Hoping someone can share some wisdom!
Around six months ago I developed cracks around the corners of my mouth, surrounded by red, dry, flakey skin. The kind where when you yawn, the cracks and flaking worsen. Google suggested it might be angular cheilitis caused by an accumulation of saliva overnight and I managed to get some Fucidin cream, which helped but did not completely cure the problem.
After a period of a couple of weeks of symptoms improving, I noticed the redness and flaking spreading from the corners of my mouth down to my chin and around my jawline. I now have patches of bumpy, scaly red skin on my chin, jaw and around my mouth that WILL.NOT.SHIFT.
GP has diagnosed dermatitis and told me to stop using Fucidin, but cannot tell me exactly which kind it is, so treatment options feel like a bit of a stab in the dark.
I've tried the following:
- Stripping back my skincare to basic cera-ve cream cleanser and cera-ve moisturiser. No perfumes, make-up, retinol, toners etc etc.
- Nizoral/ketoconazole anti-dandruff shampoo which my GP advised I use as a face wash leaving it on for ten minutes every day for ten days.
- Zindaclin (clindamycin phosphate) gel applied twice daily. This made symptoms MUCH worse and I had to stop after a couple of days.
- Metronidazole antibiotic topical gel applied twice daily
I have only just started on the Metronidazole but not noticed any improvement so far. Nothing else I have tried so far has worked.
Has anyone else had similar symptoms and managed to work out what it is and how to treat it? I feel like we're groping around in the dark a bit as the GP can't determine if it's a fungal or bacterial thing (or hormonal? or dietary?) but it's really affecting my self-esteem not to mention it's sore and uncomfortable.