Use monistat on my hair?! Whaaaa?

Have any of my Naturalistas heard about this? I hadn't until a former coworker texted me some questions about how to care for her hair. She's transitioning and was looking at videos on YT on products, ingredients and how to mix her own products.

I'm going to say this with as much love and care as I can.... Do NOT mix OTC topical [drugs] that are generally meant for one thing, and use them for another UNLESS you've spoken to a dermatologist about its safety in doing so.

Okay, now....in looking at the ingredients, the inactive ingredients are generally okay:

Inactive Ingredients: Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Base, *Benzoic Acid, Cetearyl Alcohol, Isopropyl Myristate, Polysorbate 60, Potassium Hydroxide, Propylene Glycol, Water (Purified), Stearyl Alcohol

*Is considered a preservative and inhibits the growth of yeast and mold, so while I wouldn't necessarily want this on my hair, it's a derivative of Benzyl alcohol, which is non-volatile and shouldn't affect the texture of your hair.

You can fine most of these ingredients in many of your hair care products. BUT, the MAIN active ingredient is Miconazole Nitrate, an ingredient used to treat the fungal infection(yeast). It's defined as the following(via WebMD):

Miconazole is used to treat skin infections such as athlete's foot, jock itch, ringworm, and other fungal skin infections (candidiasis). This medication is also used to treat a skin condition known as pityriasis (tinea versicolor), a fungal infection that causes a lightening or darkening of the skin of the neck, chest, arms, or legs. Miconazole is an azole antifungal that works by preventing the growth of fungus.

Now, upon doing a little more digging on WebMD, I also found additional information concerning uses for the ingredient:

Ringworm of Groin Area, Athlete's Foot, Ringworm of the Body, Fungal Infection of the Skin with Yellow Patches, Skin Infection due to a Candida Yeast.

If you have issues with dermatitis, then it's recommended to consult with a dermatologist for adequate treatment, NOT consult YT. And if my memory serves me correctly, the active ingredient in most shampoos used to treat seborrhea dermatitis is salicylic acid!!

While many of our fellow Naturalistas are helpful and mean well, many are not qualified in doling out advice of this nature. Especially if they aren't cognizant of the potential side affects of combining certain ingredients or the application of said ingredients/products outside of its/their intended usage.

You should NOT be using this product on your hair. NOT AT ALL. And if you're using this product and mixing it with other ingredients not knowing how the ingredients will respond because no pH test has been administered, or because you have no prior knowledge/information on the ingredients in general, this can potentially be a recipe for a hairtastrophe!!!

So ladies, before you go trying to play kitchen chemist, be careful and wary of every video telling you to mix PRE-FORMULATED [medicated] products with other pre-formulated products or other ingredients. It can be the difference between a head of healthy hair, and damage that canNOT be repaired.

Natural Urbanista