Red skin around mouth/nose/forehead/cheeks

[containedd]

Sound familiar? Ha, of course it does pretty much everyone on here has described these symptoms at one time....Let me narrow my case down a bit.

It all started like 5 years ago now maybe around my chin and then upper lower skin folds around the mouth. The skin turns bright red when mouth stretched as in smiling or eating! Even with moisturize from lotion, the red skin is still there and gets dark red when skin is moved. Also, this has spread upwards around the nose and onto the cheeks.

Basically, it looks like I have been sun burnt but with sunglasses on..ya know the redness under the eyes and down from the nose. The forehead is the same thing...everything is localized to the T-zone. There are very few pustules, but I have noticed enlarged pores..almost like a few blackheads where the skin is red.

Like I have said, whenever I stretch my skin it turns insanely red! Here are a few things I have tried:


1. Prascion cleanser (supposed to treat rosacea and seb derm....yet nothing. I have been using this off and one for years...)

2. Tazorac (shed skin off, just made it worse)

3. Minocycline, tetracycline, eurthymcin (a few years back I took these...redness not gone)

4. Proactive/multiple OTC products

5. Clindamycin- this does get ride of acne for me, but the redness is unaffected

* I am currently using ZNP bar and nizoral off and on because I thought I may have a fungal infection. To be honest, I don't think it is having much of an impact.

To recap, There is a PERFECT outline of skin around my chin/mouth area and lower nose that has ALWAYS been red for years! Has also spread to immediate area surrounding nose and the forehead has same isolated patch of skin that is red.


someone please tell me where to go....I don't know what to try right now. I have gone cold turkey for many weeks and months with the redness still there. Thanks for reading!

[phlika29]

Have you been to see a dermatologist?

Does it look anything like this?
http://dermnetnz.org/acne/perioral-dermatitis.html

Or sound anything like this?

Do you live in a hard water area?

[containedd]

Have you been to see a dermatologist?

Does it look anything like this?
http://dermnetnz.org/acne/perioral-dermatitis.html

Or sound anything like this?

Do you live in a hard water area?

yes, I have been to dermatologist when I was a teenager about 3 times and they just gave me different antibiotics.

I have diagnosed myself with perioral dermatitis, but I cut out the toothpaste to non flouride with no success and even using nothing but water....still no results. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that should have gotten away the redness around my mouth.

[containedd]

OK, so i guess it can't be seb derm nor rosacea because I have been on Prascion and nizoral/znp bar with no great effects. Whenever I open my mouth wide and move my facial skin around, my skin just flares up! I think I have exhausted my options here.....I am totally lost, it seems that I have contracted some super acne or something on my face! The reason why I don't think i have perioral dermatitis is that I have the same outlined red skin around eyes and forehead and across the cheeks. Also, I have cut way back on steriods for a long period of time with no luck.

What other disease resembles my description? Most soaps (sls in particular) make my red acne skin flare up even worse and then my skin feels extremely dry and tight. Any lotions applied ususally break out my skin.

Month by month the redness expands a bit outward towards on my cheeks. I am so sick of this shit, it is unbearable.

One last bit of info, when I stretch my skin along the boarder of my chin, there are little white raised bumps. I thought this was from some fungus, but nizoral didn't do anything to 'em. What should I be trying now guys?

edit: Looks a lot like this, although my redness is a lot worse outlining mouth area.
http://rosaceagroup.org/The_Rosacea_Forum/showthread.php?t=14956

[phlika29]

Just because the redness doesnt respond to steroids I dont think you should rule out seb derm. Mine only marginally gets better with hydrocortisone and failed to get any better with antifungals. I would suggest finding out whether you live in a soft or hard water area. But mainly I would advise that you go back to see your doctor and ask to be referred to a derm.

[THX]

I think I have the same thing as you. When I stretch my mouth open, my skin turns really red; mostly along the mouth folds and the corners of my lower lips. The redness appears localized around quasi-blackheads. Unfortunately, I have no clue what it is - my doctor thinks it's eczema, but I haven't seen much change when on hydrocortisone.

[johny]

Basically over the years my entire face minus circles around my eyes have become permanently red. It has always been the reddest in the T-Zone, b/c i have seb derm their. Whenever i open my mouth to eat, or do some facial expression, I too get more localized redness around my mouth. I don't really see any way to stop that from happening? Maybe IPL? I've never heard of anyone overcoming that personally. If you find a way let me know.

As for the pic you referenced. That person seemed to have seb derm with minor acne imo. He might have pre-rosacea but no serious rosacea in that pic from my interpretation.

All those 'pores' on his nose and to the sides are little pits where oily flakes are pitted into the skin. To test for these flakes if its not overly easy to tell, you can take a lightly wet cotton ball and try to kind of scrub/clean that area of your face and if you see scummy flakes getting picked up, and small empty pits on your face you have seb derm.

Seb derm isn't easy to treat for me. I have used the ZNP bar, H&S, Ketanocazole cream, oral anti-fungals, etc. basically anything and everything but my seb derm is still a daily battle with me. I have to balance it with my rosacea with makes it tough b/c if i use seb derm products to much my skin gets irritated. My SD is strong enough that metronidazole does absolutely nothing for it.

[containedd]

I think I have the same thing as you. When I stretch my mouth open, my skin turns really red; mostly along the mouth folds and the corners of my lower lips. The redness appears localized around quasi-blackheads. Unfortunately, I have no clue what it is - my doctor thinks it's eczema, but I haven't seen much change when on hydrocortisone.

yep, SAME EXACT SYMPTOMS. Red skin outlineing the mouth and it creeps upwards towards the nose and around the nose folds. When stretcing mouth, it becomes worse. Also, I have this on my cheeks and forehead and I have the same quasi-blackheads where it is generally red. I have another appointment with my derm April 20th so I will let you know what she says...but my doctor told me that he thinks it is eczema as well! I have tried hydrocortisione 1% OTC (really weak stuff btw) and that doesn't do the job. PLus, it is a steroid so you're not supposed to use it longer than a week.

Damn, well I'll PM you with what I am trying and doing and maybe we both can trial/error stuff.

The stuff I am currently using is jojoba oil and hazelnut oil. It really nourishes the skin and makes the skin look healthy. I have also changed to all natural shampoo (no sls). Any type of soap drys out my skin and irritates it.

Basically over the years my entire face minus circles around my eyes have become permanently red. It has always been the reddest in the T-Zone, b/c i have seb derm their. Whenever i open my mouth to eat, or do some facial expression, I too get more localized redness around my mouth. I don't really see any way to stop that from happening? Maybe IPL? I've never heard of anyone overcoming that personally. If you find a way let me know.

As for the pic you referenced. That person seemed to have seb derm with minor acne imo. He might have pre-rosacea but no serious rosacea in that pic from my interpretation.

All those 'pores' on his nose and to the sides are little pits where oily flakes are pitted into the skin. To test for these flakes if its not overly easy to tell, you can take a lightly wet cotton ball and try to kind of scrub/clean that area of your face and if you see scummy flakes getting picked up, and small empty pits on your face you have seb derm.

Seb derm isn't easy to treat for me. I have used the ZNP bar, H&S, Ketanocazole cream, oral anti-fungals, etc. basically anything and everything but my seb derm is still a daily battle with me. I have to balance it with my rosacea with makes it tough b/c if i use seb derm products to much my skin gets irritated. My SD is strong enough that metronidazole does absolutely nothing for it.

yep, I have also tried znp and nizoral with no luck. I have only used them for like 2 weeks though, but my red skin gets reallly red from it.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[containedd]

OK, finally, I went to the Derm.

I had actually 3 in my room because they were getting trained, so I think I may have gotten a better treatment yes:. Anyways, here is what she gave me:

-Protopic ( only after I indicated eczema)
-Bactrim

She said that I have level 1 (minor pustules) on my face and like a lower level 2 for my back. I asked for accutane but she said only after Bactrim. Also, my acne was not what she would call severe, but rather moderate because of my back. If your symtoms were like mine, than I would suggest getting bactrim, which is super cheap. I don't know about the Protopic. She warned of the dangers of it because it is a immunosuppresent. Also, it is very expense but our insurance covered it. I will post back with results in a week or so.

[containedd]

ok, an update.

I went to the dermataoligst again and got accutane, although he said that my case is very mild (to him). I also was prescribed desonide .05% for what the seb derm around my mouth. I only used the protopic for like 2 weeks before stopping it because I thought nothing was changing....this was stupid of me and I urge no one to stop any medications before 6 weeks at least!

Anyways, if you have the symptoms I have described above, you probably have seb derm. I don't know how the seb derm will react to the 30mg accutane (180lb male) but we will see. I am on a low dose so I hope side effects will be minimal. I will hopefully post back results here and there.

forgot to mention that the Bactrim did a decent job of lowering the redness altogether, but I don't think it would completely solve the problem. I am thinking that since desonide is a sterioid, i may switch back to protopic and use that for 6 weeks...what do you think?

[phlika29]

Thanks for the update.

I guess one week for the protopic was not quite enough to see ther results. if it were me I would give that another go first (assuming it didnt cause you any major side effects).

[containedd]

UPDATE: AFter 2nd month

Derm bumped up accutane to 90mg a day to put any acne that I may have in the future into remission. I have not had any active pustules since a few years back, but still the usual zit here and there. I will be on this for the 6-month course.

I urged him to take a shave skin biopsy, but he said that he could, but he would see normal tissue that everyone has, particularly Malassezia furfur. People with Seb Derm simply have a reaction to it and it is not curable, but possible to put into remission. He also stated that it is a very long process to get rid of, so don't expect to to results for a few months at the very latest. No other treatments were prescribed since I have been given nizoral 2%. So far so good, but it will take a while...and I mean a while until the inflammation has been under control.

I would like to see if anyone had success with controlling their seb derm with diet. I am still confused as to if this disease is genetic.

[Yvette]

Hi containedd,

90mg of Accutane daily? This is A LOT! Do you have Rosacea also? If so, I'd not take anything more than .5mg per KG of your weight. You are probably around 90kg or so, that would be 45mg max daily. I'd double check with your Derm. why the amount is sooooo high! If you have flushing or other skin issues, you may find in a short time on a higher dose like 90mg your face becomes beet red and scaley peely dry. Intense flushing.

Please becareful. There are too many stories out there where folks took higher doses of Accutane and their Rosacea worsened (or they got Rosacea) and/or other more serious side effects, eye ailments, hair loss, etc.. Please browse posts on here or acne.org. Higher doses = more serious side effects and problems.

I was on very low dose (mostly 10mg and then 20mg a day) and I even had a good amount of hair loss the last two months of treatment. My other side effects were very minor since I stayed low dose. I wouldn't do treatment using an "acne" protocol or guidelines and my Derm. was comfortable taking it "slow" and keeping it low. :) Low dose Accutane was amazing - cleared my skin and gave it a fresh start.

Just wanted to put my two cents out there.

Good luck.
Yvette

[containedd]

Right, he said that he has prescribed it for a lot of patients, in the hundreds, and the people he never saw again took high dosages. Also he mentioned not to freak out about the stuff online. Some people are already predetermined to experience hair loss and you and I are simply one of them. I have a receding hair line (mature) but did hair actually just start falling out? If that is the case than it would be obvious to stop the medicine.

I really wouldn't consider google as research, especially acne.org. Most people on there are freaked out teenagers who would cling to anything. I think it is safe to assume that most people have acne in their latter teens and younger 20's. Receding hair lines also come into play at the same time. I know very few people my age that have not lost any hair.

So, hundreds of patients, very few had any major side effects aside from dry lips/hair/bloody noses. Then again, that is short term. The drug was introduced in the late 80's, giving it plenty of time to be taken off the shelves. I am aware of the lawsuits, but the outcomes as well. People are all different and react differently to different things.

I do not flush or have rosacea. In fact, no on in my immediate or extend has had it. I am a very athletic person and if it does hinder my performance than I will stop but until I see serious side effects or have troublesome blood results, I really do not see why I should listen to people who are trying to play doctor.

Have you tried finasteride? It is considered one of the cheapest and best anti-hair loss products currently available.

[bluesky]

Hi, I have kind of the same described redness, but yet at the same time not really, if that makes any sense?

Anyway, I just wanted to say that just because your derms treated "hundreds" doesn't mean he will know whats right for YOU.

My derm had dealt w/ over 1000 accutane courses yet he was extremely insistent on giving me 40 mgs despite how red and flush prone my skin is. Then when I was beet red and in a 24/7 flush after taking it and called him to tell him I would NOT be taking that dose, he got moody etc. and told me to just take every other day, saying I was the first accutane patient to not agree w/ his dosing, and stop reading so much on the internet etc.

None the less, I know my body far well than he ever will and I was certainly NOT going to take that high dose and cause worse damage, I don't care how many "thousands of accutane courses" he's dealt with, 40 mgs is too much for ME!!. So, like Yvette said, I also warn against the high dosing, you might very well regret it later on if you don't soon enough! Not to be harsh- just a warning!

[okieboi]

i have similar symptoms to a degree.

i started off having slight redness around the mouth corners of my nose and upper cheeks which increased when i was in the sun for long periods or stretched the skin around the affected area. the doc gave me betamethasone .05.. it worked for a while, but would return if i didnt stay regular on application...

went back to the doc after the cream quit helping, doc said it might be early rosacea so she perscribed metrogel. applied it and after three days i broke out severly around the mouth and nose, it also spread to the cheeks making the butterfly and even onto the forehead. the rash looked very much like rosacea and Perioral dermatitis. stopped applying the metrogel and within three days the pustules went away but left my skin red very dry and scaly.

went to the derm, he immediatly said seborrheic derm. (but i have never had oily skin its always been on the dry side.) told me to get a medicated shampoo and perscribed xolegel. the shampoo only drys my skin out more creating more scales and the redness is still there... the xolegel seems to calm the scales but not the redness.


i have also noticed that my eyes are very dry and red in the morning and the dryness usually lasts all day...

[containedd]

UPDATE:

After 4 months on accutane (30, 60, 90, 30), I have decided to go off of it because it was not doing a whole lot. Oil cut down, redness still there. I have also tried Nizoral (2 months) and loprox (3 weeks) during treatment with limited success. In fact, anything I have put on my face simply made it worse. After not putting anything on my face, my face has looked the best. For shaving, I use a single blade and virgin coconut oil as moisturizer.

I see the same derm tomorrow and I was wondering what sort of prescription stuff is worth trying. He swears that I have seb derm, but obviously not after accutane and antifungals. He won't put me on oral anitfungals because they are extremely unsafe and unpredictable. I see a new derm in Septemeber.

[containedd]

Was given finacea. I actually saw a different derm at this clinic than the other guy who I was seeing. Derm said that she could barely see the redness and that I look perfectly fine. I guess not putting all of that harsh crap on my face makes it appear a lot less inflamed, which makes sense. I'll post back how the finacea goes after a month or two.

Forgot to mention that I have used loprox/ desonide/ and nizoral while on accutane. All of which did nothing good to my face. Nizoral cream is a gift from hell....very harsh on skin. I also asked for a gentile moisturizer. I was given cetaphil gentle cleanser...basically something to wash my skin without the suds that irritates the skin.

[MikeG17]

Hey man I'd just like to say I'd appreciate it if you kept the updates coming. I know some people don't come back if they find a treatment that works for them. Anyway, I have very similar symptoms with the redness while eating, laughing, facial expressions, etc. It's been very difficult for me to find other people with these symptoms, so if you keep updating that'd be great.

Also, I have a derm appointment coming up very soon. So if you want, I'll let you know what I'm using, how my face is responding and such. That way we could maybe find something that works for both of us.

[containedd]

Hey man I'd just like to say I'd appreciate it if you kept the updates coming. I know some people don't come back if they find a treatment that works for them. Anyway, I have very similar symptoms with the redness while eating, laughing, facial expressions, etc. It's been very difficult for me to find other people with these symptoms, so if you keep updating that'd be great.

Also, I have a derm appointment coming up very soon. So if you want, I'll let you know what I'm using, how my face is responding and such. That way we could maybe find something that works for both of us.

ok, sounds good....

So, I have been off of accutane for a few months now and I am really liking the results. All of my acne, both whiteheads and blackheads are virtually all gone. The redness has subsided substantially and my face is 90% clearer than what is used to be. The best part is that I don't need to bath nearly as much since the oil is all gone. I do not want to give all of the credit to accutane however.

Finacea and a gentile cleanser are working well. DO NOT USE SOAP! I hate using caps lock, but every derm I have seen has told me to not use any soap with suds in it...it is harsh on the skin. Be gentle with your skin and always moisturize. I never used to moisturuize but now I do everytime I get out of the shower.

I don't plan on going to any new dermatologists, but in the mean time I will be trying new stuff such as organic coconout oil and related herbal remedies. All in all, I would recommend accutane, despite the negative connotations with it. I only wish I was allowed this treatment when I was younger. Please learn from my trials and better yourself. I know that what has worked for me may not work for you, so you will have to conduct your own, and it may take years for you to see results. Any one telling you different is lying. I got this when I was 16....I am now almost 21.