Perioral dermititis: how can you defeat it?

[giantlittleones]

Hi everyone, I’ve been reading a few threads here about perioral dermititis and they’ve been really helpful. I wanted to see if anyone has more advice on how to manage it. I’ve had it twice in the past three months. First time I took antibiotics for two weeks and applied Elidel cream and it cleared up, only to come back after a few weeks. Went back to the GP and got antibiotics for four weeks and the same cream. It cleared up again, only to flare up a few days after I stopped the treatment. What next? I’ve tried to change all the products I use, from toothpaste to shampoo, but maybe I’m not avoiding the chemicals I’m allergic too. Would an allergy test help identify the culprit? Any more advice on how to manage it? Thank you.

Do you have a good moisturising treatment for in between times? It's trial and error but the right lip moisturiser (not lip balms; they can make matters worse) can work wonders. Some people find plain Vaseline works, some prefer beeswax based treatments, some use aqueous cream; it takes some experimenting.

I find excessively acidic, salty, hot or spicy foods (raw tomatoes are the worst), or sweat, can trigger reactions, as can extreme weather and dry atmospheres. It's not an allergy, more generalised sensitivity.

Hope you get more replies as this can be miserable.

Probably need to look into a different moisturising treatment. I’ve been happy so far with Olay, Nivea and Vichy products but feel I need to change all my routines now...

I triggered mine with experimenting with new skin care products but cleared it up with La Roche Posay Cicaplast cream. I was lucky and it made a difference in a few days. I have to stick with just a few products now or it threatens to return.