What does Perioral Dermatitis mean?

I have to break it down to answer. Perioral is formed by the words "peri," which means around, and "oral," which means mouth. Dermatitis means inflammation or eczema. Perioral Dermatitis therefore means eczema or inflammation around the mouth. Think of the name Atopic Dermatitis, which is common eczema, or Dermatitis Plantaris Sicca, which translated means eczema-foot-dry. In other words, a dry eczema under the foot. And I think we’ve had enough Latin for today.

What is Perioral Dermatitis?
Irritations around the mouth that appear as small sores, scaly, and red rashes. It often starts as small bumps. The area can be itchy and there can easily be pus in the bumps, but other times the bumps develop into open sores.

What are the symptoms of Perioral Dermatitis?
Irritations around the mouth that appear as small sores, scaly, and red rashes. It often starts as small bumps. The area can be itchy and there can easily be pus in the bumps, but other times the bumps develop into open sores. If you also experience fluid retention and redness, then it is certain. What you are looking at is Perioral Dermatitis.

Where does Perioral Dermatitis occur?
Typically the area around the mouth or as other irritation situated around the mouth, nose, chin, and jaws. In a few cases, the irritation occurs around the eyes and is then called Periorbital Dermatitis. Okay, a little bit of Latin came back in again.

Periorbital Dermatitis is located around the eyes, not in the eyes. If you experience irritation in your eyes, you should seek medical attention immediately.

What is the difference between rosacea and perioral dermatitis?
It can be difficult to tell the difference between Rosacea and Perioral Dermatitis. They can easily look alike, but with perioral dermatitis, there are no telangiectasias (spider veins/broken capillaries), and the challenge is located closer to the nose and mouth and rarely has large reddened areas. With Rosacea, sores and fluid retention are also quite rare.

If you are in any doubt, also read my guide on Rosacea and see if it makes more sense to you.

What is the difference between Acne and Perioral Dermatitis?
The difference between Acne and Perioral Dermatitis is that Perioral Dermatitis does not involve closed comedones and does not occur on the forehead or the bridge of the nose. Acne does not develop into the same open irritations as open sores – as Perioral Dermatitis often does. If in doubt, read my guide on Acne Vulgaris right here.

Who gets Perioral Dermatitis?
Perioral Dermatitis affects younger women 90% more than men. The incidence, or frequency, is 0.5 – 1%, so if you are experiencing Perioral Dermatitis, you are likely a younger woman.

Why do you get Perioral Dermatitis?
The actual dermatological cause of Perioral Dermatitis is not known. However, we can document that perioral dermatitis is often linked to contact irritation, e.g., Colgate toothpaste, which contains a foaming agent that some people cannot tolerate. You can also get Perioral Dermatitis from perfume in makeup or creams.

Wet wipes, cleansing products, corticosteroids, and flavored lip balm can all trigger Perioral Dermatitis. But Perioral Dermatitis can also come from illness, especially bowel diseases like Crohn's disease / Ulcerative Colitis can cause Perioral Dermatitis. The tendency for Perioral Dermatitis increases in the cold period as more and more people use nasal spray, and the indoor climate becomes drier the more we heat our buildings.

It can read like everything in life causes Perioral Dermatitis, but in the vast majority of cases, it is contact irritation and quite easy to fix. I have, of course, created a package for you so you can easily get rid of your Perioral Dermatitis.

Is there anything I should avoid if I have Perioral Dermatitis?

What should you avoid for Perioral Dermatitis? If you want to avoid Perioral Dermatitis, we need to find your trigger; it can be both physical and psychological. The worst thing you can do for Perioral Dermatitis is to use hormone cream, which only worsens your perioral dermatitis or keeps your skin passive.

Stress, illness, nasal spray, perfume (check your makeup), creams, wet wipes, cleansing products, hormone creams, sunbathing, flavored/scented lip balm, foaming agents in toothpaste, hormonal imbalance, and therefore also pregnancy.

The biggest culprit I see is probably cleansing products, and the first thing I would ask you to change is likely your cleanser. Consider Raz Skincare Cleansing Mask for all cleansing, including removing makeup.

Can Perioral Dermatitis be caused by stress?
Perioral Dermatitis can easily be caused by stress in your life. It doesn't have to be stress at work, but changes in your life or pressured situations. Stress affects your hormone levels, and since an imbalance in hormone levels is a trigger for Perioral Dermatitis, stress can, therefore, give you Perioral Dermatitis.

Is Perioral Dermatitis contagious?
Perioral dermatitis is not contagious and is relatively easy to treat with the Raz Skincare Perioral Dermatitis treatment. I have described it further down.

Perioral dermatitis and makeup
You may want to cover the area with makeup, but be sure that it is as mild as possible and completely without perfumes. If it is cream-based makeup, it must also not contain mineral oils, such as paraffinum liquidum, petrolatum liquidum, and the like. If the name sounds like Paraffin or Petroleum, say no thank you.

Can Perioral Dermatitis disappear on its own?
Perioral Dermatitis can easily disappear on its own, but it often returns with greater intensity. This is because you may still have an imbalance in your skin or you are still exposing your skin to the product that irritates it.

Perioral dermatitis and diet? Can I eat my way out of Perioral Dermatitis?
There are many pages on the internet that tell you about different dietary advice; that an anti-inflammatory diet is fantastic and that sugar causes Perioral Dermatitis. Gluten and milk are also blamed for Perioral Dermatitis and all sorts of other ailments, but let me emphasize that there is no clinical evidence for this.

There is no clinical evidence that diet cures Perioral Dermatitis.
I really feel like writing "none" in capital letters.

In fact, there is plenty of evidence that it has nothing to do with your Perioral Dermatitis.

How do I treat Perioral Dermatitis?

Stop all contact with anything you think might be irritating your rash. It could easily be something you have used for many years but can no longer tolerate.

Be as gentle with the area as possible and do what you can to give it peace and rest.

Since the skin is irritated as with Atopic Eczema, the cure is somewhat the same, just even gentler and milder. You can skip to my eczema treatment here.

Treatment of Perioral Dermatitis – you need these products; since it shouldn't take long, I have chosen small products so it becomes as inexpensive as possible.

Morning

1. Raz Skincare Powder to Mousse
I would use this cleanser every morning to cleanse as gently as possible; I would not use it as a mask, but wash gently for max 30 seconds. In this way, you both cleanse the area and add a lot of vitamins and minerals.

2. Raz Skincare Hh
This hyaluronic acid will help your skin retain as much moisture as possible. This will make it easier for you to heal, and peptides can form new and healthy skin cells. 

3. Raz Skincare Face Cream Calm

I would recommend Raz Skincare Face Cream Calm at any time. It is specifically formulated for irritated skin, contact eczema, and perioral dermatitis. The greenish color will remove redness, and it should be worked into the skin until the color is gone. 

If you prefer completely pure oils, I would recommend a mild rosehip seed oil, Raz Skincare Rh, which contains nothing but the pure cold-pressed oil.

Evening

1. Raz Skincare Powder to Mousse
Every evening to cleanse as gently as possible – max 30 seconds. It should be able to remove any makeup, so you don't need any other cleanser than this. It is the same as in the morning.

2. Raz Skincare Repair
I sleep with this salve myself every single night – and yes, it makes me shine like a glazed Christmas ham. But believe me when I tell you that you won't want to be without it when you see how it helps your skin. Since I expect you to be over your Perioral Dermatitis quickly, I have chosen to only include a Mini Repair 15ml in the package.

When will I see improvements in my Perioral Dermatitis?

The sooner we change your skin routine, the sooner it will resolve itself. Most people experience major changes after just 3 days.

Dietary supplements that can help against Perioral Dermatitis

I have made a list of the supplements I believe can help you. I do not sell vitamins myself, so you will have to find a retailer for that.

Spectro – or another multivitamin
Mega B Stress – skin, hair, nails
Zinc Citrate 20 mg – fights bacteria and inflammation
Ultra Omega – optimal fatty acids”

I have put together the products you absolutely must have in a package and given you a good price.

In severe cases – always seek medical advice.

Hugs, Raz

If you want to read more or see where I get my knowledge from, here are some of the articles I consider most informative.

Perioral dermatitis: a single‐center retrospective analysis of the clinical presentation of 1032 patients
Perioral Dermatitis
Granulomatous Periorificial Dermatitis
Induction of Rosaceiform Dermatitis During Treatment of Facial Inflammatory Dermatoses With Tacrolimus Ointment
Dr. Sajjad Rajpar
Management of Perioral Dermatitis
Perioral dermatitis