Things to Avoid for Perioral Dermatitis

Hi All, I suffered from perioral dermatitis for about 6 years. After several rounds of tetracycline, I began to research possible causes. The main culprit appeared to be fluoridated toothpaste. About 2 weeks after switching to natural, fluoride-free toothpaste, the dermatitis went away. It was amazing. I started to suffer from it again after moving to another city only to realize the water was fluoridated. Switching to a fluoride-free water source ie)drinking bottled water, the dermatitis disappeared again. Be advised however that many foods contain high levels of fluoride such as grapes, raisins, tomatoes, beer and many many more. These should also be avoided if the condition persists after eliminating fluoridated toothpaste and water.

My POD has gotten better by not using liquid makeup. Liquid makeup contains isopropyl myristate. Stay away from it. Use mineral makeup. It gives better coverage and does not make you breakout. Stop using a foaming cleanser. Cleansers, hand soaps etc with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (its what creates the suds) makes POD worse. Try using cleansers that claim that are milk cleansers. They don't create suds and they calm your skin. Stop using toothpaste that has high amounts of flouride. Switch to dry mouth toothpaste. Make sure when you wash your hair that NONE of the shampoo suds get on your face. Remember SUDS are bad. Only use ACV if it is organic. The regular stuff will inflame your skin especially if you have been put on an anitbiotic.

I have been an Esthetician for the last 15 years. One of the first things we learned when I was in Esthetics school was that many times perioral dermatitis is be caused by using a toothpaste that contains flouride. I have seen this numerous times during my career. It's worth a try to change to a natural/no flouride toothpaste. Of couse, if you are super sensitive to flouride and your local water is flouridated that must be changed too.