Taking a look at a patient story ~

A 29-year-old woman, Liz, came in seeking natural treatment for perioral dermatitis. For several months – possibly up to a year – the area around her mouth would often become red, with occasional small bumps. The condition varied from day to day and week to week, sometimes disappearing completely. Liz had assumed that it came from some sort of food allergy, but she chose to ignore it. Overall, her diet was quite healthy. The only “indulgences” that she regularly had were chocolate every night and one cup of coffee every morning. She made a definite decision – she’d rather live with the redness than give up chocolate or coffee (which she assumed to be the culprits). This strategy was totally fine for some months.

Things changed when one of Liz’s closest friends asked her to be in her wedding party. Liz became very involved in the energy of wedding planning — choosing bride and bridesmaid dresses, finding the right photographer, looking into options for hair, make-up, etc. A couple of months before the event, Liz decided that she really wanted to clear up her face so that, like her friend getting married, she could also be radiant and beautiful that day. She completely eliminated all chocolate and coffee from her diet for about a week, but when nothing changed with her skin, she decided to seek out holistic options.

Another friend referred her to our practice where she was thrilled to learn that there was no allergy – she simply had a skin condition known as perioral dermatitis. One interesting thing about her case is that she truly had no other symptoms. She had occasional stress, but other than that she was incredibly healthy. We prescribed an internal formula for her and gave her the OK to re-introduce both the chocolate and coffee in her diet. Within four weeks, her skin was completely clear with no redness and no bumps. Not only was her skin perfect for the wedding, but she had an extra “glow” – feeling confident that she could eat and drink whatever she wanted that night and her face would continue to be clear and radiant.