Do You Have A Red (Flaky) Nose And Seborrheic Dermatitis? [Dermatologist Dr. Cynthia Bailey 2019]

Have you wondered why sometimes the crease of your nose is a little bit red and sometimes has flaky bits of skin and matter there?

Hi! I’m board certified dermatologist and skin wellness expert, Dr. Cynthia Bailey, and the crease of the nose is a common site for seborrheic dermatitis. This is a skin condition that is also very common and that we can struggle with from cradle to grave.

There are times in our life when were more prone to seborrheic dermatitis. For example, the acne-prone years when the oil glands in the crease of the nose are cranking out a bunch of oil, they also seem to invite seborrheic dermatitis and so very commonly my acne patients will be telling me about their struggles with their acne skin problem. In addition, they ask me why there nose is red with dry skin there when their face is so oily.

Well, the flakes aren’t actually dry skin. They’re a manifestation of seborrheic dermatitis. This is a rash, and the reason there are flakes there is because seborrheic dermatitis involves the areas of the skin where the flakes occur because the dead skin cell layer is produced very rapidly, and the skin is churning out more than it can exfoliate.

Invisibly, there’s inflammation in the epidermal layer and in the dermis. This inflammation in this layer you see as redness. We say hyperproliferation of dead skin cells, which you see as flakes. In addition, all of this inflammation and rash that is occurring here is causing a break in the skin, and you’ll notice that the skin is a little more prone to irritation in the acne-prone years. That’s important because many of the medicines we use to treat acne are a little irritating and that will cause the redness to show even a little bit more. The other time of life where we’re really prone to seborrhoeic dermatitisis is middle-aged onward so we sometimes get a little break in childhood and we sometimes get a little break in our early adult years, although not always. But, middle-aged onward is another time that we manifest seborrheic dermatitis.

To find out more, watch this video, and please share with family and friends who have a red nose and seborrheic dermatitis.