I've suffered from sebderm for about 15 years to varying degrees, I had tried various stuff from the store like T-gel, head and shoulders, topical steroid creams etc. and I had almost completely given up on controlling it without harsh agents until I tried using apple cider vinegar and baking soda for my hair. I had heard about this online and it seemed like bullshit cuz come on dude. A common food from the grocery store to control something that was costing me an arm and a leg in various specialized skin/hair products? Seemed like a joke but I was desperate so I tried it. At first it didn't seem like it was working and I gave up for a while, but gave it a second shot and realized some important stuff:

• Your hair and skin adapt to what you put on them. I've noticed that if I use Head and Shoulders etc frequently, upon application it will solve the problem, but then the problem comes back sooner and more frequently on continued use, until the product is basically essential or my skin will just explode into a nasty mess if I skip a day or two.

• Enter vinegar. I gave vinegar another shot. I wasn't working for a bit and gave it a month. The first week or so was horrible. My skin was so used to the stuff from the store it did get worse for a little bit, but then it chilled out and eventually I noticed I could go for longer and longer periods without using vinegar on my hair and my skin would stay mostly fine, something unthinkable when I was using Head and Shoulders.

It's been about 5 years since I started washing with a 50% apple cider vinegar solution and things have never been easier. Sebderm isn't 100% gone but it's subsided so much that it's almost not a problem. I've saved quite a bit of money over the years too, since vinegar is way cheaper than hair product.

Notes:

• you could probably use 25% ACV in water and it would still work. Experiment.

• also works on face and chest, anywhere dermatitis shows up it should work

• later I dropped the baking soda, so I wash with a bar of soap and vinegar. that's it. seems to work just fine.

• it kind of burns, because inflamed skin from dermatitis is usually a minor open wound. sucks a little but this means it's working. soon the skin will heal and it will no longer burn.

• it takes time for your skin to adapt to this. I would give it a full month before giving up. I think I'm still seeing positive adaptation even 5 years later since starting. be patient. undoing the damage done by overuse of skin products can take a looooong time.

• if you really need your skin to behave and can't compromise on your appearance for a while, you can try slowly replacing your product with ACV instead of doing it all in one go. like alternating every other time or only using your product for a boost once in a while if things get really bad.

• First thing I do when I get in the shower is wet my hair and use the water and my fingers to kind of rub my scalp a bit, optionally with a quarter-sized amount or so of baking soda in my hand if I need to mechanically remove something from my hair. just dump a bit on my head and kinda rub it around with the fingers. No need to go crazy every time since I suspect baking soda is a bit hard on your actual hair fibers. Baking soda gets rinsed off and then I dump a bit of 50% ACV on my head and rub that around to make sure all areas are good, then I leave that till the end of the shower and rinse it off. Similar with my face. If there's a problem area I'll make sure my face is clean with soap and a washcloth and then apply a tiny amount of ACV, just enough to cover it and then I'll leave it until the end or just leave it on. Usually burns, but the spot is dramatically improved the next morning.