ugh i can feel your pain. i got this from using a salicylic acid cleanser and then it progressed into contact dermatitis. the only way it went away for me was to be on 200mg of doxy and i used the ketoconazole shampoo twice a day and i wasnt allowed to wear makeup or use moisturizer or anything. my derm thinks the cleanser started it by making my skin too dry and then i over moisturized to make up for it which caused the perioral dermatitis and then caused it to spread. it went away thank goodness but it took a good 2 months and even now when i moisturize i only use a little bit. i am so afraid of it coming back that i even bought a special toothpaste to be sure. i have read that spicy food, alcohol and sun can trigger it as well as stress though.

Are you a 100% sure what you have is perioral dermatitis? Do you have a picture?

Does this rash appear just very close to your lips? Are your lips dry?

Recently I had this awful crusty rash around my lips, especially in the corners, and it turned out to be angular stomatitis. It can be caused by

1) Yeast infection

2) B vitamin deficiency or iron deficiency occasionally

3) not using a lip balm when appropriate

4) accidentally getting chemical exfoliants such as salicylic acid or glycolic acid on your lips

After antibiotic creams did nothing, I was tested for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and they found that my b12 was slightly low but my b2 was very low. After I started taking a high dose b2 and b12 supplement, it was gone without a trace within a week. It was concluded that I must also suffer from some sort of malabsorption as RDA recommended doses did nothing.

Google pictures of 'chelitis' 'perleche' 'angular stomatitis/chelitis' to get an idea of what it looks like

I've definitely researched my fair share of different rashes that can occur around the mouth. For a while I thought it might be fungal and recently I tried using an over the counter antifungal (twice a day), i'm not sure if it was the antifungal working or just the drying effect the cream had but it dried up the bumps and made them go away. HOWEVER, i've also tried Clindoxyl Gel in the past which had the same effect, it dries up the area but in about a week the bumps start to form again. In my blog I mention I just finished using the antifungal for 3 days, the area looks really good but I noticed a few bumps this morning... so this could be returning yet again.

Tracy521, it seems like our skin is similar as mine gets extremely dry and obviously I try to make it better with more moisturizer (bad choice). I'll try and limit the moisturizer in order to get my skins Ph level back to normal.

This type of dermatitis will forever puzzle me, although, I feel like I'm gaining more and more knowledge about it. I really like hearing about other peoples experience as well. Some other treatments I've used in the past were yogurt masks, ACV, and metrogel. The yogurt masks make the inflamed area feel SO good, not sure if it has any effect on the healing process though. ACV make my skin more angry but dried it up nicely as well. Seems to me in PD cases, you need to keep the area dry (not sure if that means there's a fungal component to it or what?). Lastly, the metrogel had no effect for me, but I have heard lots of success stories from other people.

I also had pd at the same time as Tracy, and I think it took around the same

Time to go away.

I used organic apple cider vinegar As a toner. I also red having a few spoon fulls a day helps too

Also I was prescribed metro gel and minocycline antibiotics.

I also switched hair shampoo to sulfate free by aveeno and my tooth paste. While I had the breakout I washed with this organic stem

Cell cleanser. Now I use aveeno ultra calming

And I've had no problems

Since good luck, I know how fustrating

It can be

Thanks Aballarina,

My skin is so frustrating in that the minute I step off track (sleep in makeup, over wash, get a sunburn, ANYTHING) my dermatitis decides to come right back. Have you ever had it reoccur? Also, how long were you on antibiotics for? Every other time I've only had to take one month, and usually I just stop cold turkey, do you do the same or taper off? Wonder if that has any effect...

K

Hi Everyone,

I suffer from PD since the age of 12. I am 37 now. Every few years it strikes back and is usually caused by high degree of stress and weakened immune system. I tried antibiotics, different traditional remedies, but everything was in vain. I stopped trying traditional stuff after I was prescribed medication that mutates genes and decided to try natural oils and herbs. I started applying a combination of Argan oil and Calendula cream for babies. Also, every evening I had facial bath with sea salt water. It took approximately two weeks to stop new spots and acne to occur. When it comes to diet I didn't really change much - just started taking aspirin every day and stopped drinking alcohol. My kids got PD for the first time just recently, both of them are 12. I applied to their skin Argan oil every day in the morning and before they went to bed. All spots disappeared within a week.