Help me with my **possible** perioral dermatitis

did you go and see a dermatologist I use triancinolone 0.5% but the top of my head iches really bad and shaving my hair did not help.so i dont know other wise what to do.

Hello everyone!

This is so annoying, I just typed my whole post out on my phone coz I've got no wifi at the mo coz I just moved and it deleted the whole thing and made me sign back in again! Argh!!! Anyway.... I've been following this thread for over a month now coz I have PD too! And I was trying a couple of things and thought if they worked then I could tell you all and we'd all have lovely clear skin again! However, although it is dramatically better, it's not gone completely. If I wore makeup though you wouldn't be able to see it now, whereas it was completely all over my face before. I fluctuated between looking like I had acne or leprosy, absolutely delightful! It was really beginning to affect my confidence. There were days when I really didn't want to leave the house. Unfortunately that not being a possibility I had to settle for being very grumpy and trawling the internet looking for some miracle cure.

I really believe that pd is hormonal. I had it once before when I was about 19 (I'm now 35) and it was brought on by the progesterone only pill. I knew that's what had caused it but the doc refused to acknowledge this could be possible and said I needed to remain on it for at least 3 months for any side effects to have time to ease off. I was on it for 6 months during which time it just got worse and worse until I thought enough was enough & I stopped taking it and Li & behold it disappeared within a month.

Present date... I have 2 young children (3 & 15 months). Until 2 & a half weeks ago I was still breastfeeding the 15 month old. I haven't had a period for over 2 years & the 15 month old doesn't sleep (I average about 4 hours a night, no joke, it's like torture). Oh, & we've just moved house, the current market where we are being particularly cut throat so lots of stress, which releases cortisol, which affects hormones.

I have tried literally everything you can imagine to get rid of this affliction... Oil cleansing with hemp oil with a couple of drops of t-tree & couple of lavender (this actually did help, just not enough), Apple cider vinegar, paleo diet, changing to all sls free products etc. nothing worked! My mum however suggested I try clinique's anti-blemish solutions 3 step prog. I was extremely reluctant to do this as its obviously not natural & I was v worried about putting anything on my face that it could react to. Also I have extremely dry skin anyway and I thought it would just make it worse and also it's EXPENSIVE! However she gets pd just on her chin when she's v stressed/run down and she said this gets rid of it. So in desperation when I was looking particularly Freddy krugerish I went out and bought it! It has salycilic acid in it which is prob what helped but I def got worse before it got better but after approx 10 days it was virtually gone! However, I did also stop breastfeeding around the same time so I thought that's what did it. Yesterday though, I developed a yeast infection (wonderful!!) which can also be caused by hormones I believe, & now it would appear my pd is coming back, although it's barely noticeable to anyone else atm. I think if I stopped using the clinique stuff it would def come back properly but the clinique is keeping it at bay to a certain extent for the mo.

So, my next add on to my routine is I'm going to start taking maca root, which is supposed to be amazing for balancing hormones. For anyone who's peri-menopausal it's supposed to work wonders for menopause symptoms like hot flushes etc.

anyway, sorry for the long post! Well done if you got this far! I'll let you know how the maca root goes!

Grace

Hi ladies! I am so glad to see that you all have the same condition as me! 

I am 19 years old, and my PD started in January, so it has been about 6 months. I have seen my doctor several times, and we have confirmed that this condition is definitely perioral dermatitis. It started out as really chapped lips, then I got a very dry, chapped, flakey area around my mouth and chin. I started using Aquaphor (similar to Vaseline) around the area, and then I got a mass of red bumps around my chin, forehead, neck, chest, and a few blotches on my back. So GROSS! At first, I thought it was acne so I tried using my acne treatments, but they didn't really do anything. I am a fan of at home treatments, as I don't like to use pharmacuticals. So I tried toothpaste and listerine on the red bumps, which didn't really help so I knew that this was not acne. My doctor prescribed me 100mg of doxycycline to take twice a day for two weeks, followed by once a day for two weeks. It seemed to clear up right away, but then it came back when I was skiing in Colorado- and it came back in full force- yellow flakey skin all around my mouth and chin. I thought that this was a reaction to the sun, but my doctor said the sun may actually be helpful. So, my other doctor prescribed me two ointments- silvadene (treatment for burns) and protopic ointment. These creams seemed to completely clear it up within a few days. NOW it's back. Again. This seems to be an ongoing, neverending process and it is so frustrating. It starts with chapped lips, then moves to chapped/flakey yellow corners of the mouth, and then finally to acne-like bumps all over my face and neck. I am going to the dermatologist tomorrow, so I will let you guys know what she says. In the meantime, I will take your guys' advice and buy some zinc oxide! 

Talk soon,

Ellie 

I have had Perioral Dermatitis for about 4 year, it went away with Antibiotics but I realised what has started it, I have been using Pirinase nasal spray which contains corticosteroids for allergies it is the only medication that works for me I tried to stop using it and the dermatitis went away but I was really bad with my allergies (dustmite, hayfever), anyway I had to start using it again and with a lot of research I found that starflower oil capsules can overtime build up your immunity to allergens after 3 weeks of taking the capsules I noticed my Perioral Dermatitis had gone no itching, no blistery spots, no redness or scaling, I again researched Starflower oil capsules and found they work for dermatitis. Finally a nutural remedy. 

Really interested in this post as I'm also suffering... I had it for about 2 years both sides of my chin about 4 years ago. It started as a few spots but after my third baby it had become the "beard" a few f you refer to.  I waited and waited for tetracycline treatment as I didn't want to give up breastfeedin but when my daughter was 10 months I couldn't bear the rash anymore, I wasn't going out as I was so embarrassed.  I'd previously tried all the yoghurt, apple cider vinegar etc treatments. 6 months of tetracyclines cleared it. (And messed my stomach at the same time!!!) Well I've now had my fourth baba and my face is a mess again but this time it's all over my forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, I'm very red and blotchy.  She's 10 weeks and I'm not giving up breast feeding until she's 1. 

2 weeks ago we went on hols.  I've used la Roche Posay products for a terrible rash my baby had (she was given every cream under the sun by docs, blood tests etc as it was a terrible weeping bleeding rash around her mouth), a nurse recommended it and in 3 days her rash had gone.  So I saw La Roche Possay sunblock and nought some for our hols.  Well as a sunblock it was terrible stuff, my face was pure white and dry and the husband slagged me non stop.  BUT whilst on hols my face improved a good bit.  I thought it was either the fact that I ate salmon every day or the creamy possibly both.  Sunblock has a good dose of zinc oxide in.  A I'm pleasantly surprised to hear others seeing some correlation.  Now I wouldn't use the posay sunblock in the day if I'm going out but I am going to try slather it on overnight and see what happens.  I've also just bought cold pressed organic flax oil which is high in omega 3 to see if that helps.  Also trying out a very low sugar low processed diet (lots of rice, salad, avocados, nuts etc to get more oil into me as my skin is so dry).  I really need a moisturiser as I feel I'm getting wrinkles and very dry from the lack of...I bought Lavera facial fluid which was very light and didn't react with my skin.  Also a very light la Roche posay cream but I can't remember which one, I will find out as I have run out of it and some of their creams are very very heavy and don't suit.  Oh I also tried their roseacea cream (anti redness) which instantly burnt my face and left it far redder than it was to start with - that will teach me for not patch testing!!  

Love to know peoples outcomes re the zinc oxide...?

Just a note, my sunscreen has titanium dioxide not Zinc...??

At Riho - funnily enough I have psoriasis too.... And mum has psoriatic arthritis...

Hi All. My boyfriend has PD around his eyes for about 6 months (he is 52 years old) now and we have tried all sorts. We have recently had great success though - it all started when I read on an American website to put NOTHING on PD whilst the rash is present and only wash face in PH friendly soap (they recommended Dove). He was initially on Lymacylcine for 4 weeks as he had PD 9 years ago and it did go away. He has been on antibotics this year for a throat infect that result in him getting guttated psoraisis so we are really up against things. BUT - for three weeks now he has been off Lymacycline, only washes face with Dove Sensitve Soap and constanly uses Eau de Thermal water spray through out the day (as soon as it itches he sprays water), no fluoride products at all, no antiperspirent only deodorant and IT IS WORKING! His rash around his eyes is reduced by 90%. My thinking was what if all creams/lotions/oils feed PD? And this is why he was taking tablets but it was getting no better because we kept feeding the PD. This is only my theory and it really has worked for him - I hope this helps someone.

I also have perioral dermatitis, however, I have gotten it to subside recently. I didn't realize what it was until recently. I just thought it was a detox symptom to me going raw vegan about 3 1/2 months ago. That same time I switched to Tom's of Maine tooth paste since it was flouride free. What I didn't know is that it also contains something called Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. It's an ingredient used to increase the foaming action that we often associate with getting clean. However, it is also shown to be associated with perioral dermatitis. I tried everything and sometimes the symptom would fade only to return with a vengance. My face was broke out arounf my right nostril, smile lines, all over my chin and started around my right eye as well. I have stopped using that tooth paste and I now buy JASON's tooth paste and the rash has decreased a lot since then, It has been 4 days and most of the sore spots are drying up and the bumps are going away. I hated that sore fealing and felt so self consious since I had always had nice skin before this happened. Good luck, and look up SLS and tooth paste or shampoo. That's why some shampoos say they are "sulfate free".