Redness around the lips

So, this redness around my lips first showed up about a year ago. It wasn't anything extreme at first—just some noticeable irritation right along the lip line, paired with lips that would crack every now and then. If I didn't apply anything, the skin would just dry out and look terrible. The real problem, though, is that this has been constant; it simply won't go away. My first attempt was using an ointment, but that did absolutely nothing. Then I went to a pharmacy and picked up some Aquaphor, and while applying it kept the redness under control, the second I stopped, it flared right back up. Basically, the cream worked while I was using it, but it provided zero permanent relief. After the Aquaphor, I tried Herpes simplex virus cream, and it was the exact same story.

Eventually, I decided to see a dermatologist. After the exam, they mumbled something to me in medical Latin and handed me some Cicaplast, which resulted in the same damn pattern: it helps while you're applying it, but once you quit, the redness returns. A month later, I went back to the dermatologist for follow-up, and they ran allergy patch tests—you know, those patches they leave on your back for 48 hours? Well, I tested negative for over 20 different allergies, yet they still prescribed Hydrocortisone, which led to the same outcome again.

By mid-summer, I was honestly at my breaking point. I went to my primary care physician, showed him the records from the dermatologist, and basically begged him to give me a tenth different cream since nobody else could figure it out. He gave me Mycobacterium, which was the same story. A month after that, he gave me some kind of combo cream containing Betamethasone + Beclomethasone—again, same result.

The redness seems slightly more manageable during the winter compared to the rest of the year when the weather gets warmer, so I’m starting to wonder if this might actually be an allergy or something similar. This past winter, I bought more Aquaphor and started applying it every morning and night just to keep things stable, and I’m still doing that, but now that the warmer weather is hitting, the redness is getting worse...

Can someone please tell me what I need to do to get rid of this damn redness once and for all? Should I go back to the dermatologist or what? Am I perhaps deficient in some skin vitamins or something like that? Please help, people; I am seriously losing my mind here.

Maybe try sticking strictly to plastic or wooden utensils—like forks and knives 🙂—for a couple of weeks. It’s possible you’re just super sensitive to nickel.

But honestly, that’s just one out of a hundred different possibilities. What about everything else you eat? Have you ever actually tried an elimination diet to see which specific foods or drinks trigger a reaction? There are tons of threads on this forum dedicated to allergies and atopic dermatitis... plenty of useful stuff in there if you look.

And please, stop slathering Betamethasone + Beclomethasone all over your face, or any other corticosteroid for that matter. Especially not on thin skin, in your creases, or anywhere that gets hit by the sun daily. You're just gonna wreck your skin barrier—it definitely won't help in the long run.

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My dermatologist suggested it might be my toothpaste, shaving cream, or some other topical trigger, so I’ve swapped everything out multiple times now. And as for my diet? I’ve been eating basically the same things my entire life without any issues—mostly home-cooked meals, meat, salads, veggies... it shouldn't be this.

Thanks for the reply; I'll definitely dig into those threads.

Alcohol, wine, or even those flavored spirits can really make those symptoms flare up; but I wasn't kidding about testing out your silverware—that’s an easy enough thing to try just to see if it's actually the culprit 🙂

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I’m just a college student, so I end up drinking maybe two or three times a week—usually on Thursdays and Saturdays—and honestly, I tend to get pretty hammered 🙄 .But seriously, is hitting it that hard two or three times a week really that much of a problem?

lonewolf43 said:I’m just a college student, so I end up drinking maybe two or three times a week—usually on Thursdays and Saturdays—and honestly, I tend to get pretty hammered 🙄 .But seriously, is hitting it that hard two or three times a week really that much of a problem?

Speaking on behalf of your liver and your brain? Yeah, it’s terrible. But honestly, I doubt it'll matter much to you 🤣 at your age... everyone thinks they're invincible, like they've got some cheat code for immortality and nothing can touch them—so why would you be any different? 🤷

Personally, I break out in these red patches all over my face whenever I drink rosé, and I actually love rosé (doesn't matter if it's a fancy bottle or just cheap stuff from the grocery store). Since it also starts stinging and itching like crazy, I usually just stop drinking it altogether—not that it's my go-to way to have fun, thank God, so giving it up wasn't a huge deal.

But anyway, you framed your question around this redness around your lips. Whether you can fix it or how long it'll last... we guess we'll just have to wait and see 🙂

Maybe you're just allergic to your girlfriend's lipstick. If that's the case, you don't have to give up women entirely, or even kissing—just tell her to switch brands. 👍

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Look, there’s no need to get sarcastic with me. Honestly, whenever I have a glass of sherry, I end up with these red blotches all over my face and neck, and I start feeling incredibly overheated. I actually thought I was the only one dealing with this. Anyway, I’m going to try cutting back to just once a week. If things actually start looking better, I'll let you know first.

Look, it’s true—half the time when I’m being sarcastic or cracking jokes, people totally miss the point; but I wasn't kidding this time, I was being dead serious.

I see it all the time just looking around (and honestly, if I look back at my younger days in 🙂 before we even had reliable power and the snow was basically waist-deep... wait, actually, that was just this past winter. whatever...) it’s obvious that kids these days have zero clue about the damage they're doing to their own bodies with all that junk. They’ll probably freak out more over someone putting diesel in a gas engine—or whatever technical crap they care about—than they will ever think about what their liver actually does for them, or how much longer they need it to function. Or their lungs, if you're a smoker.

I'm not judging you for it, though. It’s just such a standard phase of growing up and actually maturing (there are outliers, sure, but being a total hypochondriac is way less fun to deal with). It’s just as common for people to hit their 40s, survive their first heart attack, and then suddenly start questioning every single thing they do. Suddenly they're lecturing everyone on organic LCHF diets, farm-to-table everything, veganism, magnetic fields, yoga... all that nonsense. It's not weird, and it's definitely not worth getting worked up about.

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