Dr. Kaur - Please solve this mystery!

I am a 24 year old female. At the age of 12 I started getting a red discoloration on my cheeks, slightly above my eyebrows, and a little on my chin which was slightly flaky. I do have dandruff in my hair. I was diagnosed with Seborrheic Dermatitis by my dermatologist at the age of 21. Not knowing any better when I was younger I tried everything over the counter for acne, but I didn't have acne. I definitely do not have rosacea because I never got pustules.

I have tried:

Metrogel
Finacea
Desonate
Nizoral Shampoo on my face
head and shoulders on my face
and Desonide lotion.

the only thing that works is desonide lotion. I am so sad to find out that using this long term has bad side effects.

My Question is:

Is there anything I can do in combination with the desonide?

I read on about.com that using a corticosteroid should only be used to reduced the redness and then use dandruff shampoo for maintenance , but like I said the dandruff shampoo is not working, it is actually making things more red and it slightly burns.

Is there an alternative to Desonide? That will give me the same results and not ruin my skin later in life?  

I attached a photo so everyone could see my red face :(

[lilsnoozieq]

Forgot to attach the picture here is a link:

http://i50.tinypic.com/2h4l5y0.jpg

[lilsnoozieq]

bump

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
In the earlier post, I have mentioned about the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis. Topical antifungals and mild steroids are the usual treatment and combination of the two can be used to treat stubborn patches. Oral antifungal drugs and immunomodulators such as tacrolimus and pimecrolimus are used in very severe cases.

I hope it helps. Take care and regards.