Suffering from the same ailment

I've been suffering the same symptoms. I went to the dermatologist once, they gave me a mild ointment. It has prevented the condition from spreading and soothes the rashes. Yet, it does not cure redness/bumpiness completely. The condition started when I was 24 and I'm now 25. I read somewhere that periorial dermatitis occurs in women 95% of the time and usually occurs in women between the ages of 24-45! I've been sifting through web page after web page searching for an answer.

I've been battling these symptoms now for the last 6 months. I don't drink or smoke. I only use Jurlique (all-natural skin products). My skin care regime now only includes an eye gel and calendula lotion (which naturally soothes redness). I brush my teeth with Tom's of Maine toothpaste (contains no flouride or sodium laureth sulfate). I don't eat spicy foods. But alas, I'm running out of solutions.

I am scheduling another appointment with my dermatologist soon. I'm very interested to hear how other's in this situation are doing to cope with this condition.


This discussion is related to Rash on face, on chin, around nose.

[Milazzy]

I have these same symptoms and I would have to say it also started around the age of 24 and i am now 26 and have found no solutions either by word of mouth or by the Dermatologist. Would like to know if you have had any luck since your post.

[lulu474]

I also have these systems and they started when I used Toms of Maine peppermint bright whitening tooth paste.

I went to the dermatologist and they prescribed Minocycline an oral antibiotic. Hopefully it works!

I was pissed at Toms of Maine and recently discovered that they were bought out by Colgate-Palmolive :http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17306.cfm. So they are not so "natural" after all. I have also read that topical fluoride was "pro-inflammatory" and may be a cause in this skin condition.

[smurph22]

I am 23, and have the same symptoms (redness, bumps, flaky/dry, tender, etc.) around my nose since Dec 09 (I also had it about 4 years ago, and again 2 years previous to that) and just went to the derm today and she diagnosed me with perioral dermatitis and gave my a script for doxycycline and a steroid cream called Cutivate which is actually some type of fluoride steroid, so I am definitely NOT going to be using that... I was using hydrocortizone until mid-April then stopped from suggestions found online that steroid creams only make the dermatitis come back much worse.  I found that using Eucerin Calming Cream works pretty well to help with the dryness and redness but doesn't eliminate it, and also Aveeno calming foam soap works nicely, and even though it hurts, I rub the area gently with a wet washcloth to get the flakiness off every couple of days, wash and apply the eucerin, and the next morning it looks a lot better for that day.  I also found washing it with dial antibac soap kind of helps but it's really drying.  Also apple cider vinegar, the raw/unfiltered kind, works pretty nice at smoothing the skin after using it 2X daily for about a week I saw results, but beware that it stings!  and you probably shouldn't use it if the area is really raw and/or bleeding (at least I wouldn't).  I'll let you know how the doxy goes.  I am on it for one month.

[smurph22]

oh yeah, I also found that wearing a bit of powder makeup over the area (I used bare minerals and/or clinique powder foundation) for special occasions doesn't bother mine, just gently wash it off as soon as you can b/c it gets extra flaky after a while (gross), so it might be ok for others to wear powder over it too!