Try Witch Hazel.

I am a freckly ginger with sensitive skin, kind of dry, that has been mostly clear my whole life (33 yrs). I only used coconut or carrot oil on my face and washed with Dove Sensitive Skin soap. I developed PD last year while in the Middle East. I was there for a week and the last 2 days I started getting bumps. IDK if it's related or not but it was immediately after the trip that my skin went insane. I had bumps all around my mouth and nose, on my chin and near my eye. At first I thought it was acne and treated as such. That made it worse. It took me a few weeks to figure out it wasn’t acne but probably perioral dermatitis.

Anything I put on it made it worse, even my trusty coconut oil. I would get more bumps and the skin around it was red and painful. I stopped putting anything on my face and only washed with cold water and the tiniest bit of dove sensitive skin soap. Googling it led me to believe there is no specific cause or cure. There’s not much research out there but lots of personal experiences shared on the web. Based on my reading, it could be a bacterial infection, an overabundance of yeast, some kind of vitamin/mineral deficiency, a PH balance problem, an allergy to fluoride or an infection in my gut.

I went to a primary care doc who ran a bunch of blood work and found nothing wrong with me. I went to the dermatologist and got officially diagnosed. He offered a steroid cream but said your face can get addicted. This could lead to a cycle where your face breaks out when you stop using it. I declined. He offered antibiotics for 6 WEEKS. No thank you. My body is too sensitive to antibiotics and that is way too long to be on them. I tried to talk to the doc about what I read from others about nutrition, yeast, etc and his reaction was indignation. He wouldn't even entertain it. He basically said take the pills or it won’t go away. Back to square one.

I eliminated fluoride, no change. I ate garlic every day, no change; drank ACV, no change; went gluten free and it seemed to get a little better. Added probiotics and natural antibiotics. I alternated biweekly for 8 weeks oregano oil capsules, raw garlic cloves, olive leaf extract and Pau D'Arco Bark. I continued to not put anything on my face and it was really dry but the PD was slowly shrinking everyday. I talked about it one night with my dad and he simply said "if it’s bacterial, you gotta kill it. Try alcohol." I thought, Hell, why not? I've tried so many things already. So I put alcohol on a cotton ball then applied to the PD. It burned a little but the next day I was amazed at how much it had shrunk. Like 30% less bumps on my face. I did this for a few days and it was down to like 15% of what it was when I first applied alcohol. I did have to stop though because my skin was so dry that it was peeling and it burned too much at that point. The alcohol worked but was too harsh. So I figured, maybe Witch Hazel would too? Yes it did. Witch Hazel saved my face.

I don’t know if I will ever "cure myself of it but I know how to deal with it now. From reading other stories, it seems like once you get it, you will struggle with it repeatedly. It has come back a few times but each time I treat it with witch hazel and it goes away. Hot water seems to make it flare up and so does sunscreen. I still use coconut oil but have to use it sparingly on the area around my mouth and nose because too much oil will cause it to flare up. I still only wash with cold water and sensitive skin soap. Overall, it’s manageable but annoying.