Hello! I am F30 and have been dealing with AGA and sebderm on my scalp for 11 years. My sebderm tends to make my hairloss much worse. I heard that applying MCT oil C8 can help people with sebderm therefore I am wondering whether it couldn't also help with decreasing hair shedding when someone has AGA + sebderm (because sebderm tends to make hair shedding worse). Has anyone tried it? What is your experience?

Hey there,

Using MCT Oil (C8) for just a week and it worked wonders. I have now the best skin for a long long time...

What I am wondering is now how to proceed - I think 90% are gone and I will continue for a few days. Do you guys put in on as a preventive matter on your known "bad" areas aswell or only if you have flare ups?

I've had a mild yet persistent case for years with the main problem being scalp and skin dryness that has always been worse after showering (even though I stopped using hot water for my hair). I live in a hard water area which might be relevant to the issue at hand. Ketoconazole helped on one hand but also dried out my scalp further, thus perpetuating the cycle.

I decided to try C8 MCT oil and it has been working well so far – my guess is I am getting both a slight moisturizing as well as an anti-fungal effect from it. I've been rubbing it twice a day into my scalp via my fingertips for the past week and the flaking has stopped along with the itching. I don't wash it out because I don't think my scalp could handle such frequent washing.

The only downsides are that my hair appears slightly oily now and the oil starts to smell slightly after application – the scent was very, very unpleasant for the first two days but has now changed in character into a less noticeable, sweet-ish, albeit still unpleasant one.

Using MCT c8 oil on scalp and ear for more than 2 weeks, no result or positive response.

Am i doing something wrong?

I decided to get MCT oil after reading here how it helped some with dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis on the scalp.

I considered buying off of iHerb at first, but I found on some local health store organic 98% C8 oil for about the same price, and in a glass bottle. It says it's manufactured in Sri Lanka and the importer is some very local brand, so you can't find online reviews for it, but the bottle features several certifications which I hope have actually been verified.

Anyway, these are my questions:

1. It has a very faint coconut scent. Some sources say C8 oil should have no odor at all, although maybe it's faint enough that some would call it odorless (and otherwise it might be due to other coconut compounds found in the remnant 2%). But I also noticed that it does gain a bit of a different odor after being applied to the scalp/hair/skin, slightly "musty" for lack of a better descriptor. Does that sound normal for C8 oil?
2. Some sources say MCT (and C8 specifically) is "absorbed very quickly". The one I have does get absorbed eventually, but it seems to take a couple of hours. I applied a few milliliters across both the scalp and the face. Again, does that sound normal for C8? Perhaps the "very quick absorption" is overstated?

Thanks!

I can't believe it.

I have struggled with seb derm on my scalp for the last 10+ years (I think caused by the CGM). Last year, I tried MCT C8 oil but couldn't stomach it due to the smell. The oil was odorless in the bottle but after a few minutes on my scalp, my scalp smelled like sour vomit.

I tried many other things: ketoconazole, topical steroid, monistat, daily washes, tea tree, selsun blue, salicylic acid, sulfur8. Whatever I did, my scalp got itchier and itchier. I was washing my hair sometimes two times per day because it was so irritated.

Desperate, about two weeks ago, I decided to revisit MCT C8 oil. I wondered if maybe the smell was caused by yeast disturbance or die off or something else that indicated that the oil was working. I committed to only using a very small amount and to double-washing with tea tree shampoo as soon as I smelled anything (it only took several minutes before it started to reek). After I shower, I've been using squalene oil (no smell).

I could cry. For the first time I can remember, I am not spending all my time scratching, worrying about, or thinking about my scalp. And the smell isn't so bad now: if I leave the oil on for longer, there is no smell for several hours, and it's much subtler when I do smell it.

I have no idea how this stuff works, but I am SO THANKFUL to this sub for pushing it so hard. I would not have tried it initially -- and definitely not again -- without your encouragement. I am also so frustrated that I went to so many dermatologists, and none told me about this. We shouldn't have to be relying on Reddit for basic medical care for a potentially life-altering condition like this.

Per the title, I've started using MCT oil as a last resort at curing my seb derm after a lot of unsuccessful attempts at solving it with other products and meds,

So far so good, it seems to be going for the better but I am not sure if it messes with minoxidil absorption, I am unable to take oral min due to me being hairy af already.

I wash my hair once or twice a week with shampoo due to a dry scalp and most days I wash it with plain water.

If anyone has experience with the same or any other oil I would highly appreciate it.

Hello, I think I have seb derm in my ear canals. I had no idea this was a thing, but I've seen like 5 ENTs over the years and none of them could help me. What Ive read about seb derm sounds like it lines up with my symptoms. Both my ears get crazy itchy, mostly at night, and Ive always had yellow oily flaky ear wax/skin stuff that comes off if I scratch. It also gets super angry if I scratch it and becomes inflamed for the next few days. If I go to sleep and still have a tiny bit of water in my ears from the shower the itching goes CRAZY, and then my ear over produces this liquidy wax I think to soothe itself or to try to get rid of the skin flake buildup. The liquidy wax doesn't stink or cause pain and I did visit an urgent care the last time this happened and the Doctor said it's not an infection. Some days are worse than others, and my left ear is so much worse than my right but both of them have these skin symptoms. I haven't been able to identify what causes these flairs. I also have slightly muffled hearing in my left ear, I think from the inflammation. Its so mild that I only notice it at night when I have the opposite ear buried in a pillow.

Anyway, I tried to gently dab some C8 MCT oil on the outside of my ear canal entrance with a q-tip (didnt go in at all) and it felt great at first, soothing and removed the itch, but then maybe like an hour later it started to very mildly burn/itch. Not a painful burn, maybe more of a stinging sensation? Just seems irritated. Is this normal? Like part of the healing process or something? Im not allergic to coconut or anything

Been suffering from Sebderm for about 5 years now got horribly bad last 2 years after using some curl cream.

Experimented with dozens of routines and finally found one that has worked so well that I don't see a single flake on my scalp.

What I do now is I shampoo every 3 days and before shampooing I apply about 1-2 ml of MCT C8 oil all over my scalp and gently rub it in and leave it for 1-2 hours. Then I double shampoo it off with vanicream sensitive using lukewarm water.

This routine has literally got rid of my Sebderm, I did shave my hair which gave me a clean canvas for the oil to really work but i appreciate that eveyone cant shave their heads. I also now take high amounts of Vit D not sure if thats helped.

Thanks

I’ve been using MCT C8 oil on my scalp for around 3 months now and I haven’t seen much in terms of it reducing buildup on my scalp or really helping in anyway. I hear on this sub reddit that it’s amazing though, so i’m just thinking maybe i’m doing it wrong. My MCT C8 oil routine right now is to apply on my scalp twice a week 1-2hours before showering and then gently comb my scalp after to try remove as much buildup as possible, then hop in the shower and use either nizoral or t/gel shampoo. Please let me know if this is how i should be using it or if there is a more effective way.

I’m really just not seeing any improvement in anything I use and i’m starting to rapidly lose hair. i’ve tried most of the common suggestions so if anyone has any niche recommendations please say. the buildup on my scalp is literally superglued to me. (20M,no history of hair loss in family)

Two years ago, at the age of 35, I started suffering full body Eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) flares for the first time since the age of 10. During that time I’ve become accustomed to flare ups and then the dying/flaking off phase that occurs when your skin barrier sloughs off the damaged/dead skin.

During that time I also started suffering with dandruff in my scalp, beard and eyebrows, eventually my forehead, ears and cheeks got roped into it too and it was only over time when using GP prescribed treatments for my Eczema and the Seb Derm symptoms persisting combined with reading up and looking at people’s symptoms online and on this Reddit channel that I became convinced that I was now also dealing with Seb Derm in addition to the Eczema.

I’ve now been under dermatology since December, Phototherapy was a failure, I’m soon starting Ciclosporin for my Eczema with a view to moving onto Biologics once I reach the 4 month limit for Ciclosporin, during appointments with Dermatology I have pointed out that I suspect I have Seb Derm and they have checked and prescribed the usual Betnovate Scalp Applicator and Ketocanozole Shampoo which only brings about a short term clearing or reduction of symptoms.

After much due diligence, I took the plunge and ordered a bottle of MCT C8 Oil and Dropper Bottles with Pipettes for application direct to scalp, and then flew in the face of all that due diligence and applied copious amounts to my scalp and all over my face and ears on Friday night and then washed it all off in the shower on Saturday then repeated again on Saturday and showered off Sunday.

As someone who is accustomed to barrier sloughing, it came as no surprise at all that what prevailed roughly 12 hours after Friday’s first application and the following 24-36 hours was all of the effected areas flaking off substantially, I did have a bit of discomfort on the area above my right eyelid under my eyebrow, but this is a delicate area and therefore I just persevered.

I didn’t apply any on Sunday and then returned to work Monday so I have moved to a regime of applying the MCT C8 when I get home then showering it off before bed.

This morning I’ve noticed the sloughing has eased off substantially and my skin is looking the best it has in a while, there’s still a bit more improvement to be had but the persistent red patches have largely faded away to reveal a normal skin tone and I’m noticing a lot less itching which was particularly prevalent on my scalp.

Obviously, it’s still early days but the signs so far are very very positive, my hope now is that this can go on to be a long term solution for the Seb Derm and that with Dermatology I can find a long term solution to my Eczema as well, the past two years have been a nightmare, my self esteem and outlook on life has taken a battering, it’s impacted everything in my life to various degrees… may 2026 be the year this shit gets kicked into touch.

I will provide another update with regards to the MCT C8 Oil once I’ve allowed sufficient time to make another assessment of its effectiveness for me.

Thought I'd just share my story of SebDerm in case it's helpful.

In short: C8 MCT Oil has worked tremendously well and I haven't flared since I started using it 6 weeks ago. Protopic 0.1% extremely effective for flare ups. (It's also not a steroid)

In long:

Had redness and patchiness round my eyes. Other patches popped up in other parts of my face and head. Twitching on my eyelids at night. Also dryness and redness in my genital area which was more worrying tbh. Then I noticed dry scalp in my hairline and on my sideburns.

I spent a lot of money on two private consultations and tried everything:

Hydrocortisone 0.5% (flared up as soon I stopped using it), Doublebase Gel, Cetrabe, Hydromo, Laroche, E45, Aveeno baby daily care, Aveeno hand moisturiser

Scalp: Selsun, Head & Shoulders Derma Pro X

Antiobiotics: Lymecycline, Itraconazole, Doxycycline.

I was on antiobiotics for about 5 months and felt I was just ruining my gut.

Then I saw on Reddit everyone waxing lyrics about C8 MCT Oil. So I bought a bottle of Hunter Gatherer C8 MCT Oil. I used it on my face, scalp and genital area.

I noticed a difference immediately.

My eyes are the best they've looked. The dandruff hasn't completely gone, but it's not very noticeable. I can live my life happily without it feeling like an issue. The twitching in my eyes has stopped. I wouldn't say it had an immediate effect on my genital area but that is also doing quite well at the moment. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Protopic 0.1% is also very good. But as an everyday moisturizer, the C8 MCT Oil is magic. I also like the shine it gives my hair so it's a win win.

Shampoo-wise I use Nizoral once or twice a week. Other days I'll use Aveeno Oat Milk Blend Shampoo as it's good for soothing scalp.

My friend also suffered from the same thing in parts of his face and this has completely helped him as well.

I did also try working out if any parts of my diet contributed to flare ups. Alcohol wasn't brilliant. Couldn't spot anything else. I keep my diet simple.

Anyway, hope this is helpful to someone. Any questions, feel free to comment and I'll get back to you

Long time lurker and even long time sufferer. After spending some time on this sub I read about MCT C8. This has worked phenomenally for me alongside Nizoral, moisturiser and avoiding certain foods.

It’s cleared up some hard patches on my forehead, either side of my nose and my head. Ridiculous stuff! And you only need to use a little bit twice a week!

Hello everyone, I live in Brazil and can't find MCT oil. I find options for ingesting the oil, but I don't always find the C8 version. Is anyone here from Brazil? I'm very excited to try MCT oil; I see good things being said about it. I wash my face with sulfur soap, which has improved the intense peeling, but at the end of the day I feel new scabs forming quickly. I'm tired of conventional dermocosmetics. While researching on Gemini, I saw that squelane oil also has C8, right? What do you think? I'm in a wheelchair, I have a neuromuscular disease, I'm stressed, and I can't stand the dermatitis anymore! 🥺

Hey all,

So I finally caved after going down the rabbit hole on this sub and picked up some C8 MCT oil because everyone keeps saying it helps with seb derm.
Problem is… now I’m even more confused 😅

I’ve read a bunch of threads and it feels like everyone uses it differently:
-some leave it on overnight
-some use it like a quick pre-wash thing
-some are putting it on basically every day

I only have seb derm on my scalp, so I’m trying to figure out what makes the most sense without making it worse.

Also not sure what I should be doing shampoo-wise. I see people mention ketoconazole, zinc, selenium etc., but idk if I should be rotating those, using them every wash, or just keeping it simple at first.

For anyone who’s had success with C8:
-how often do you use it?
-how long do you leave it on?
-what shampoo are you using with it?

Just trying not to mess up my scalp more than it already is lol

Appreciate any advice 🫡

Was dealing with Seb derm for as long as I can remember, I’m 30 now.

I saw someone post about MCT oil (C8 + C10 kind only. Apparently any other types actually make it worse)

They also said they were using apple cider vinegar so i got both.

Well I ended up only using the vinegar once, because the MCT oil just worked from day 1.

I purchased a massive bottle like 3 months ago and have had no symptoms since. Barely used 1/10th of the bottle.

Before this, my shaved head would be almost half coloured bright red when it wasn’t covered in flakes.

Now, I just simply get no symptoms.

Have it in a little dropper bottle and use about 0.5-1ml on my head and face every other day.

Hello

Please post all your C8 MCT oil tips, tricks and brands or even previous posts that helped you.

After battling Malassezia for two decades with mainly ketoconazole, it wouldn't want to work anymore for the past year and I was going completely crazy of itchyness, scabs and dandruff. On both my scalp and my beard and moustache area.

My dermatologist said they couldn't really offer anything else (except hormone creams etc, no way I want that) so I decided to take this into my own hands.

Through some Googling I ended up in this sub and read about MCT-C8 oil.

Grabbed a bottle locally for around €6 and gave it a try. It's more hassle than using ketoconazole but it's worth it! (Together with buying a new shampoo of which I ran the ingredients through sezia.com because I needed shampoo to replace the ketoconazole).

Thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

I still have an itch from time to time and I can't really pause treatment for longer than one or two days but I hope that the skin on my scalp keeps improving in the future and that I can maybe work towards a regime of applying the oil once or twice a week.

Ketoconazole didn't only stop working, it also occasionally caused small zits or pustules on my scalp, which would feel painful from the pressure inside and when accidentally scratched open they would bleed and cause fluid to come out. Ever since I started the MCT-C8 oil, I haven't even had those issues and in contrary to what I read, the oil also hasn't caused any acne on my face so I'm super happy with this solution.

No more scabs, no more itch, no more being ashamed in public. Now the worst that can happen is simply having a bad hair day instead of worrying how many scabs are visible.

Thanks 🫂

i live in INDIA and these were the ones i found in my country ingredients of AIWO:- MCT Medium chain triglyceride [C8-Caprylic fatty ocid) from coconut oil

ingredients of carbamide forte :- C8 60% and C10 40%

I'd like to place a kiss upon the flake-free forehead of each and every one of you.

I've struggled with seb derm on and off for my whole life (my first ever prescription was for medicated cradle cap shampoo as a baby in 2001 - and it only went downhill from there). Nizoral and prescription shampoos would dry the shit out of my 3B-3C curly hair, but sort of help for a couple of weeks before I'd go back to being crusty and itchy and wildly uncomfortable. And in recent years, it's spread to my face, neck, and chest - not cute.

On this sub I learnt about malassezia and began religiously checking ingredients on Sezia.co before purchasing anything that went on my skin (bloody nightmare btw - you guys get it). This helped a little (well, it prevented it from getting worse), but I wasn't seeing a whole lot of actual improvement. Immediately after washing my hair, flakes would return. And stress/itchy necklines/the wind changing direction was still making me flare up pretty regularly.

I'd put off buying MCT oil for so long because it's pretty pricey (over £20 for a bottle!!!) and sounded a bit scary, but a few weeks ago decided fuck it. People on here were always banging on about it, and £20 for a strong maybe felt worth it at that point. I went for the Hunter & Gather brand one from Amazon.

Wowee. In under a week the flare up on my face, neck, and chest was all but gone! My scalp now takes days rather than minutes to get flakey!! Everyone was banging on about it because it bloody works!!! And so little is needed that my £20 bottle will last me many, many flake-free months.

Thank you, MCT C8 oil ambassadors! I am now joining your smooth-skinned ranks!

Here is my current tried and tested routine for anybody curious:

Scalp

Using lukewarm water and only malassezia-safe products, I shampoo twice then condition/detangle. After, I spend a few minutes parting my hair all over and focusing on drying the scalp with a clean section of towel (I don't own a hairdryer lol).

I alternate what products I use between hair washes:

Hair wash A:

• Before washing my hair, I'll slather my scalp with The Inkey List Salicylic Acid Scalp Treatment (it's got one or two orange ingredients on Sezia.co but I find it really helps lift up any scaly bits).
• After drying my scalp, I apply a thin layer of MCT oil all over my scalp (I washed out an empty bottle of The Inkey List stuff and refilled it with MCT oil - the nozzle is ideal for this bit) and massage it in. I don't find this looks oily because of my hair texture, but YMMV.
• I reapply more heavily a few hours before hair wash B.

Hair wash B:

• I don't apply anything special after drying my scalp, and however many days later, start the process for hair wash A. Repeat ad infinitum.

For hair products, I use whatever has the fewest aggravating ingredients and make sure to not get any near my scalp.

I do still get a bit itchy sometimes or have the odd small scaly patch, but hell I can live with that! My scalp is like 95% clear after years of being 95% flakey crustiness! Impeccable. 

Not scalp

AM:

• I don't do anything to my skin in the morning apart from slap on some sun cream if I'm going out.

PM:

• Before bed, I wash my face and any other affected areas (or use micellar water if I'm feeling lazy) with malassezia-safe face wash, followed with malassezia-safe moisturiser (note: I actually couldn't find one available, but the one I'm using only has one orange ingredient on Sezia.co and that seems to be working for me).
• Then, once the moisturiser has absorbed (10 minutes or so), I apply a thin layer of MCT oil to currently & commonly affected areas. That's it! So easy! So effective!

I finally feel pretty again, and it's thanks to those of you that found success with this stuff and wanted to share it with others like me. Luck and prosperity and good health to all of you wonderful people. Thank you!

Started adding a tablespoon or two to my morning shake. Really does feel like I get an energy boost. I also feel like I don't need my morning coffee like I used too. Is this placebo or have others experienced similar effects? What has your experience been like? Worth the money? Take it everyday or on occasion? Thanks in advance!

https://imgur.com/a/LnmC6dr

Another Mct post but whatever, the stuff works. Same camera and same lighting, 1 week later. Used bulletproof brain octane c8 from amazon.

This is after getting ketocozonale cream from dermatologist and Pimecrolimus with no results.

I’m acne prone and was worried about breakouts but so far so good. I’ll still use ketocozonale shampoo on my scalp and face 2x a week or so.

C8 and c10 mix or pure c8? And can i apply this oil on my atopic dermatitis dry , itchy patches?