Posted by Bogeygolfer (Cincinnati, Ohio) on 12/01/2009
★★★★★
I have suffered from seborrheic dermatitis or rosacea (doctors couldn't decide). I never did take any prescription drugs for this, I try and "heal thy self" and have heard horror stories of steroids, etc. I tried changing soap, changing diet thinking it was a food allergy with no relief. So I started tracing the issue. This started a year ago after a bad sinus infection. I was out on antibiotics for 10 days. As soon as I came off the ATB, the skin issue started. Not sure of the relation to the ATB. I had redness and extreme dryness on bridge of nose, creases on nose and a spot on my eyebrow. Many lotions just made it worse, no matter how "pure" they were. So I found this site. I have read many, many posts regarding my condition and tried many remedies that worked for others. But I found information that seemed to trace this down to the trigger and find a remedy that works. ACV topically was very very aggravating, it made the redness and soreness BAD for days and dryed the skin a ton more than it already was. Honey didn't do anything, even unpasturized. I tried Z cure mentioned on here and it did help redness but still left the skin very dry. Washing my face with dandruff shampoo that contains zinc helped about 70%. I tried supplements and 50mg of zinc and 400mg of magnesium did help a great deal and I still take them along with B, D, C vitamins. But the thing that was the treasure find for me was posts that mentioned fluoride and Grapefruit Seed Extract. I was drinking a TON of water (tap) thinking that water is good for the skin. It's loaded with fluoride. I ALSO was on anti-depressants for years which contains fluorine. I switched to bottled water that doesn't have fluoride (there are only two brands that can claim this - filters do nothing). I also weaned off the anti-depressants and detoxed myself. But the real cure for me was the grapefruit seed extract. I mixed 10 drops with 1 tbsp of water and applied it with a cotton ball, left it on and let air dry and WOW! it is gone. I mean it was gone hours after the first application. Redness, dryness, flaking - GONE! So I am not sure which one did it (GSE or no fluoride or both) but I am continuing this path. I have been doing this for one month now. I apply GSE mixture once a day after showering. I use pure shea butter or pure castor oil as a nighttime moisturizer and I am symptom-free. My skin is back to normal 100%. Thanks to this site and the person who posted about Fluoride and the person who posted in great detail about GSE. I still drink 1 tbsp of ACV with 8oz of juice each day along with a kefir probiotic drink before bed just as an added benefit. I had h1n1 back in October and I truly feel this got me through it to boost immunity along with keeping my lungs strong with exercise. It's bad stuff, even with my so-called "mild" case. Thanks Earth Clinic!
Posted by DL (Atl, Ga) on 09/24/2008
★★★★★
Update to my first post about using grapefruit seed extract for dermatitis around my nose... After the 5th day of taking drops of GSE internally and it getting 50% better, but not more than that, I decided to start applying GSE to directly to the dermatitis. I put a drop of GSE on my palm and then touched the drop with my index finger and rubbed it in thoroughly to the dermatis, which wrapped around the underside of my nose and partially up the sides. Instant warming sensation. I kept the GSE on as long as possible, which frankly wasn't very long: 5-10 minutes max. I did this application once a day. It's intense, I must warn you. After a few minutes the dermatitis started to itch and burn. Quite torturous. When I couldn't take it any more I rinsed the GSE off with warm water and finished with cold water. I then applied pure shea butter. The itch then continues for about 20 minutes.
It's now day 5 (and I kept the GSE on for an hour, no problem) and my dermatitis is gone around my nose. The redness has slowly receded and this morning when I woke up the area was almost completely healed... the constant redness is gone! You'd think with a remedy so powerful that it would make the skin look worse, but it fact the opposite has occured. It gets red right after application, then heals over night.
Finally! After 10 years of non-stop, itchy, red, flaking skin!! I also know from experience that I will need to continue this remedy for at least another few weeks or it may come back. But hopefully I can eliminate it permanantly. I am thinking now that this condition may very well be caused by mites. So doing a yeast cleanse is important, but you also need to kill the mites on the skin with something powerful. I recommend that people try using grapefruit seed extract for scalp infections, seb derm, mite infestations. It might also work for rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.
Finally, I want to thank Marea soooo much for her thorough posting about Grapefruit Seed Extract on the melasma page. That's what got me to try the remedy out in the first place. Yea, Marea!
