Skin issues / Dermatological concerns

I really need some help here. I already made a post looking for a specialist, but things have taken a much worse turn since this morning. Here’s the situation: my local clinic won't see me—I've already tried twice—and even the major hospital in the city can't fit me in. The earliest appointment they can offer is two months out, which isn't exactly helpful when you're dealing with something more urgent than chronic stuff like vitiligo or warts. It feels like my skin is getting worse by the hour. I was told I might have luck trying a clinic over at Mount Sinai, but if they can't see me tomorrow, I'm desperate for any advice on how to at least stop the spread... maybe one of the doctor-moderators knows something, or perhaps someone else here has dealt with this.
The problem is: about six months ago, I broke out in tiny, watery bumps around my mouth area. Everything was red, swollen, stinging, and felt incredibly tight. My primary care doctor prescribed Virolex because she thought it was skin herpes. After using that, everything flared up even harder—it started peeling and stinging intensely. Then she gave me Belogent and Rojazol, which actually worked pretty quickly to calm it down. However, it has all come back now (going from clear skin to total chaos in just three days), but this time the previous treatment isn't doing anything; it's actually just getting worse. First, the surface turns red, then these colonies of tiny, shallow bumps appear—about the size of a pinhead—and then they burst. They never turn white and you can't squeeze them; instead, a clear fluid just leaks out. The area stays slightly swollen—almost like a nettle sting—but remains red and eventually starts peeling.
This morning, the irritation was just vertically along the corners of my lips, but now it’s merging toward the center of my chin and spreading horizontally toward my face. I can't go to work without makeup, but putting foundation on makes everything sting and feel tight. I can't take sick leave, and honestly, I can't even describe how I look right now.
My doctor initially diagnosed it as Acne, but then changed it to dermatitis acc, though she admitted she wasn't entirely sure what it actually is. She also said she couldn't mark the case as "Urgent."
For context, I don't have PCOS, stomach issues, dental problems, tonsillitis, acne, or any known allergies. I am 37 years old.
Does anyone have any advice? Thank you sooooo much in advance!

Are you sure it isn't some kind of allergy?

Honestly... aside from penicillin, I've never actually had an allergy in my life. I can't even say if stress is causing this—it doesn't feel like it. I haven't eaten anything out of the ordinary, either. I'm super careful about my makeup sponges and brushes, and I stay on top of washing my towels and pillowcases. When this first started happening, I switched to fluoride-free toothpaste and swapped out all my makeup removers, creams, and foundations... but none of that helped at all. I just feel so miserable. I don't eat greasy, fried, spicy, deli meats, or strong cheeses—and I don't even touch sweets when I'm in bed. I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I barely touch coffee... I truly have no idea what could be triggering this. 😢

If it’s spreading that fast and getting worse, just head to the ER.

I honestly don't get why your doctor didn't just send you for some allergy testing to rule things out once and for all. It could be anything—laundry detergent, fabric softener, the type of fabric you're wearing, something in your lotions, body wash, food, dust, dust mites... I could go on until tomorrow listing everything that triggers allergies, especially stuff you can't easily control by just changing your diet or switching up your skincare routine.

I don't really use much fabric softener—and I definitely don't have the same kind I used back then—and I'm honestly not even sure about my laundry detergent. I do make it a point to iron the pillowcases and towels, though. As for shampoo, I never stick to one brand; I just grab whatever new one looks good on the shelf. I'm really not sure about the rest of my routine. The only thing the doctor mentioned was that a dermatologist might want to check things out under a special light or maybe take a swab to rule out a fungal infection. But if it actually is something like that, wouldn't Rojazol be the way to go?

They probably should, but you have to deal with different types of fungi, and honestly, not every cream works on every kind.

The fact that your doctor handed you a whole pharmacy of stuff to smear on your skin and nothing is actually helping makes me think we might be looking at an allergy here. In my opinion, you really need to stop putting everything under the sun on your face just to see if things start calming down. Plus, using foundation right now is just going to clog your pores—or worse, if this is some kind of nasty infection, you might just end up spreading it everywhere.

The issue is that I work in such a public setting where I really have to wear concealer or foundation. Maybe I could try using some chamomile compresses instead?

I honestly have no clue, chamomile can be pretty drying, so I’m not sure if it's even a smart move to put it on skin that's already this irritated.

And look, once you finally get in to see the dermatologist, if they tell you to stop putting anything on your face until the inflammation dies down, you're going to have to ditch the foundation and concealer for a bit too. If we're talking about some kind of fungus or bacteria, every time you layer on makeup, you're just spreading it all over your face.

Nothing else to do... I guess I'll just have to wait until morning to see about the Salad. Thanks so much for all your hard work, patience, and help.

Don't mention it. 🙂 It's not like I did anything groundbreaking for you.

How could you say that... if nothing else, this is for the chamomile tea.

I figured I'd just reply here rather than starting a whole new thread, since this is basically a dermatology question anyway.

Does anyone have any recommendations for creams, body washes, shampoos, or basically anything at all for extremely dry skin?

The issue is my skin is incredibly parched. Because of the dryness, I’ve developed dandruff, which shows up in my eyebrows, inside my ears, and even on the edges of my lips. To make matters worse, I'm dealing with breakouts—which I read can actually be linked to skin being too dry—and whenever I wash my face with warm or hot water, the skin around the pimples starts peeling. When there's a cluster of them, it looks pretty rough.

I feel like I've cycled through every gel, shampoo, and moisturizer on the shelf, but nothing seems to work. Right now, I'm using Dove body wash and a standard facial cleanser, mostly because they advertise having extra moisturizing cream in them.

Thanks in advance for the help.🙂

The diagnosis came back as severe dermatitis. My dermatologist couldn't even suggest a topical treatment—I can't even touch my usual moisturizer right now—so she just put me on an antibiotic to calm things down. I'll be heading back for a follow-up in a week to start a local therapy. After the initial five-day course, I'll have to take one pill a week for anywhere from one to six months. She admitted that prescribing a corticosteroid initially was a bit of a mistake on her part.
Anyway, maybe my experience might help someone out.

I honestly thought that was what we were dealing with.

Check out this article from WebMD about dermatitis:

feralbadger2 said:I figured I'd just reply here rather than starting a whole new thread, since this is basically a dermatology question anyway.

Does anyone have any recommendations for creams, body washes, shampoos, or basically anything at all for extremely dry skin?

The issue is my skin is incredibly parched. Because of the dryness, I’ve developed dandruff, which shows up in my eyebrows, inside my ears, and even on the edges of my lips. To make matters worse, I'm dealing with breakouts—which I read can actually be linked to skin being too dry—and whenever I wash my face with warm or hot water, the skin around the pimples starts peeling. When there's a cluster of them, it looks pretty rough.

I feel like I've cycled through every gel, shampoo, and moisturizer on the shelf, but nothing seems to work. Right now, I'm using Dove body wash and a standard facial cleanser, mostly because they advertise having extra moisturizing cream in them.

Thanks in advance for the help.🙂

I deal with super dry skin on my face too. My nose and forehead flake constantly.

For creams, I use Nivea Soft. It’s fantastic because it absorbs really fast without leaving an oily residue. When things get worse and my skin feels extra parched, I slather on some Vaseline. It's much heavier, but it really feeds the skin.