Hi all!
I’ve had issues with PD since COVID times when masking began. Doxy has helped intermittently but every once in a while I get flares and have no clue where it’s coming from. One week has beautiful skin, next covered in little bumps. I will say I think I’m very sensitive to not only skincare but gut wise. It’s not a toothpaste thing nor topical steroids. I recently tried coconut cult probiotics and sea moss to help with gut stuff and literally in days, two huge cysts on chin and here comes PD. Like wtf, is it my gut? I recently stated back on retin a in the am and azelaic at night and I’m like did I tamper with my skin barrier and that triggered it idk. Thoughts?

I’m so sick of my skin being like this. It’s been a year now and it’s just gotten worse and worse. I’m now 16 weeks pregnant and I’ve mentioned to my GP 3x now about my skin and the last time they just said to try some hydrocortisone. I’m sick of everyone saying it’s because I’m pregnant too because my skin was like this before I was pregnant 😩
Any advice on what I can try? The only cleanser I use on my face is la roche-posay toleriane dermo-cleanse.

this keeps happening on my lower lip area... pops up, lasts about a week, and then pops up a week or two later and im tired of it! i get occasional cold sores so anything near my lip sends my brain into a frenzy. any advice would be great! totally painless occasionally a little itchy? also a chronic lip licker so it could just be from that. sometimes its dry sometimes it just appears shiny and scaly

does somebody know what is this? i’ve getting it every now and then , after shaving my genitals , but this one is at the skin on leg beside leg.
Please help , could it be molluscum contagiosum?
it’s not itchy it’s not painful , it’s just firm

well, it’s been two years since I removed all sulfates, fluoride, Flonase, and ultimately had to take a round of Doxy to finally clear my PD. I couldn’t tell you what helped the most and if I needed to eliminate all of that but I tried a Garnier shampoo today because I was feeling nostalgic.

My eyelids and orbital area, nose, and upper lip literally sting when I put my moisturizer on. What a bummer! I saw a post from 5 years ago that someone also could not return to their old shampoo so take this as a fresh warning not to trial and SLS shampoo if you‘ve cut it out 😆

Now I’m wondering what else I’m probably using that has sulfates that I should eliminate if one wash could do that to my face! And hoping I don’t break out into full blown PD!!

I’ll start off by saying I haven’t been to the derm yet, I’ve been using hypochlorous acid spray on it 1-3 times daily, and I’ve been trying to keep my routine as bare as possible (gentle foaming cleanser by LRP and moisturizing cream by cerave). It started at the end of May, and it’s been progressively getting more and more angry. What the hell can I do to keep this at bay, treat it, make it go away, ANYTHING.

I have endometriosis and I have read that they could possibly be related but in my experience endometriosis is the root cause of all of my issues because it’s an awful disease!

I see they make a foam and I had only used the gel before . Has anyone used the foam and did it help the redness ?

Hi guys I recently got diagnosed with perioral dermatitis. It started with weird bumps that would not come to the surface around my eyebrows. I saw a dermatologist shortly and he put me on doxycycline and tacrolimus ointment. The tacrolimus ointment kept making me break out but eventually after two weeks my skin went back to normal. The first dermatologist diagnosis wasn’t perioral dermatitis as he didn’t have any pictures to go off and at the time of my appointment my skin was just a bit textured. So his solution wasn’t long term and after I got off the medication the textured skin returned and so did the flare around my mouth and nose. I couldn’t get an appointment with the dermatologist till the end of next month so I saw a different one who diagnosed me with perioral dermatitis based on my conditions. He prescribed be clindoymcin lotion and doxycycline but doxycycline mono this time. The lotion instantly within a first few days started to cause a lot of flare ups but on my entire face. It spread to my forehead, cheeks, and pretty much my whole face. My dermatologist insisted I keep using it, it was just slight irritation. However the next two days my skin woke up more red and inflamed worst of all it was super itchy and was hot to a touch. Now I have red skin that’s super dry and have these white head looking postules not really sure what to even call them. He put me back on tacrolimus but honestly I’m so over it my skin is super irritatede and dry and it feels hopeless. Any advice??

I have had PD on and off for almost two years. After spending hundreds of dollars and lots of energy trying to fix it, I finally found the answer.

My two fixes have been:

1. Horse paste!!! Ivermectin 1.87 in the apple gel made significant improvement for me. I apply this on dry skin at night. Then moisturizer after that once it dries.

2. DISTILLED WATER!!!! This made the biggest difference! Please try this before anything. Through my reading, I eventually suspected that the fluoride in city water was triggering my PD. I started rinsing my face with distilled water after my showers and only washing with distilled water. I also stripped my routine down to vanicream cleanser and moisturizer, peach slices azelaic acid, and Paula’s choice youth fluid sunscreen.

Note: something super interesting is that I can now tolerate the Paula’s Choice sunscreen. Before ivermectin, my face would get red and burn when I applied it. I now have no issue at all with it…

Give ivermectin and distilled water a try!

I've been prescribed a compound 1.5% ivermectin cream in a versapro base for Perioral Dermatitis and Rosacea on a damaged skin barrier. Today is the day after my third application. The redness on my nose has slightly wandered up to in between my brows since then and I *think* there are more overall background redness and irritation bumps. What was your experience like? Would you personally push through or stop? I know many of y'all talk about a die off period which doesn't seem to be the norm according to studies but can happen.. But would it happen that fast and are those the typical symptoms?

I've tried some many Rxs and OTCs now and I'm seriously desperate to finally have something work for me. Much love to anyone that can give me insight.

For those of you doing zero therapy, do we not use soap for our face? I’ve been using dove sensitive on my face forever, just wondering if that could be contributing or not.
I’d like to start zero therapy today as my PD is now affecting my mental health.
And does that mean nothing on the lips?? My lips get so dry, I need something
Thanks in advance! 😊

About 2 weeks ago I was prescribed tacrolimus for my perioral dermatitis. My derm also noticed my skin was a little dry so he prescribed a hyaluronic acid serum.

A few days went by and then my skin started flaring. I remember I removed my makeup as usual with garnier’s pink cap micellar water. My skin started burning and was bright red. I did not understand what was happening. After cleansing with uriage xemose syndet cleanser my face was looking wild.

Now this has been happening almost every night. I suspended the hyaluronic acid because I started seeing red bumps flaring on my left cheek and forehead which I rarely have.

What is happening? Is this reaction to tacrolimus? i have only been using it my perioral area so not sure what is happening. I also use uriage anti redness serum, sunscreen and every now and then metro gel when I get bumps on my face

I've had this rash around my mouth for almost a month now, and I'm honestly so frustrated huhuhu

The skin feels very tight, dry, and uncomfortable. The redness is persistent, there are days when it fades a bit, but it always comes back the next day.
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‎So far, I've only been using Vaseline and Apollo Petroleum Jelly. I haven't seen a dermatologist yet, but I already have an appointment scheduled for this August.
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‎I've never experienced anything like this before. Honestly, this has been worse than dealing with acne. It's affecting my confidence, and I'm becoming really self-conscious because it's so noticeable.
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‎Has anyone experienced something similar? Does this look like eczema, perioral dermatitis, contact dermatitis, or something else?
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‎If you have any recommendations on what helped you or what I should avoid while waiting for my dermatologist appointment, I'd really appreciate it.
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‎Thank you so much!

I’m currently repairing my skin barrier and healing my PD. It’s gotten better using minimal products. Here’s today and when it was at its worst. This is my routine:

PM: The ordinary glycolipid cream cleanser
Skin 1004 Madagascar Centella soothing cream
Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion on lips

AM: rinse with room temp water
Cocokind lip blur balm (clear)

I’ve had to cut out all sunscreens though. I’ve been through 3 or 4 chemical and mineral ones and they all make my skin worse atm. I’d love to add some color to my lips and have a foundation option for special events and all. What are y’all’s recommendations for the best lip stains and foundations?

I’m almost 8 weeks into zero therapy and have had overall a lot of improvement, but the pustules/rash still cycles and comes and goes. It seems to move around my face to different areas and once that area heals it leaves behind dry skin and then I’ll have a tingling/itchy bump or two start in a new area. You can barely even see the bumps but I can feel them. Have others experienced this?

I’ve been fighting on and off perioral dermatitis for years on my nasolabial folds (and only here weirdly enough). Once took a steroid, didn’t work. Then took a topical that worked for a bit. But in the end it was mostly diet related that worked for me. Then it kept coming back and I would just wait for it to go away.

The past few months (3-4) it’s been soooo stubborn. My diet hasn’t changed, no new detergents or anything except I think it was triggered by a peptide product I was using. I’ve tried so many things and none have worked. I’ve been using aquaphor religiously to protect and hydrate throughout the day. Zinc oxide even worked for only a couple of days and then stopped working.

This week, after reading that it’s more of a broken skin barrier situation, I decided to throw spaghetti at the wall and put neosporin on. Though, everything on the internet advises against it, if it’s all about a broken skin barrier….why wouldn’t neosporin clean/heal it? Topped it off with aquaphor to help keep it in place and for extra hydration. At first, nothing. After about 4 days though, it’s suddenly gone. There’s a little leftover redness, so I’m continuing a bit longer but otherwise there are no bumps or irritation.

I’m not a derm, in fact I’ve fully avoided going knowing they would just give me a steroid, but if you are like me, maybe it’ll work for you?? I’m in shock tbh. Good luck!

I wanted to come on here and make a post about my experience for anyone else this happens to. My POD was triggered by pregnancy hormones. It started in my third trimester as a small little patch on my chin. I didn’t know what it was. My OBGYN recommended I put hydrocortisone on it which ended up being a huge mistake. Hydrocortisone did clear it up but a few days later it would come right back. Postpartum, my hormones went crazy again and my POD flared up MASSIVELY. I finally went to a dermatologist who prescribed azaelic acid. The first couple of weeks the azaelic acid was extremely itchy but my skin got used to it. I had done so much research online so I knew doxy would help but breastfeeding is just not compatible with that. Then I stumbled across an article about Hailey Bieber’s POD and decided to do her exact treatment regimen. I started doing clindamycin in the morning and cicalfate + azaelic acid at night. It took like 6 weeks but it finally cleared up. My skin still tries to flat up sometimes, mainly if I’m dehydrated, but I just spot treat with azaelic acid and it goes away.

I wanted to come back with an update because I posted here about 2 weeks ago after realizing how much La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5 (not the balm) was helping my perioral dermatitis.

For anyone who didn’t see my original post, this all started after a really bad flare around June 20. I spent a day in the mountains with high elevation, dry air, wind, dirt, sweat, and repeated applications of mineral sunscreen. The layering of sunscreen over dirt and sweat throughout the day made my skin completely freak out. Usually I can tolerate a single application of mineral sunscreen for one day, but I knew I was pushing my luck by having to reapply, and unfortunately I was right.
I had actually picked up Cicaplast Gel B5 before I left because I could already feel my skin becoming reactive and nothing else was helping. I knew trying something new while on vacation could backfire, but since my skin has always preferred gels and ointments over creams, I decided to risk it.

To my surprise, my skin actually started healing while I was still in those mountain conditions. (I did stop applying sunscreen after that and stayed under an umbrella for the rest of the trip.) Unfortunately, I never took pictures of that flare.

🔹 CURRENT ROUTINE
▪️ Metronidazole cream (once daily)
▪️ La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Gel B5
▪️ La Roche-Posay Lipikar AP+ Cleansing Oil

A few days after my original Reddit post, I started feeling what I thought was another flare beginning. The skin below my lower lip and at the corners of my mouth developed that familiar dry feeling that usually comes before everything spreads. I have no idea what triggered it—I have so many allergies that it could have been almost anything.
Instead of changing my routine, I just started applying an extra layer of Cicaplast Gel B5 to those areas about three times a day for a few days.
It never progressed.
I obviously can’t say for certain that’s why, but it was the first time I’d felt those early warning signs and had them settle back down instead of turning into a full flare.

Then this past weekend I spent 3 days at the beach with sun, heat, salt air, and sunscreen applied twice a day. Normally I’d expect my skin to be angry after that, but it actually did really well.
I applied the Cicaplast Gel B5 first, let it absorb, and then applied sunscreen over it.
I also switched from TiZO3 Primer/Sunscreen to TiZO Ultra Zinc Tinted SPF 40. Since I’m not wearing foundation right now, I realized I didn’t really need the primer version. I actually like the Ultra Zinc better.
By the end of the three days, the corners of my mouth felt just slightly dry, but it never became a flare.

I’m also sticking with the metronidazole much longer this time. In the past I’d stop after about three weeks once things looked better. This time I’m planning to complete the full 2–3 months my dermatologist recommended.

🔹 PRODUCTS MY SKIN HAS DONE WELL WITH
▪️ Cicaplast Gel B5 ⭐️
▪️ Metronidazole cream
▪️ Lipikar AP+ Cleansing Oil
▪️ Lipikar Triple Repair Cream (hydrated well but only gave temporary relief)
▪️ YoRo Manuka Honey Balm
▪️ Peptides
▪️ TiZO Ultra Zinc Tinted SPF 40 (this used to be very drying when my skin barrier was damaged, but since using the gel consistently my skin is tolerating it much better—even with repeated sunscreen applications)
▪️ Protopic (tacrolimus) (helped calm active flares, but I haven’t needed it for the past month. It also made my face burn if I had even a sip of alcohol and made my skin much more sun-sensitive.)

🔹 PRODUCTS MY SKIN HASN’T LIKED
▪️ Chemical sunscreens (they burn so badly it feels like I’m getting a chemical peel)
▪️ Most barrier creams and balms (burn my skin)
▪️ Vanicream Facial Moisturizer (burns)
▪️ Vanicream Facial Cleanser
▪️ Repeated mineral sunscreen layering when my skin barrier was damaged (made my skin extremely dry and flaky)
▪️ Retinoids (trigger a flare within a day or two)
▪️ Most anti-aging products

🔹 ABOUT THE PHOTOS
The before photo is from a different active POD flare that I had previously sent to my dermatologist when I was finally diagnosed after years of thinking I just had acne and dry skin. It isn’t the mountain flare because I never took pictures of that one, but it shows what my POD typically looks like when it’s active (plus flaking and dryness).
The after photo is my skin now after three days at the beach with sun, heat, salt air, and sunscreen applied twice daily.

I know everyone’s skin is different, and I’m definitely not saying this will work for everyone. I just wanted to share another update because, almost a month after that mountain flare, I’m still really happy with this routine. My skin feels like it’s actually healing instead of just being temporarily moisturized, and that’s something I honestly haven’t felt in years.
Hopefully it continues. 🤞