What is this itchy patch of irritated skin above my upper lip?

[QRP]

Last year I had an extremely itchy patch of skin on my upper lip that I would scratch thoughtlessly at night. I'd wake up in the morning and it would be red as well as painful when touched. At that point the skin would be a little flaky and I started to try lip balms and facial lotion and they've only provided temporary reprieve. Usually the irritation disappears but every so often it will suddenly become itchy again and even the slightest friction on it causes it to swell up and turn red. Usually it gets very dry and only slightly painful. For the most part however, I do notice it and it is irritating. I've had it for about a full year now on and off and am not exactly sure what it is. I have found that suntan lotion has helped me keep it from drying it badly and getting irritated while I'm out.

I've changed my diet around to see if it might be a food allergy and have found that sometimes eating dairy products can amplify the irritation. However, the irritation still remains even without the consumption of dairy.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/Kuni/itchypatch.jpg

This is a picture I took of it today and you can notice some of the swelling and dry skin. It's not as red as it can be.

[Kristine0704]

After using cortisone cream, was there any difference in colour pigmentation or thinness to the skin above?

[amberk50]

I had this same problem for about 10 years!! And no doctor could help me.  I tried everything.  I finally went to a doctor that said, "yes, I know exactly what that is."  He said it was eczema but said not to use over-the-counter cortisone creams because they are not made to apply to the face and could make it worse.  So he prescribed a special cortisone cream that is ok to apply to the face: Elidel - http://www.drugs.com/elidel.html - this drug works wonders!!!! After a couple of weeks, the redness that plagued me for 10 years was gone!! And never came back.  But I kept using the cream because I was worried it would come back.  After about a year, I stopped using the cream.  Then a few months later it came back so I started using it again and it went away within 2 days.  This cream has saved my life.

[amberk50]

I'm curious if any of you notice that it gets worse after eating sugar?  Or other types of food.

[Cutietunia]

I see that it has been quite a while since this was originally posted, but I had to let you know what I have found out. After many many years of having this rash/ irritation above my mouth I have found that when I take vitamin B complex regularly it goes away completely! I read somewhere that having rashes around your mouth is an indication of B vitamin deficiency. It has worked for me. I hope it will work for others!

[TaylorOtter009]

I believe they have named what we're all  experiencing as "Lichenification", and recent studies have shown that Fluticasone Proprionate has helped those with this issue after using it for a week. I haven't tried it yet because you need a doctor's signature, but when I do I'll update on whether or not it works.