Interesting! I haven't really seen many people come to the same conclusion. I've read a lot of conflicting opinions too; people who claim sweat exasperates their SD.
For me, Nizoral does clear it up completely, irregardless of whether I'm exercising/sweating or not. Can confirm sea water also helps, but only to a smaller degree for myself at least.
Have you any idea the root of your SD? Have you ever thought you may suffer from candida overgrowth? Maybe we can draw some parallels here.
To the OP, re Minoxidil: Consider taking the oral version if you're worried about scalp sensitivity!
Throughout the years I’ve wondered and searched. I’m positive that this sh*t doesn’t just start one day. It starts early. It starts as itching and a sense of having some really thin white-ish invisible sheet over your skin. If you scratch your head you will notice it, it’s really mild, almost nonexistent. Then it starts building up. Then flakes. Then you start having bleeding, redness and so on.
First of all, people misinform themselves and others. You may hear all sorts of sh*t about it. Dairy, Jesus, water contamination, shampoo ingredients, you name it. None of those, I assure you.
There are two phases. The one with the root cause and the one with the worsening once it has started.
The one with worsening is where you put everything. Chocolate worsens it, for others it is a shampoo, for others it is photosensitivity etc. This phase is where positives come in too. Nizoral, sea water, no dairy etc. Point is, these won’t have the same effect for everyone. And you cannot be sure they work the way they do. For example, who is to say it’s the sea water/salt and not the iodine doing the trick? See what I mean?
The other phase is the one with the root cause and I am positive it is the same for everyone, generally speaking. I’ve heard of candida yes. Every doctor you speak to is going to tell you it’s stress. And as much as I don’t want to admit it because I hate that term, it is true. In moments of extreme anticipation/anxiety, it flares up. So stress is imho the root cause.
So I will be doing a 24-hour cortisol check next week, also checking adrenals and aldosterone, among other hormones. If the problem is there, it will show up.
As far as a second hypothesis I am about to put to the test, cardio. I believe cardiovascular exercise heals a lot of issues. The reason isn’t sweat, it is specific hormones releasing during cardio. It can be a sport, it can be treadmill, whatever. I’ll see how much of truth this holds soon.
Other than that I really don’t have a clue. Same way I don’t know why mine flares up when my hair grows beyond 2cm or why it only exists in my sides and back, never in my galea region (literally measured the bone). Could sparse hair in crown be the reason? A hormone blocking it? Some get it around the nose or eyebrows or even chest. I get it in the eyebrows too. So I’ve got no clue.
Trust me though, stress. Stress is more likely the root cause and it is long term stress, which would explain why it slowly built up. Cardio releases hormones that combat stress. So this is the hypothesis. Remains to be seen.
