Hi I Started Developing A Rash Behind My Ears And

Posted on Fri, 17 Jan 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 Answered on

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Question : Hi I started developing a rash behind my ears and on my neck. I thought witch XXXXXXX would help so I sprayed that on for about a week and my rashes got worse. Then I cleaned it with rubbing alcohol for 3 days and applied XXXXXXX oil on top of that. Rashes continued to get worse- the past 4 days I’ve been cleaning the rashes with tea tree soap twice a day and then applying neosporin and cortisone with vitamin E- my rashes are continuing to get worse. They are super itchy, bumpy, red and feel almost scaly- probably because I dried them out so much in the beginning. It’s very distracting and wakes me up at night because it burns it’s so itchy! This morning after I cleaned them with tea tree shampoo and layered neosporin and cortisone it became more itchy so I just used microcellular water with aloe (it’s like a natural makeup and dirt remover) to remove all the creams I put on and just let my skin breath. Still itchy. I can show you photos of the rashes on Saturday versus a photo of how they’ve grown today. I talked to my mom and she thinks it’s a case of Seborrheic dermatitis. I’m also taking CBD pills and oregano orally the past 2 days because they’re anti fungal. This week I reduced my sugar intake and am started to eat less red meat because I red that could have something to do with breakouts. I’ve also recently gone under major stress at work. Basically I’m wondering if I made things worse with all the cleaning/drying out/and creams and do I need to go to the doctor for something that’s not available over the counter?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Dermatitis worsened with topical irritants

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to ask a doctor service. I have gone through your query and noted your concern.

You seemed to have some sort of dermatitis at the start and you made it worse with witch XXXXXXX alcohol, tea tree soap and repeated washing.

I suggest you to use a bland moisturizer e.g petrolatum (Aquaphor lotion), twice or thrice daily and over it I suggest you to put a moderately potent topical steroid e.g either mometasone furoate 0.1% cream or triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% cream, twice daily. In addition I suggest you to take an oral antihistamine e.g cetirizine 10mg tablet once a day for a few days for itching.

Take care. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if you need any more assistance.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Kakkar (2 hours later)

Can you provide names of over the counter brands that I can buy for the mometasone furoate 0.1% cream or triamcinolone acetonide 0.1% cream? Can you also let me know a soap I can use to clean it? I thought the tea tree soap would be good because it has zinc in it and is antifungal, but if that's too harsh what soap should I use instead?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Dermatitis

Detailed Answer:
Hi.
Use a gentle cleanser e.g Dove soap or Cetaphil gentle cleansing lotion. Avoid frequent washing. Moisturize frequently. Moderately potent topical steroids are prescription medications. You may contact your general practitioner for a prescription regarding those. However, you may apply cortisone cream (hydrocortisone 1%) for the time being. It is a mild steroid but it is available OTC. Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng