itching around nose & mouth

[transgal]

My journey with acne and rosacea has been quite the struggle. But I can't help but wonder if allergies play part of the role in this. I get the most unusual symptoms and as all of you already know, the docs aren't much help. Sometimes my nose itches around it and I will get tingling around the lips and sometimes I will get like a hive on the outside of the lip, sometimes they develop into a itchy putule. My nose does the same thing on the outside corners and it gets a pustule as well. I definately have redness with it as well. I am using metrogel and it does seem to help keep the pustules down, but I also use Benedryl creme occasionally and that seems to help a bit too. My skin is so hypersensitvse now that my chin burns alot too when I am at work. Even touching the phone on my chin seems to make it worse. I no longer wear makeup cuz it seems to aggravate the whole thing. My skin itches much more and I seem to break out. Do you think that it is mainly just part of dealing with Rosacea or is this possibly caused by allergies? On occasions when I drink alcohol I notice that I get a itchy spot around my mouth at that time too. Don't really seem to flush but I do that and the next day I notice my mouth to be burning and sometimes I have breakouts with P&P's and they are itchy. Has anyone else experienced any of these problems please post!

[claudia]

I too get itchy areas on the nose and chin. I get a tingling itchy feeling before a flare-up and then after the appearance of p&p's I get chronic itching in those areas. I get itching even if it's just teeny tiny whiteheads. I've found that not eating wheat or dairy has helped calm down the itching and not using any moisturizers or liquid makeup also helps. I don't think the itching is dry skin cause my skin's rather oily. I can use a pressed powder without problems and the talc in it seems to be soothing. I use Neutrogena Healthy Skin pressed powder. Metrogel is really soothing for the itching.

Some people think the itching is due to mites. If so, Metrogel kills mites without irritating the skin (...for most people). Also a systemic antibiotic kills the food the mites live on (bacteria) so that also helps stop the itching. When I get the itching...which isn't often now that my regime below is working...it drives me CRAZY and when treatment stops it I realize how bad the itching really was.

Hope this helps...

c

[PA Dancer]

Is your skin dry?
Are you using moisturizer?
Did this reaction start when you started using the meds?
Have you been to an allergist?

I also get strange tingling sensations near my nose and left eye.
I actually just went for an MRI about two weeks ago because of it.

Anyway, I have discovered that some of the tingling around my eye is caused by my eyelashes being tangled and tickling the crows feet area.

I also get this numbing sensation near my left temple that I don't know what it's from. Sensitive nerves???? Who knows. There was nothing on the MRI in that area.

And just an additional note...make sure you clean off your phone from time to time.

[phlika29]

To me your symtoms remind me of either cold sores:

http://dermnetnz.org/viral/herpes-simplex.html

or perioral dermatitis:

http://dermnetnz.org/acne/perioral-dermatitis.html

Just a thought

Sarah

[transgal]

Thanks everyone for their replies. I have thought about several of the things that you have posted here. One of them being mites. I used face doctor soap for awhile and it helped clear skin up a bit. I have also used Acne LTD and it helped for awhile. It stung my skin though but it did help get rid of the p&p's a bit. Now my skin almost seems too sensitive to that as well. But however I think I have found a good skin care routine that does seem to help. I use Mark Lee's Sensitive skin care line and also using Metrogel. It seems to be the best of any product that I have used. Your skin goes through so many changes when you are dealing with problems like this. The other factor that I think I might be facing is allergies. I have been to an allergist an know that I am pretty allergic to yeast, mold, cat dander & a few other things. I am wondering if the yeast allergy has anything to do with being sensitive to sugar as well. I did my best for awhile to go on a candida diet and did pretty good but I lost quite a bit of weight and it was hard to stay on. I also seem to do better with mostly non processed foods too. Like I said it's been a long journey but I have yet to beat this thing. I don't really know if you can.

When I first started having problems it was with just cystic acne and it just kept getting worse and worse. I would develop an itchy spot and the doc would inject it with Kenalog, as time went on I developed an allergy to the tetracyclines so I could no longer use them. So steroids were my main defense against it. I even tried to use Accutane and had a reaction to that. So once again steroid and Bactrim. Then I started trying to go the natural route. At first it was aweful. FAce got much worse. Doctors couldn't figure out why I had so much inflammation, why I so red and they kept injecting me. Finally I had, had enough and couldn't take it anymore and quit using anything on my face and slowly it started to get better but as you know it has done permant damage to my self esteem and something happened to the balance of my skin because I can no longer tolerate any kind of makeup. I've tried several and now I am just scared to try anything anymore. I have been prescribed Zoverix for cold sores too cuz I use to get sores around my nose and the derm thought it might be related to that. I couldn't really tell if it helped much. I used L-Lysine for awhile and don't seem to have that problem much anymore which I am greatful.

This morning I was having a piece of yeast free toast with butter and noticed a couple of itchy spots around my mouth. I don't normally react but maybe I am becoming more and more sensitive. I don't know. Could it be from the wheat? I've been tested for celiac as well and that was clear. I have also been allergy tested for wheat over a year ago and showed no problems then either. Quite the puzzle isn't it? Anyways, as the day went on the itchiness and the redness went away, which to me seems like kinda a hive reaction. What do you think? Even last night at the game I noticed burning around my nose area. It was driving me crazy. By the time I got home settled down a bit it also settled down. This morning the burning had calmed down. Rosacea, reaction, what?

Sorry about such a long post but sometimes it helps to know a little bit of history about a person to help them and hopefully someone will be able to help me or maybe I could help them. It's a lonely world out there for people with our problems and unless you are dealing with something like this most people can't relate.

[claudia]

It's all very confusing and time consuming, not to mention depressing, to keep trying to figure out what's happening and what might help...or not!!!

I think our skin may be "sensitized" to things like wheat and dairy but that it might not show up as a problem on allergy tests. This is kind of like hormone testing...many women with cystic acne are sensitive to androgens but they don't necessarily test out as having a hormonal imbalance.

Try going without all wheat and dairy products for a month and see what happens. Personally, I've found I can eat spelt with no problem and it comes as a bread and pasta that tastes really good. I also drink vanilla soy milk with no problems.

Oh...and due to the extremely sensitive nature of our skin and the fact that it is easily damaged...I think it's nearly impossible to have totally clear calm skin all the time. Even people with regular skin occasionally have problems. But for me, I consider it a very good day if all I have are a couple of miniscule white heads and no redness!

c

[transgal]

You said it Claudia. Our skins definately react to almost anything. I even react at work alot of the times. I think the chemicals in the air make it burn. Expecially around the nose and chin & mouth area. That's why it is really important to find something to protect it. I use to use a creme with a low dose hydrocortisone in it and it helped awhile but I don't use it that much because hydrocortisone can make rosacea worse in the long run. The Calm & Restore from Mark Lees does seem to help and I also use Thermal Spring Water when it is acting up too. I have also reacted in a movie theater. At 1st I thought it was from eating popcorn. But it's not that cuz I've reacted even without that. Then I thought maybe it's nerves but I really don't get nervous in a theater. I think it's either something they clean with or maybe in the ventilation system. Of course we are around a wide variety of people too and all there perfumes, cosmetics and everything else could be what we are reacting to. I will not let this stop me from going on living anymore. I go anyway, I have to take a Zyrtec and that helps a bit and it's a special treat just to get out and do something too.

As far as going off of wheat, I've tried that too for quite some time. I can't really tell alot of diference other than it seems to plug me up a bit. I do watch the bread intake though especially cuz of the yeast. I seem to feel best when I eat low fat, low sugar, primarily vegetables and no alcohol. I can tolerate a bit of dairy but I don't eat alot and I drink soy milk. One thing I do notice is that I crave something sweet alot. Especially in the afternoon and I like to eat hard candies. That is another thing I seem to want something in my mouth. I use to smoke and now I guess I have replaced it with another habit. I do best rotating foods I think rather than just eliminating stuff because I can react to stuff that I haven't reacted to before and it's very frustrating.

Hang in there all and keep helping each other.