Apple Cider Vinegar Remedy for Perioral Dermatitis

I am 16 years old and have had Perioral dermatitis off and on (mostly off) for 5 years now. I only get it around my nose and on my chin, and this time it really flared up so I looked for some natural remedies. I started using apple cider vinegar around my nose and my chin and the puss bumps and oiliness has gone away immediately. When I first apply it it stings and my skin gets very red, but the bumps shrink in size every time. The skin is now in the process of flaking off, and this has been working well so far. Hopefully I will be dermatitis free in a couple of days!

Well, I'm so glad I tried ACV and grapefruit extract! My skin is healing quite fast, I am seeing results after a few days. I wash the rash with ACV diluted in a chamomile, calendula and yarrow infusion. Worth trying.

I suffered with perioral dermatitis for about 6 months. Dermatologist put me on antibiotics for 2 months. Not sure if it helped. Plus prescribed elidel cream which I feel gave me a horrible reaction. Severe burning and redness. When I stopped the cream the severe burning went away. What I feel helped the most was apple cider vinegar unfiltered. I applied it slightly diluted to the rash. After a week or so the rash dried up turned white and flaked off. I also used borage oil to moisturize. Coconut oil seemed to aggravate it.

Now when I noticed some redness and burning I immediately start the apple cider vinegar application and a few days later the rash dries up and flakes off. Apple Cider Vinegar is my best defense! I also switched to natural products for hair and face. Good luck!

So I am writing to share my experience with perioral dermatitis. It's a nightmare, it's embarrassing, and super itchy and burns. I have struggled with psoriasis for a few years now, but with a diet and life style change I have come a loooooooong way. My doctors put me on steroid creams for my face and body, which seemed to do the trick. Then a year ago I noticed a little rash appearing under my eye and on the bottom of my chin. I just assumed it was psoriasis. It wasn't up until a month ago I went to my dermatologist and she took a look at me and said it was perioral dermatitis. Bottom line I had to stop using the steroids.

I checked on this website for home remedies and sure enough I had most of the stuff on this website. Apple cider vinegar with the mother enzyme was the key ingredient. I apply it as toner twice a day, and drink a tablespoon in a cup of water. It's gross tasting, and burns on the skin. But it is only my second day and everything seems to be going the way people on this website said it would.

Also I have been doing green tea leaves straight on my face, soak them first (either the leaves or the bags of tea) and let them sit on your face. It takes a lot of the itch and pain away, honey helps a lot too. My face seems to be drying out. To help with the drying, I have been using calendula infused coconut oil. I have already cut out gluten from my diet but upon further research, I will also have to cut out milk and sugar. Trust these natural cures, they will serve you better than prescriptions. Prescriptions will make you dependent and with terrible side affects. I will post in a few more days the progress.

I have had perioral dermatitis come up twice. The first time I had it for a year before I realized what I needed to do, and the second time I knew what to do! Both times ACV, probiotics (100 billion enteric coated capsule each night before bed) and aerobic exercise cured it. Twice a day I put 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of ACV in the bottom of a 1L jar and fill the rest with water. I drink as much as possible immediately at this strength and then fill it up with water again to dilute it. I sip on the rest as my thirst dictates. As for exercise, I started running approximately 5k 3x a week at a high intensity. Getting as much oxygen in as possible is the key. It really helps your body to flush out the toxins. I've always had a pretty good diet: minimal gluten, minimal dairy, but I love chocolate (sugar + candida prone) so I am sure my overindulgence sparked candidiasis and brought my POD back. Never again! Not only is my POD gone again but the eczema on my hands is gone and my skin is baby soft!

I don't usually post on things like this but felt I had to, given that the posts on here healed my condition and gave me my confidence back again.

I'm 29, have had clear and beautiful skin my entire life. Never had acne or pimples on my face prior to getting this lovely little rash.

First, I'll start with the background of my condition: In the past, I have been diagnosed with both eczema and psoriasis, and for the eczema I was given a steroid cream to apply for both my body and my face. Over the years, this worked fine, I had no issues and it worked well. However, in the last year, I seemed to have a weird little rash that kept popping up - mainly on the right side of my face Around my chin. It was red and had loads of tiny little bumps that contained a clear liquid. I tried a variety of old creams that I had used on my skin conditions in the past - Bactroban, advantan, novasone, kenacomb, DermAid most of which being steroid based and quite possibly the worst thing I could do. Anyway, the novosone seemed to do the trick and kept it at bay for a while, but only if I applied it every day. However, over the course of the year, this seemed to loose its effect and I was at my wits end.

I went back to see my Dr, who told me sometimes people react with a rash from steroid creams, and to discontinue use - which I did. And wow, did my trouble begin after that! My rash spread all over my chin, around my eyes, and on my cheeks near my nose. It was horrible. I bought a multitude of lotions and options to try and get rid of it, nothing really worked. Luckily, I came across this site within a week of going off the steroids. I noticed loads of people had tried to Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) with success but thought it might burn the hell out of my face and was reluctant to try. I ordered the grape seed extract and violet something (can't remember exactly, it is yet to come), but have not used them. I thought bugger it, I'll try the ACV until they arrive. Here is my experience so far.

Treatment: first I bought ACV from the supermarket, unfiltered BUT WITHOUT the mother. The mother enzyme is very important. I feel it could explain why some people had success, others not.

When I applied the one without the mother, it stung a little - but not as bad as I thought. It didn't really do much, there was no 'fizzing or bubbling' of the skin like others described, and it didn't seem to do much at all.

I then went to my local natural store and bought ACV with the mother enzyme - brand being 'Briggs'. I placed it undiluted on my skin with a cotton ball. It fizzed, it bubbled - I was amazed! It bloody burned too, like my face was on fire. It stopped burning after a minute or so though.

Anyway, that was around midday. I applied again at night, and it was becoming bright red, painful, and seemed to be bringing more of the stupid little bumps out. I was devastated, I thought it wasn't working for me. I applied some more anyway just in case before bed, followed by some calendula cream to aid the healing process. I did not rinse the ACV off prior to putting it on, I just placed it directly over the top. This was yesterday.

I woke up this morning absolutely amazed, my skin looked 50% better! The rash seemed to be drying out, reducing, and the bumps receding! I am amazed! My husband couldn't believe the difference, and nor could I!

I placed more ACV on it, it has turned red again and drawn the bumps out, but please do not be disheartened by this, I strongly believe it is similar to draining the bad stuff out and killing it. I will post an update in the next 3-4 days, fingers crossed this continues to work! I am gobsmacked! Thank you all for sharing, without your help I would have been taking Rozex and Doxycycline the Dr prescribed, which from what I've read makes little difference long term with very bad side effects. Will update soon!

Back in September after moving to Indiana from Arizona, I started developing itchy dry patches in the corner of my eyes and eventually around my mouth! It was so annoying and it got so bad I stopped wearing makeup of any kind because it didn't stay on very long anyway and I thought maybe it was from my mascara or something. The weird thing was that when I'd go home for breaks, it cleared up almost completely in a day or so. I had no idea what it was and couldn't find anything to help at least relieve the itch and dryness. Finally after what seems like forever I found out that I had perioral dermatitis that was made worse because as a kid I had eczema as a kid. I started using apple cider vinegar even though I was a bit skeptical, with about a teaspoon of water to dilute it three times a day and used hydrocortisone cream as a moisturizer since I have very sensitive skin and was done spending all this money on organic creams and treatments. After 4 days my skin was back to normal with no trace anything had been wrong! Apple Cider Vinegar is awesome!

I got a strange rash on my face that began as patches around my nostrils and a patch on my chin a few months ago, and was diagnosed by the dermatologist with perioral dermatitis. I was recently diagnosed with asthma and was using a steroidal inhaler to treat it, which can cause POD.

The dermatologist gave me metronidazole and clindamycin phospate lotions, which I used at night and in the morning, respectively. I was RELIGIOUS about applying these lotions, and the rash got the tiniest bit better and then began to get worse.

I was in tears one night and decided to look up other remedies and kept seeing apple cider vinegar as a treatment. After reading the posts on this website I decided to give it a shot. I used the regular ACV in my pantry, one part vinegar to one part water, and dabbed it on with a cotton pad to the affected area. I then waited about 15-20 minutes before washing my face.

It's been two nights of this application and my rash went from angry red, dry, pustules and papules, to a light pink almost smooth area. I was FLOORED. My family can't believe how quickly it worked.

Today I picked up the raw, organic ACV with "the mother" at my local superstore (I was shocked they had it) and some calendula cream from the baby aisle. I did a manuka honey mask today that helped to soothe the dryness.

When you first put this stuff on, it BURNS, and makes the area redder. It'll make the areas with broken skin turn white. Then the area got really dry and began flaking off, and when I put the honey mask on and washed it off, the dead skin came off with it revealing lovely, smooth, pink skin.

I'm 20 years old and this is the first time I've experienced POD, but I'm so glad there's an easy, NATURAL cure. Thanks Earth Clinic!

Not sure where to begin, I hope this helps someone out there. mostly because weeks of researching forums have helped me.

To begin, stress and sugar both caused my Perioral Dermatitis. My period was about a week late as always, which is a personal thing I guess, but I noticed that as I have to wait and wait and wait for it, my hormones get more and more and more out of wack til it finally comes. I was on a plane, almost back from europe when I noticed my face itching on one side. When I got home a few hours later, my stress kept mounting. It showed on my face immediately.

Did not know what the deal was.. it started around my mouth and crept up my cheeks to my eyes and my forehead in HOURS. immediately googled it and learned it was PD, but failed to take it seriously. Ran hot water on my chin cuz I couldn't take hot water on my cheeks and eyes. Days later my cheeks and eyes mostly cleared up because I never touched them, but my chin looked like a thousand flaky angry bee stings and it definitely felt like it.

i realized I had to do something basic while I figured stuff out. I put tea tree on it all the time. I used so much vitamin E oil. I made myself smile everytime my face itched so I could concentrate on releasing endorphins. everybody knows smiles heal. once I was less stressed about it I was able to read all the info I could, objectively.

Simple: first of all never ever ever ever touch your face except to dab diluted apple cider vinegar on it. Skin is a reflection of internal problems.. cut out anything that has sugar in it, cut out carbs. ingest zinc and diluted apple cider vinegar. all the recommended topical treatments seemed to just make my rash look really angry. after dabbing with vinegar, DONT use oil, use GLYCERIN. oil preserves things, dont preserve bacteria on your face. and always remember dont touch your face no matter what. I noticed enormous immediate changes day after day. two weeks after having pd, it was showing promise of resolving. two weeks for me sounds alot better than these dragged out 8month-2year horror stories I found everywhere.

regardless what you end up doing, IF YOU TOUCH YOUR FACE it takes longer to go away. I hope you guys find what works for you.

regimen:

diluted Apple Cider Vinegar in a glass 2x daily. dab face with diluted Apple Cider Vinegar 2x daily. after cleaning with acv, use glycerin on affected spots. drink so much water you cant stand it.

Hi everyone. This site has helped me in clearing my face from perioral dermatitis (POD) and I thought I'd share my experience so more people can be helped.

The POD starts flaring on February 2013. I went to a dermatologist and she thought that I was allergic to a toothpaste (I DID use a toothpaste that's not my usual brand, though) and she gave me some pills and stuff and bla bla bla but it wasn't working.

The POD was still flaring, and I am so sick of it, so I researched my condition. It was then I self-diagnosed myself that I have a condition called Perioral Dermatitis a.k.a POD. I am so glad that it was the right predicament, and I stumbled upon this helpful website.

From everything that I read, I did the following:

1) cut off fluoride toothpaste

2) stop using anything with SLS in it

It helped, but didn't stop the POD, until I found a God-sent miracle in a bottle: Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV).

I apply undiluted ACV to the affected area on my face with cotton pad. It stings like cray cray, but I resisted. I know that the POD were burned, it left a white/greyish skin like it was burned from the ACV.

The POD are gone. But another problem arised: my skin is depressed. ACV is highly acidic, it preserves my skin natural acid condition if being used as toner (dilute one part of ACV to one part water) but if used undiluted (like I did to my POD) the acids left my skin red, scabby, dry and flaky.

I used plain yoghurt mask as advised, and it did soothe my skin for a while but didn't really heal my skin. So I tried another thing: California Baby's Calendula Cream. I don't live in the U.S., which means the expensive cream is getting even more expensive since I have to pay for the shipping cost as well.

But at this point, I don't care.... It's not as much as the money that I paid for the useless dermatologist anyway.

On April 2013, I clear all of the POD outta my face. And as of now, October 2014, I don't have any recurrence.

So thank you everyone! Thank you Earth Clinic! I hope I help someone somewhere out there who is trying to heal :)

I was diagnosed with perioral dermatitis about 9 months ago but I have had the condition for quite a bit longer. I don't remember when it first appeared because I have sensitive pale skin which is prone to break-outs so I assumed what I had was irritated skin. I also had a couple of bouts with sinus infections and took antibiotics for those. On me, perioral dermatitis looks like a red irritated ring of skin around my mouth. I moiturized and tried to calm the skin to no avail before finally admitting to myself that I needed to seek professional help.

My dermatologist recognized it right away and prescribed Oracea (antibiotic) and Elydel cream (non-steroid cream). I took Oracea for two months and the redness went away but my skin began to look dry and aged. I stopped taking Oracea and before long the redness was back and I began to break out. I also noticed my blemishes took a very long time to heal and the skin around my mouth was raw and peeling. To cover up when I did go out I relied on BB cream but it caused me to peel even more. Sometimes my faced peeled several times a day. Not wanting to go back to anti-booties

I began o search for answers when stumbled on to this site. I read accounts for hours and decided to try applying organic apple cider vinegar diluted 50% with sterilized water. I was nervous because the thought of applying something acidic to my raw irritated skin seemed so counter-intuitive but the accounts of all the people who found relief gave me the courage to try. It did sting. I applied it with a cotton pad twice a day and rinsed it off after a few minutes each time. I also consumed the apple cider vinegar in a homemade vinaigrette with extra virgin olive oil and honey on my salads.

Each day I was 50% better than the day before. After a couple of days, the vinegar solution no longer stings when applied. I also relied on an oil-less face oil called squalane during the day and an omega-3 repair oil for face at night to create a protective healing barrier. I stopped using BB creams with sunscreen and switched to mineral make-up to cover redness and blemishes. I cleansed my skin with a face wash that gently exfoliated sensitive skin before using the vinegar solution. Two weeks later, My skin is not completely clear yet but it continues to improve. My on-line research got me to thinking that when this condition appears, it is likely a signal from our bodies to address systemic inflammation. My plan includes consuming more raw fruits and vegetables that are alkalizing for the body (just like apple cider vinegar is! ) and also to consume more probiotics. These posts got me to focus on improving my overall health and my skin is healing because of these small healthful changes. I vowed to return and write a post so that I might contribute my experience and try to help others like the posts I read here helped me.

So thought I'd share my story seen as reading many posts from others was how I came to "cure" my POD.

So it started about 4 months ago, I thought originally it was windburn as I had gone for a walk on quite a windy day and taken my glasses off so the skin around my eyes (like two days after) looks raw burnt and peeling. I tried just moisterising the area which made it burn and then get worse. Eventually after a few weeks I went to my Doctor who told me I wasnt using the right moisteriser and I should try neutrogina (great advice doc!! ) went to my beatician in the end who gave me a natural skin repair liquid and oil which was great at first but then my skin just started flaring up majorly red, bumpy, itchy, scaly and finally puffy... So at the end of four months of this carry on I was at my wits end, so went to the health shop and picked up some natural dermatitis cream and starting reading up on other peoples experiences. Eventually came across a few sites that mentioned Apple Cider Vinegar (including this one) so thought well I might as well give that a go too. Well you would not believe the effects, for the past week I have used the ACV morning and night, the repair oils around my eyes (I'm not game enough for vinegar round my eyes) and the dermatitis cream during the day to keep my skin from going dry. I also soak my face and neck with a damp cloth and been drinking load of water. In a week my skin has cleaned up so much, its soft, moistened, not red or bumpy. I cannot believe it, I am now cutting back the ACV to a night only and will wait to see how this plays out. But currently very glad that I found this website and heard about ACV. Good luck to all and thanks for sharing your stories :)

Hi all! I wanted to post my experience with this debilitating skin condition called Perioral Dermatitis (it should be called Perennial Dermatitis! ) so that it may help another fellow sufferer out there...

I have had POD on and off for years since I was 19. It tends to occur in Autumn-Winter as the 'dry' version, and I have come to realise that I have had it in the Summer months too, albeit milder and 'greasier' looking, so I just assumed I had the odd acne pimple cropping up. Not so. I am now in my 40s. I firmly believe stress (which I always seem to have) and damp, cold weather play a key role. This makes me think the condition is yeast- or fungal-based. Anyway, as usual, this October I got a few bumps near the lower-right corner of my mouth. I thought nothing of it, that it was just a minor breakout of spots (how do I forget every year?! ). Unfortunately it spread like wildfire this time, faster than I ever recall before, even to the point I spotted one or two tiny pink blisters forming below my eyes, in between and above my eyebrows, and even under my middle jawline! The skin around my eyes felt as tight as a stretched elastic band, which is unusual for a long-term mild acne sufferer with supple skin.

I'll try and keep a long story short: I must have spent around £100-£150 in the last few weeks on either exact or similar products to what others have had success with - you name it - Baby Nappy Rash Cream, Calendula Ointment, Zinc Oxide Ointment, Violet Extract from the USA, Oregano Oil, Comfry Ointment (I figured why not?), Healing Calendula Cream, Calendula Cream, Dermatological Colostrum Cream (getting desperate by now), Manuka Honey, top quality probiotics, Biotin tablets, tubs of organic live greek yoghurt for face masks... You get the picture (and can no doubt relate)! All the while the rash was spreading angrily and forming a flaking, crusting, cracking, burning, itching, bright red, papular, eczematous mess in my entire muzzle area. It was like watching an ever-growing army forming; the small hard papules would group together defiantly, ganging up against whatever I applied to them. Whilst the rash was widely dispersed, the stronghold was evident in my chin crease - it started to hurt on opening my mouth to eat... In a matter of a few weeks I had a full on nose-chin beard of weeping, painful papules and sharp flaky shards of skin that I couldn't resist picking at in the evenings. I looked a mess. A few baking soda washes helped smooth the crusts out a bit, but it became so dry it was nigh impossible to cover up when I ventured out. Any of the above creams I tried out to soothe and moisturise the skin just brought out even more riotous bumps, and they were greasy so my cover-up makeup wouldn't 'sit' properly and broke apart in seconds. I could see shop assistants and passers-by looking at my lower face. Looped scarves became my best friend.

With Christmas looming I was getting desperate. I'm not vain, quite the opposite in fact, and just wanted to look and feel 'nice' over the holidays. I read up on ACV and caved in, vowing it to be the last £10 to spend before succumbing to the dreaded 1-2 month-long antibiotics route that would no doubt open up another can of worms health-wise. I managed to track down a local health food store that sold raw cloudy ACV 'with mother'. It had won a taste award, so I was sold. I absent-mindedly picked up some raw organic honey too (I'd read about its soothing benefits for skin wounds) and ventured over to the natural toiletry products section. I desperately needed to moisturise, but with what?! Then I spied a bottle proclaiming to be the best moisturiser for eczema and psoriasis sufferers. You don't even have to rub it in. Just spray and go. Bonus. POD is so similar to eczema that I shrugged and bought it, what was there to lose (except even more money)?

3 days later my muzzle rash was almost gone! It wasn't instant, I'll be honest and say that after the first use of all 3 new products above my skin flared up a bit. But I stuck with it figuring that if this is a yeast or fungal condition, it's just dying off or not accepting defeat and trying to fight back, briefly. Within 24 hours the angry redness was more of a dark pink, and I only got a few more papules trying to crop up on my chin and in my naso-labial folds. I could feel smooth bump-free areas forming in between. This was encouraging to say the least! I held my breath. Over the next 24 hours the papules didn't burst, weep or burn so much after applying the ACV and the itching bouts were starting to ease off. By the third day, without makeup I still had patchy discolouration where the (now dried-up) plaques and bumps had been, but once covered up, I started to look relatively normal with just a few discernible tiny bumps and dryness left. Now, in the second half of my trial week, with a few days to go until Christmas Day, I expect to be fully healed and skin-content. I must stress that the above healing still occurred despite eating a few sugary Christmas treats and drinking a couple of glasses of red wine at night (yes this previously made my rash flare and spread). So... if you want the details, here's what I did (morning and night):

1. Washed my face gently with raw honey, adding a little baking soda to help remove makeup at night and smooth down any crusts. Rinse well with lukewarm (not hot) water. Pat dry with a clean towel.

2. Soak cotton wool pads in 50:50 ACV/warm tapwater solution and apply and press firmly into the rash areas, sweep the pads over all the clear surrounding skin too, just to prevent the rash trying to crop up elsewhere (I discovered its nasty little migration trick after application #1! )

3. Let skin dry naturally and apply Dermaspray Intensive all over your face (use a spray-soaked cotton wool pad for around the eyes), saturating the rash area in particular. You will be in heaven. The peppermint is so cooling and soothing and you will be able to move your face afterwards - it'll be fully moisturised with no greasiness. In the evenings whilst watching TV, I applied it again within an hour or two if the tightness / dryness returned.

4. Cover rash and any redness with colour-tinted Night Treatment - lightly dust on and buff in a circular motion. I used the 'Medium' tinted version as it was a good match for my normal Winter skin tone. I'll use the 'Tan' one next Summer. This 'makeup that isn't makeup' contains zinc oxide and treats the skin whilst hiding imperfections. It is a gentle and natural solution to covering up the rash, and I highly recommend it for the daytime - nighttime is good if you are shy about baring your skin to your partner or family - you can even sleep with it on!

5. Add a tablespoon of ACV to a small cup of warm kettle water/fruit juice and a teaspoon of raw honey mixed in for flavour. Stir together and drink fast! It will go down a treat this way. Take this before your breakfast and evening meal. Remember to take your probiotics daily too, as instructed on the bottle.

6. Never go back to using products laden with nasty chemicals; stick to the above all year round - natural is best and your skin will thank you for it.

...and that's it! I sincerely hope that this experience goes a long way to helping someone else win the POD war! Merry Christmas! :)

I am so relieved to have found this site! I have suffered from PD for almost 5 years! When I first went to the Dermatologist, I was given an anti- fungal cream and told it would take 4 weeks to see results. Ugh! I have a very public job and needed it gon right away. I found a make up that hid it very well... After 4 weeks it was almost gone but tolerable... I have had flare ups off and on ever since. I was even told by one doctor that I was allergic to limes.... The great new is that I have found this site! and thanks to AVC and hydrogen peroxide topical treatments to the affected area, I am PD free as of today!! All that is left is smooth skin... The first 3 days were rough. After the first Apple Cider Vinegar treatment the area stung. I new it was working. After that dried, I used the hydrogen peroxide on cotton balls and applied them for 5 min on the area and it bubbled up.. I was sure this was the cure. I continued this for 4 days. Sure enough after the dried skin sloughed off the area is clear!! Thanks for all who cared to share your success with this remedy!!! I will continue as needed (if needed) :) So very grateful!

I suffered with POD after using topical steroids on my face for several months to keep outbreaks at bay, unfortunately it became ineffective and once I discontinued the topical steroids on my face it went into a full angry rage of POD in a couple of days. I came across this website which saved me, I was so depressed as it contiuned to get worse each day, so severe that it had me in tears, I was even to embarrassed to allow my loved ones to see my face. Eating and talking was difficult, as the corners of my mouth were split which prevented me from opening my mouth very wide.

I began with the ACV diluted on a cotton ball twice a day, it initially burned and I had a tremendous amount of redness , but the burning subsided after a few days, I also followed up with tea tree oil at night, it didn't heal overnight or in a few days for me, it was several weeks before it cleared, which seemed like a lifetime, but don't give up and be consistent. I also gave up fluoride toothpaste which helped. I haven't had an outbreak in 6 months. I hope this works for someone else. Good luck because I know how devastating it is.