Does anyone here take isotretinoin to make their scalp less oily?

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I have a number of scalp issues besides balding:

  1. My scalp and forehead get oily really fast — like, the same day.

  2. I was diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis by a dermatologist.

  3. My scalp is often inflamed. The first time I felt this, I thought I had bumped my head against something while sleeping. Turns out it's inflammation. My dermatologist prescribed be a topical corticosteroid to treat this and I am using it sparingly (2x/week) as prescribed. This doesn't seem to be helping though, but I don't want to risk my scalp health even further by overapplying the topical corticosteroid ...

  4. I suffer from a chronic itch which doesn't go away with routine use of sebderm shampoos (I've tried ketoconazole, piroctone olamine, cyclopirox olamine, selenium disulfide, salicylic acid, sulfur) nor with the topical corticosteroid.

  5. I sometimes get small reddish acne-like pimples on my scalp which are covered in yellowish pus. I had a staphylococcus aureus infection back in 2022 and I have a feeling the pimples might be related to this. My dermatologist never found any pimples when I saw them but I DO routinely get them, I have pictures now which I can show to my GP/future dermatologist.

I am seeing a dermatologist who specializes in hair loss/trichoscopy in September, but I'd like to try and alleviate the oiliness and itch in the meantime and I was wondering whether isotretinoin might help. Does anyone have any experience taking it to combat similar issues?

Posted Apr 9, 2026, 9:22 PM UTC

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