Posted by Steph (Vancouver, Canada) on 01/14/2011
★★★★☆
Last spring I was struck with a terrible case of Perioral Dermatitis (PD). It was horrible, I felt terrible about myself and depressed everytime I had to leave the house. As I didn't want to go the prescription route (months of antibiotics didn't appeal to me), I relied on discussion boards to find out about natural remedies. I tried everything. AVC, yogurt, coconut oil, changed my toothpaste and face wash (to non SLS products), calendula, probiotics, fish oils... This list goes on. Eventually I found what worked for me... Clay masks (buy red, green, or grey clay at your health food store) with a couple drops of oil of oregano in it (a great antimicrobial). It burns a bit, I won't lie, but after a couple of days of daily use my red, bumpy, weepy, flaky face began to clear. End of one week and I wasn't mortified to leave the house, by the end of two weeks I was feeling back to my old self. Recently, I had a flare up. Back to using the masks for a couple of days and it is under control again. This remedy may not be for everyone, but it was definitely the thing that worked for me.
Posted by Kris (Henderson, Nv) on 12/11/2010
★★★★★
I have been battling perioral dermatitis for a few months. I don't know what brought it on. It started at the corner of my mouth and kept spreading to the crease in my nose, on my chin and up to under my eyes! I tried everything from every OTC cream I could get my hands on, to apple cider vinegar. Nothing would budge it. I switched to a Tom's of Maine fluoride free/SLS free toothpaste.
But the healing began IMMEDIATELY following a french green clay paste, applied topically. I mixed the clay with water and made more of a solution than paste. The paste gets too hard and cracks quickly. I have a solution of "slightly thicker than water" in a glass jar. Glass is important to store it, not plastic. I keep the jar covered with a plastic wrap to keep from drying out. I cover the areas around my mouth with the mixture whenever possible. It dries quickly. After a few hours, I rinse with warm water and put another dose on. During the day at work, I use nothing. But at bedtime, I put it on and sleep all night with it. Rinse in the morning. I just keep it on whenever I am at home. It took 3 hours to see unbelievable results. I have been keeping up with this for the third day now and the perioral is barely visible! I am going to continue for a few more days to make sure it stays away. But this is just unreal how quickly and safely it works! No side effects! No steroids! I get my clay from a local health food store.
