Skin Irritation?

[Agaud001]

I have been having some symptoms on my face recently and I don't know what it is. For the past month, off and on, I've had these red areas on my face, somewhat blotchy - they're more apparent right after I wash my face and sometimes when I workout. They are around the bottom edge of my face and a little around the nose. There are some bumpy areas, but they are certainly not pimples. The red areas aren't really raised and my skin is not itchy. My first thought was that it was rosacea, however, I don't have fair skin (it's medium gold tone), PLUS I don't get flushed during any of the triggers that rosaceans do (alcohol, hot temperatures, embarassment, etc.), actually I never get flushed at all unless I've had an intense workout; then I thought maybe it's eczema, except that typically comes with itching. My skin has always, in all my 25 years been great, I've never even had pimples, and all of a sudden this irritation came on. Do you think this is anything to be concerned about? Please help!

[Agaud001]

Hello - Thank you so much for response. So it could be a type of dermatitis, even if it doesn't itch? It's interesting though, I haven't changed any of my detergents, cosmetics, lotions, nothing in months. I was advised to use a calming cream by Dermadoctor. Even though the cream is mainly for rosacea, it seems to have helped a little, but I'm not sure. For a facial soap I use a gental clinique cleansing gel. Again, it doesn't seem like rosacea - I'm not the type that get's flushed and to be honest I'm not even that red. However, I can't eliminate the possibility. Rosacea would be the worst thing, so I hope it's not that, most other irritations go away. No one else even notices it, but I do only because prior to this I've honestly had perfect skin. Hopefully it goes away, but i'll see how it goes. Thanks.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
I cannot confirm anything without examination but it sounds like contact dermatitis. Irritant dermatitis, the most common type of contact dermatitis, involves inflammation resulting from contact with acids, alkaline materials such as soaps and detergents, cosmetics, or other chemicals.

Avoid using any lotions and creams over the skin for the meantime.Wash your face with a mild cleanser with moisturizing properties like Cetaphil or dove. Pat it dry. Then apply a good hypoallergenic moisturizer over the area and see if this improves.If the symptoms still persist then you can apply mild steroid like dermacort.
If the symptoms persist then pls get it evaluated from a dermatologist.Sebaorrheic dermatitis and perioral dermatitis have to be ruled out.
I hope that helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted on how you are doing or if you have any additional queries.Kind regards.