Herbal Therapy for the Management of Seborrheic Dermatitis: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Introduction: Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis [SD] are similar skin conditions but have different severities. Because the current therapies are not able to completely remove dandruff, herbal extracts with better effectiveness and fewer side effects are being used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Due to the adverse effects of chemical drugs, the use of natural products and traditional medicine has sharply increased over the past few decades. Therefore, in this review, we report herbs used as anti-dandruff agents in traditional medicine around the world. Methods: The review was conducted on the literature available on the medicinal utility of certain plants as antidandruff agents using PubMed and Google Scholar and the following search terms: Dandruff and Plants or Medicinal Plant and Dandruff treatment; and Essential oil and Dandruff. Results: Because the current therapies are not able to completely remove dandruff, herbal extracts with better effectiveness and fewer side effects are being used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Nowadays, there are many different types of herbal antidandruff shampoo. They are effective and safe without the side effects of chemical agents. Recently, a large number of physicians have turned to herbal medicine. Clinical evidence of the therapeutic effects from herbal products has led to the study of many more herbs for their therapeutic roles. Conclusion: Herbal are now accepted to act a essential role in the development of favourable therapeutics, either alone or in combination with conventional antibiotics. However, the major challenges to this include finding compounds with satisfactorily lower MICs, low toxicity, and high bioavailability for effective and safe use in humans and animals.