Letters to the Editor

Management of Infantile Seborrheic Dermatitis

Am Fam Physician. 2007 Mar 15;75(6):807.

to the editor: The article on seborrheic dermatitis in the July 1, 2006, issue of American Family Physician was an excellent review of a common topic.1 However, it is usually unnecessary to prescribe medications for cradle cap, which is a benign self-limited condition that generally resolves within six to eight weeks. Simple measures such as daily shampooing and application of olive or mineral oil will suffice to treat most infants with cradle cap. This first-line therapy limits the need for topical steroid medication and its risks, such as cutaneous atrophy.

In older children and adults, other non-pharmacologic measures that may be beneficial include limiting hair spray, gel, and sunlight exposure. Evidence supporting the effictiveness of a particular medication regimen should not cause physicians to deemphasize simple lifestyle changes that also can assist in the management of a disease.

Send letters to Kenneth W. Lin, MD, Associate Deputy Editor for AFP Online, e-mail: afplet@aafp.org, or 11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy., Leawood, KS 66211-2680.

Please include your complete address, e-mail address, telephone number, and fax number. Letters should be fewer than 500 words and limited to six references, one table or figure, and three authors.

Letters submitted for publication in AFP must not be submitted to any other publication. Possible conflicts of interest must be disclosed at time of submission. Submission of a letter will be construed as granting the American Academy of Family Physicians permission to publish the letter in any of its publications in any form. The editors may edit letters to meet style and space requirements.

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