Perioral dermatitis is facial rash or inflammation of the skin around the mouth such as lips, chin and lower parts of cheeks and sometimes it affects areas around the nose and eyes.It manifests as small red bumps which are scaly and mildly itchy.
It may easily be confused with acne.
Perioral dermatitis can be cured easily with different kinds of treatments including homemade natural remedies.
What Causes Perioral Dermatitis?
The actual causes of perioral Dermatitis are a mystery. There are indications that the use of steroids and some chemical substances such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) as well as Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate (ALS) in soaps, shampoos, detergents and creams can cause Perioral Dermatitis in some sensitive people mainly women.
For a long period of fluoride in the toothpaste or in the water supply was considered one of the causes of perioral dermatitis.
Symptoms of Perioral Dermatitis
There are many other skin conditions which can easily be confused as perioral dermatitis and vice versa. These include Seborrheic dermatitis, Atopic eczema, Rosacea, Contact dermatitis and acne. There are no tests done to diagnose perioral dermatitis.
If Doctor sees the symptoms such as red scaly Pustules or bumps around the mouth, on the chin, lower cheeks and on the nose and cheek junctions particularly when the rest of the face is clear of rashes. Mild itchy feeling may prevail.
Doctor may do culture test to check for infection if any.
Perioral Dermatitis Remedies
Patients’ needs to be very vigilant of the treatment they take. Some doctors may prescribe steroid as treatments for perioral dermatitis which may work initially but then worsen the condition later. In fact the skin may become addicted to steroids and when the steroid treatment of perioral dermatitis is stopped, the patient may suffer difficult withdrawal symptoms.
An antibiotic treatment of perioral dermatitis can be a good start. Let the doctor decide which antibiotics to administer.
The dermatologist prescribed course of oral antibiotics may be as long as six to twelve weeks. Tetracycline or one of its derivatives is found to be more effective in most cases. Other antibiotics such as erythromycin and clindamycin have been found less effective.
Antibiotic treatment of perioral dermatitis or for that matter of any other medical condition should be completed with prescribed doses and time period otherwise resistance to antibiotics will develop and the next time it may not be very effective.
In addition to the antibiotic treatment you have to use natural methods for faster cure.
- The most common natural ways to deal with perioral dermatitis are to avoid using any chemicals on the face. That means no facial creams, make ups, sun lotions/creams and any other cosmetics.
- Water alone should be used for face wash. It makes more sense to treat perioral dermatitis naturally as the face washing creams, liquids and soaps contain harmful chemicals that may impact sensitive skins to form rashes. After a few days of use of water, you can begin to use non soap based facial washes.
- Apply plain organic yogurt with active culture on the affected area twice a day. This cooling mask is soothing in short term and curing in long term. Many women have found it effective and there are no side effects of yogurt treatment.
- Other natural treatment that can be effective on some sufferer is to dab the affected area with a warm mixture of equal quantities of apple cider vinegar and green tea two to three times a day for a week or so.
It really is a matter of patience and avoiding quick fixes like using steroids that will be the key to success in getting rid of perioral dermatitis.
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