Inside Out: Silky Smooth       

Dermatitis Reveal

For years, my brother has had a flaky patch between his eyebrows. “You have to exfoliate,” I would tell him sternly, but big brothers typically don’t listen to their little sisters.

In any case, I was actually wrong about the method of treatment. It wasn’t simply dry, flaky skin; it was seborrheic dermatitis. Seborrheic dermatitis is thought to be caused by a common yeast called Malassezia. Everyone has Malassezia on their skin; in this case, it overgrows, and the skin has an inflammatory reaction. It’s considered to be a form of eczema. Typically manifesting on the scalp, seborrheic dermatitis can also travel down onto the face — forehead, nose, cheeks.

I figured this out at the same time that his best friend, a dermatologist, told him what to do, and of course, my brother listened to him.

Seborrheic dermatitis can be treated with dandruff shampoo, like Head & Shoulders, which contains pyrithione zinc. Ketoconazole, an ingredient in Nizarol shampoo, also treats it well.