A home UV bulb fights seborrheic dermatitis in the winter

Most SD sufferers will confirm: the SD symptoms are at their worst in the colder and darker seasons. In a previous post I have discussed this connection at length and have pointed to several scientific studies that confirm it. It turns out that most medical scientists believe that sunlight, and specifically the ultraviolet (UV) part of it, is responsible for the positive effects. The obvious question then is: armed with this information, what can be done in order to keep seborrheic dermatitis at bay during the cold and dark periods. Of course one can think of traveling to sunnier places, but this is not always possible, or practical. An easy solution turns out to be a home UV bulb, as conveyed by this post:

Hello fellow SD sufferers, I have suspected for a while now that sun was improving my SD. I’m originally from the upper Midwest and it always got much worse during winter. I moved to California and it went away entirely after spending time outside every day. I moved to Florida and spent less time outside and it came back a little, but not as bad as it is in the winter.
Moved back to my home state, and it came back with a vengeance. I worked overnights all summer so I didn’t even see the sun this summer, it was the worst it’s ever been. I found this thread back in November and decided to try to find a way to get UV light without going outside (I’m a baby and going out with no hat on for 10 minutes a day is just not happening for me when it’s 5° outside).
I ordered a UVB bulb meant for reptile cages off of Amazon, and it totally works! I had a giant red spot at the edge of my hairline that was horribly unsightly and it’s entirely gone now. My head isn’t itchy, and I’m not bleeding when I do have an itch. I haven’t even used it that much, like once a week for 10-15 minutes.
I wouldn’t use it much more than that since obviously UV light isn’t great for us. I got tanning goggles to wear because the bulb is really bright and gives me a headache without them and I wear long sleeves and pants to try to keep it off as much skin as possible, but man is it nice to have a clean scalp!

– tay on rosaceagroup.org

Share your experience

If you try the UV bulb, please help the SD community by sharing your own experience in the comments below.