Perioral dermatitis in a teen: Months of nothing working, feeling completely defeated

[DulceVidaMama]

Hi everyone, I'm feeling completely at a loss and exhausted. My 13-year-old daughter has been dealing with severe perioral dermatitis on her face all summer. We've stripped back all products, followed doctor's orders, and even use bottled water, but nothing is working and it feels like it's getting worse. Just looking for some support or to hear from other parents who have gone through stubborn skin issues with their teens.

Have you tried protocols that protect and rebuild the skin barrier? I suffered from this right from my teens into my 40’s and nothing worked. But protecting my skin barrier and avoiding absoloutly everything that harmed it, did work.

https://www.chemist-4-u.com/rozex-cream

You need some of this, works great. Otherwise Lymecycline antibiotics

Thanks for sharing that! When you say protocols, what were the specific things that actually helped you the most? Did you find certain weather or seasons made yours flare up worse, too?

Aestura barrier repair cream might help, also assuming you’ve changed toothpaste - I’m finding zing pretty good. Sorry for your teen, it’s so tricky.

Limecycline antibiotics were the only thing that cleared it up for me but it can be a slog getting them prescribed - I only got it because my skin went nuts when I had chemo and they tend to be quite free with the drugs when they;re pumping you full of the nasty stuff. But that cleared it right up and it hasn’t come back 3 years and counting

I’ve suffered with this on and off for 8 years. The only creams that have worked to maintain it (when a few little spots appear) is Caneston cream (over counter) and Elidel cream 10mg (prescribed). When I get a bad flare I take Doxycycline (GP prescribed). Tried Lymecycline; it worked but came back as soon as I had finished the course of tablets. Good luck, it’s a horrible skin condition to have to deal with.

It must be very upsetting for her, OP, especially at 13.

Would it be possible for you to book to see a Paediatric Dermatologist privately?

My daughter has contact dermatitis. She gets it around her mouth if she uses "normal" toothpaste. Unflavoured works for her.

Second mention for Eiledel cream, I got this prescribed by a dermatologist after months of excema around my eyes that made me
miserable and nothing worked, eiledel was a game changer. The dermatologist told me to use it twice a day for 4 weeks, and then drop down to a few times a week. It cleared it right up and now I only need to use it if I have a flare up, which last happened a couple
of years ago now

Hey OP, has your GP prescribed Lymecycline? (not sure of spelling) I had it really bad last spring and it’s the only thing that cleared it up.

I’ve had just over a year clear of it after suffering yearly since 2017.
Mine seemed to be sunlight related so very bad during the summer months. I now wear a high facial SPF daily (recommend everyone does anyway!) and if I feel the telltale tingle I put a small amount of Zindaclin gel on the area. So far that has been working really well. It’s been a long journey of trying to find the right treatment due to how weird the rash was. burning white oily pustules to start with that made my face so greasy and then they would crust over and finally dry out until the redness disappeared. It was always so distressing and your daughter has all my sympathy, I hope you can find a solution that works for you soon.

My toothpaste was doing this to me. Had to trial and error my way through about 20 to find one that didn’t upset my skin! A tiny bit of steroid cream helped mine but wouldn’t be good for children.

I’m 54 and suffering from this. It started as a small patch on one side of my mouth but I didn’t know what it was at the time. It would come and go and wasn’t ever particularly bad but I did apply a mild steroid cream to it which helped.

however, I’ve since leant that steroid cream is a big no no. Does clear it up initially but actually makes it worse in the long run. I’ve now got a more annoying patch on the other side of my mouth which is much more noticeable so did some research into it.

there is a brilliant video on YouTube by Nadine Baggott who also suffers from it - it’s about 20 mins long but she explains it so well. She also swear by the rozex cream mentioned up thread (the cream not the gel variant) and I have just ordered myself some to see if that helps me.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LgjE8sn3L2E

I had intended to see my doctor about it and ask specifically for it to be prescribed but getting an appt at my surgery is impossible so I did get it prescribed on an online medical site and paid £20 for it. I’m not sure they would prescribe for a child so you will prob have to push for a doctors appt for your daughter, or perhaps a dermatologist appt?

good luck - I’ll update on here once it arrives and I’ve been using it for a bit.

Also on the toothpaste - I have also just switched to an SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) free one. Apparently SLS can trigger PD. I’m trying Sensodyne Pronamel Daily Protection.

SLS is also in shampoo but I haven’t changed that yet!

Doxycycline was the only thing that worked for me.

Maybe obvious question, but have you tried a course of oral plus topical antibiotics yet? That was the only thing that worked for me. Never came back.

Avoid steroid cream of course.

She’s not had a brace fitted has she?

Also, try b vitamins, and eat food like marmite.

My son has spent 2 years battling with this. It's been a nightmare. Eventually I got some Fat Cow tallow stuff and Balmonds balm. He has spent the summer slapping those on a few times a day and it's gone! Lovely clear skin. I dont know which worked, he just puts on whichever is at hand.

I definitely suggest switching toothpaste if you haven’t tried that, as it stops mine in its tracks.

I suffer from this. A three months course of antibiotics cleared mine up but I can't remember which one it was. I rarely use foundation as this can trigger a flare up.

Fucibet is what works best when it flares up for my daughter and I

As someone else said, do not use steroid creams. GPs tend to prescribe them but they make it worse in the long run and make it come back worse. The only thing that worked for me was protopic ointment. The ingredient is tacrolimus. Good luck, it's a real pain of a condition but once I finally cleared mine with the protopic after over a year of trial and error (and steroid cream giving me backwards steps) it has finally been gone for 2 years now.

Rozex! Takes a couple of months to work so you need to be patient and persist but clears it up! Stress triggers mine! Currently using Rozex on mine now as having my first bad flare up in almost two years!

I have had this on a few occasions and for me found the trigger is Colgate, I can’t clear it up when I use it no water what I take, after a lot of trial and error my dentist commented on it one time and told me to try sensodyne repair and protect and I’ve never had it since! Also used cicaplast to help with skin barrier, and on the worst occasion I needed 6 months of antibiotics they made it worse for probably a week or two and then it went. Rosex is very good too it really helps if you don’t want tablets, gp or boots online dr will prescribe. But toothpaste is a common cause.