am shedding hair fast, have lost a lot of hair density. If I use topical steroids for 1-2 weeks, is that still dangerous? Can I get withdrawal from using it a few times?

Hey guys, there's not much to say about this, I just quit coffee cause my gastritis flared up strong, and since I quit the sebderm disappeared. I kinda eat like shit right now, because our stove is broken and I can't cook at the moment so my skin is not 100% fabulous but yeah, the fuckin red spots and flakes are all gone, pretty much looking like a normal human now, just with enlarged pores and moist skin, subtle rosacea. But u dont notice that if ur not 50cm close to me lol.

Just for info, I quit only 2 weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure it was the damn coffee, something about coffee causing too much of cortisol release a.k.a. stress.

I hope many of you will find this helpful, also I know it is very hard to quit coffee, it is such an addiction ... It is quite hard for me now but on the other side, I feel like I am becoming more of myself without coffee slowlyy

I am 19M. I cant take it anymore. For the past 3 years, ive had insane sebderm and insane hairfall.

1. It all started when i was stupid lil 15 year old on youtube, i heard the advice than shampoos is some bs corposlop and the reasoning was.... well ppl before 1980s or smthn didnt use it for the majority of human existence. Thats beside the point, long story short i started putting insane amounts of oil on my scalp, i also had acne back then, very bad acne. I always had a dandruff problem but eventually the dandruff got very weird and too much. It was big flakes of skin that clumped together multiple hair strands. Almost like a flat frisby that has hole and hair come out of them. I ignored it until i started noticing alot of hairloss and visible hair thinning (17 years old here).
2. Then began the grand pursuit of derms. The first 3 basically dismissed my issue saying not a big deal. The rest 2 were cash grab, putting me on expensive shampoos and external medication that ripped me off. Been using ketakonazole, selsun blue and all the crap for 2 fucking years now. The usual cycle is it works a bit, like removes maybe 80% of scalp fungus throughout the years. Come Oct, it flares again right back to the worst stages.

• Hairfall: It started as thinning , maybe 100-150 hair strands when i take a bath. 1 year later it became 150-200 hair strands every time i take a bath. Currently its 250-300+ EVERY SINGLE TIME i take shower or headwash. If i comb my hair, its 80-120+ hair easily and iam not overstating. every day i comb and the sink fills up with hair.
• Imp note: ALl the hair fall is diffused. My hair line has barely receded from the corners. Barely, like maybe 1 cm max, the front hairline is intact, not even 0.5 cm recession. All the hair that fall off are uniform in length (ofc they vary a bit due to cutting) and thickness, albeit around 15% of all hair that fall off are quite thinner than usual.
  

yapping/unnecessary:

I cant take this anymore. The only compliments ive ever received were for my hair. Ive tried meds paying a tonne of money, prayed (if that even works{may god be merciful for this blasphemy }), been optimistic then down again. I cant focus on my education, or even like i cant dude. Its the one thing i cherished in life and seeing it just fall en masse . I want to just unalive myself i just cant man, in all this suffering now hairfall on top of all of this. Iam only fucking 19

I have been having scalp,hair and some skin issues not sure if it’s fungal or bacterial also my dermatologist has did skin testing but they still can’t seem to find what is causing this but my main focus right now is my hair as it’s been brittleness,breakage,and severe itchiness when it comes to my scalp/hair it has helped with severe itchiness instantly so far today will be my second day use but my derm said it can help with flakiness and breakage . I can say it helped tremendously with itchiness before using this I would itch my scalp allot until it bleeds and inflamed it can dry out the hair but I just use a good moisturized-conditioner to add after using both topicals and it would leave me hair looking really soft too hopes this work for others I’ve heard some people give it bad reviews I will do another review once I’m a month in hope this can help someone out there if they’re experiencing same issues .

I used to have severe dermatitis on my face neck and torso years ago and i didn’t know so many people have this bullshit of a disease so let me share how I handle it and it’s no thanks to doctors who didn’t help at all

so on my neck and torso what worked is ketoconazol gel and its still working years later i haven’t had a flair in years but my face just got worse with whatever the doctor gave me and believe me i tried every medication possible because i live in france and here medication and doctor appointments are free, even steroids stopped working

the only thing that worked is rinsing my face with very very hot water for like 10 minutes every morning to make the yeast on the face soft and easy to rub away by very gently rubbing my face and not scrubbing hard to make it worse and it even makes most of the itching go away

for the redness i just put mct oil c8 but a good moisturizer works too but not as good as the mct, this is the only consistent way i keep it away and believe me i tried everything, if you have questions message me

Its very important for the water to be very hot if your water doesn’t go very hot put it on the stove, not until its boiling tho 😂

In the beginning your face may look worse and redness be more but it will go away with a couple of days and it even makes your face look way more smooth and get rid of that crocodile leather skin, i really hope this helps some people and i don’t know if it will work for everyone but i hope because i remember not even wanting to go outside when i used to have it severe.

Also very important do it as soon as you wake up in the morning like in the first 20 minutes of waking up, don’t ask me why its just like that

Is it due to change in weather? Also my hair wqs pretty short and its growing out. Its very thick, dense, and coarse. Does sebderm seem to be worse with longer hair too?

I recently started experimenting with the no poo method about 3 weeks ago. I’ve been washing my hair once a week using a homemade soap nut and flaxseed solution, followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse. I’ve noticed that my scalp has been pretty flaky, and I’m starting to suspect it might be seb derm. I’ve been reading about MCT oil as a potential treatment and was wondering if anyone has tried incorporating it into a no poo routine.

A few questions:

How do you use MCT oil? Do you apply it directly to your scalp, and how much?

How often do you use it?

Do you leave it in or wash it out?

Does it make your hair greasy? I’m especially curious whether my soap nut and flaxseed solution would be strong enough to remove the oil without needing regular shampoo.

For context, my homemade cleanser does a decent job of cleaning my hair, but it definitely doesn’t leave my scalp feeling as clean as regular shampoo.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s dealt with seb derm while following a no poo routine, especially if you’ve tried MCT oil. What worked for you?

So guys i discovered the perfect treatment for my seb derm, it's simple, practical and 100% efficient in my case, as i started swimming all my seb derm was gone, they treat the pool with chlorine and ozone, and after that i like to do some sauna, guys my skin is very clean and dry now, it's perfeeeeect and i don't have to buy any product and use them anymore! with all of that i have a lot of fun too. Try that and hit the up button to help other to see that!

I’ve had seb derm on my scalp and some times face for 30 years. But in the last 6 months I’ve also started getting itchy patches/red bumps on back of neck, behind ears , middle chest, and upper back.

Not sure if it’s seb derm or another fungal condition. Anyone else get it in those spots? Maybe it’s foliculitis?

I have a derm appt this week.

19F here. in the start of this year i started minoxidil for AGA but that gave me dermatitis instead so i stopped using that. my eyebrow that were literally a big part of my personality starting falling off. now it's been an year almost and they are still coming out. i tried ketoconazole and what not seems like it didn't work. i feel like crying so so so loud. please tell me how to stop this and regrow my eyebrows. i am just so emotionally drained.

Hi, I just commented this to a post, but I think people should know.

*There is a difference between dandruff shampoo kinds, the regular dandruff shampoo and then the 'oily dandruff' shampoo.*

I used to have this condition where my scalp was itchy, super oily and every time I would scratch there was this wad of paste (very fine skin flakes) under my nails, and it would smell a bit. I tried every dandruff shampoo. It would help a bit but not much. Until I came across a Vichy/Dercoss shampoo that said for 'oily dandruff'/'greasy dandruff'.

I never came across this phrase before on a shampoo. Funny thing to note there were 3 shampoos for dandruff from the same brand with identical bottles they just differed by the small text on the front. One said normal hair, the 2nd said oily hair and the 3rd said 'greasy dandruff'. I picked the 3rd bottle and tried it. Even from the 1st wash I could feel a difference.

Then I did som digging, and looked up shampoos for dandruff with the phrase 'oily dandruff' or 'greasy dandruff', I found 3, and 2 of them were not that commonly sold.

After covid I had a bad flare got diagnosed and my seb stayed way worse than before, especially in my ear it went rampant, tried creams and shampoos on the ear, took me long enough to remember the shampoo I used back then. Now, we are after wash 4 with the Ducray shampoo, and the smell and itchiness is gone, peeling is almost completely gone.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Hi! Has anybody used tacrolimus ointment 0.1%? Was it very itching when it first started?

I have been using happy cappy zinc pyrithione shampoo on my face for seb derm for about a week and have had great success with it overall (way less redness, scaling is almost gone just some lingering dryness). But I still have lingering itching/tingling sensations that come and go. I was curious if anyone has any feedback if this is normal and will it fade with time? Or is it a bad sign I should pay attention to? I’ve never previously dealt with this before, any feedback or experiences would be appreciated!

I’ve been using ketoconazole shampoo and it helps but the flakes always come back after a few days. And the itching is honestly driving me crazy.

I’m trying to find something I can use between washes. Saw a calming scalp treatment from Typology and something similar from Nizoral but idk if either would actually help.

Does anything without antifungal ingredients even work for seb derm? Or does it just make your scalp feel better for a few hours?

Has anyone dealt with this? What actually helped you?

I have a good routine that seems to keep the flaking and buildup away, but my face and scalp are still so painful and red. My face/eyebrows sting and itch. I don’t know if it’s because there’s still yeast there that I can’t see or maybe I’m over cleansing?? I’m at a loss.

My current routine is daily washing rotating t sal, ketoconazole and cerave shampoo, this has mostly cleared my scalp of waxy buildup. Zoryve every night.
For my face I use vanicream and keto shampoo occasionally, but find that it burns. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong I just want relief 😔

This is my scalp. I have had dandruff for 5+ years. My hair gets oily a lot. My hair is thin and my scalp gets oily on the very next day I shampoo.

I have flakes on my scalp but they are more visible on my hair. I don’t get the feel to itch my head a lot.

I have tried ketaconazole and selenium sulfide but the dandruff never went away (I only applied it and massaged for 2-3 min and washed).

I went to a dermatologist and he said I have eczema and gave me an oral steroid (prednisolone) and some oral supplements but I don’t have any redness or extreme itching. I also don’t have any dryness or flaky skin anywhere else on my body.

I believe I have seborrheic dermatitis but now I am conflicted.

Is this really seborrheic dermatitis?

Could it be something else?

Hi everyone,

Have a question for all the senior members, as I am beginning to bald from atop my head I was wondering whether permanent balding makes the seb derm go away? Or does it make it worse as now the screen of hair is gone and the seb derm is directly exposed to the atmosphere?

Thanks in advance

I have personally never had any success using any type of Antifungal on my face. I’ve only had reactions to them and they’ve always caused my skin to become oily. They’ve never really helped with the redness or flaking on my face, although I don’t experience much flaking on the face.

Has anyone else had this experience? Is all Seb Derm fungal or is there something else to the story?

What do you guys use to treat your Seb Derm instead?

I have severe seb derm, I have used several over counter shampoos and even prescription ones and steroids but nothing is helping me enough. My Seb derm scales usually comes back within mere hours or if I’m lucky a day, but the cherry on top is the fact it makes my scalp smell.

It’s not like a horrible smell but it’s just a weird smell I’d rather not carry around on my head all day, I’m guessing it’s probably from the flakes or something combined with the fact I have tick curly hair and hyperhydrosis but idk what else I can do to get rid of it, I wash my hair everyday, it makes me sick and even more embarrassed to even interact with people because I’m a very hygienic person. I feel like it’s ruining my life. I’ve tried using some other shampoos with fragrances to mask the smell but it never truly works.