For the last few months i’ve had some annoying red flakey skin either side of my nose. Nothing too severe but enough to make me want rid of it.

I’ve tried moisturising it with some of the wife’s creams which helps for a few hours but obviously isnt tackling the cause of the problem.

Seemed to be more prominent in the run up to Christmas so I thought maybe all the pre Chrimbo boozing might be the cause. After cutting back in Jan it’s got a little less prominent but is still there.

Anyone with experience of this?

Is anything else in my diet likely to be the cause? I’m a sucker for bread (always have been) but have been trying to cut consumption a bit. Again no drastic changes seen as a result.

Any other ideas/success stories out there?

I had eczema all my life, until I stopped drinking.

There’s all sorts of benefits to completing booze, as if that needed saying, but a lot of them are more subtle than you might think. But the one night and day change for me was my skin.

So anecdotally for me the ale was a major contributor to eczema.

Ex-vegan heals his eczema and regains his health on a carnivore diet

Garry_Lager

Full Member

I had eczema all my life, until I stopped drinking.

username no longer checks out…. 😉

The cold winter air exacerbates it, dries out your skin (I’m assuming you’re living in the northern hemisphere)

It should clear up as the weather warms up, but until then try to keep your face wrapped up as much as possible without looking weird like Kendo Nagasaki.

A buff pulled up over your chin and nose like you would on a muddy ride might do the trick.

Is it definitely eczema? Have you looked at potentially being Seborrheic dermatitis?

That’s what I’ve self-diagnosed with the help of google. Pretty much dandruff but on your face. Mine tends to focus in the eyebrows / nose T-zone and also upper lip. I treat it with anti-dandruff shampoo as per the suggestions and it does tend to keep it at bay but still prone to flare-ups that seem to have no pattern or cause. Recently I also switched from Rock face moisturiser to Astral cream in a blue tub and that also seems to have helped it further. I was also using T-gel shampoo but at £7 a bottle it was getting a bit pricey so I’ve swapped to a Vosene one that’s only £2 and appears to work just as well.

wash your face with head and shoulders??

I got rid of a patch on my back that had persisted for 2 years with a week swimming in the volcanic waters off lanzarote

So I proscribe that

Have you tried Bum Butter? People have told me it helps with minor skin issues. It is probably the tea tree ingredient that sorts it out, and the general moisturising making things feel better.

However, if you can figure out the cause, and address that. That would be the thing to do.

ST message me and I will post you a small knob of Bum Butter.

Get it looked at by a dermatologist. I’ve had issues on and off for a few years now and I’m on prescription anti-histamine for hives, which seemed to occur with eczema. Mine also gets worse during winter but Cetraben cream & or ointment (the latter is thicker) definitely help. You can get those from boots or other places. Deffo get it checked out though.

If you’re really concerned about it go, and see a dermatologist. Self diagnosis, even GP visits can be very hit and miss and you can end up spending a lot of money on expensive moisturisers which have very little effect beyond the first few mins of application. Often they’ll make it worse.

Pm me if you want. I have a LOT of experience in this.

Good luck with seeing a dermatologist. Cetroban is very good but you might need a topical steroid instead. You’ll need to see your GP at the very least. That might lead to a referral, had one recently but it took an age to be seen.

A lifetime of psoriasis has seen me try most things except biologics. Currently on some nasty steroid/salicylic acid ointment for my palms (palmar) at night, but on the face I use cetroban when it flares up there. Steroids thin the skin with repeated use, and have systemic effects despite the topical application, so minimal use on the face has always been my strategy.

I second Charlie‘s tip for Bum Butter (‘tis good stuff), and knock off the booze and processed food for a couple of weeks, and get it checked out (maybe whilst in Lanzarote). Dry Jan fixed long-standing red patches in 5 days for me, it’s turned into dry Feb now.

@TiRed

Another psoriasis sufferer here. Fortunately mild enough that an occasional use of Enstilar keeps it in check for the most part.

I have this, either side of the nose, sometimes around the lips and a bit on the forehead. (Don’t drink by the way either). Varies according to season but I use 1% hydrocortisone from the pharmacist over the counter. Put it on after a shower or wash. Only need a tiny amount. tends to keep it clear for a couple of days after application. Sometimes flares up worse if I’m stressed. A small tube of Hydrocortisone lasts for months and it’s only a few quid but makes a difference. The pharmacist asks where it’s for and I say my chest. I do have a small patch the appears in the middle of my chest every now and again, so not a complete lie. Although i don’t think they’re fans of it going on your face for some reason.

Suffered in the past but no longer when using this. Available and Boots etc, cheap as chips and works….

baby moisturiser

Hiya,

Try Aveeno green/light blue. Works very well. Also recently I found Dr.organic Aloe Vera which successfully got rid of Eczema on my leg.

BR

Jerry

Pop to the chemist and get some proper emollient cream (Diprobase, Doublebase etc.) as they’re the moisturisers that a doctor would prescribe. The pharmacist will be able to help as eczema is pretty common.

Sometimes eczema flare ups can be fungal, especially if they aren’t responding to your usual remedies. Most of my issues come from contact. Leaning on the bar whilst wearing short sleeves often causes my forearms to flare up. I also changed washing liquid to fairy – made a big difference.

Have you been using either medicated tissues or loo roll to blow your nose?

My own experience is a bit patchy (pun intended).  I’ve had plenty of skin problems on and off and I can still trigger them pretty much by a combination of poor habits/diet.

So it’s inflammation, innit?!

Usual suspects are dairy, processed foods (general), sugar, alcohol, sugar, omega 6 fats (e.g. processed foods, mass-farmed meats (including farmed salmon)), sugar, caffeine, sugar.

I’ve leapt from cause to cause, eliminating gluten, dairy and caffeine by turn.  I hesitate to pin it on any particular dietary cause because if you replace one bad food with another your body stills fights to find its balance.  I can fix it by eating more veggies and less bread and slipping in the odd bit of oily fish vs avocado etc.  It has got to the point where I know how to reign it in and I know when I’ve done something dumb and deserve the consequences.

The dermatologist a few years back was useless, diagnosing “rosacea” which is the medical code for: “I don’t have a scooby but let’s put you on antibiotics for six months”.

Olive oil soap works for me.

Brilliant stuff.

I haven’t had a full blown flare up for a while now, white bread and pasta seems to bring it on, homemade pizza seems to not cause it which is odd.

I did come across some cream in a supermarket in Nigeria called Funbact that wipes it out completely for a couple of weeks between application, however later learned from Googling that this contained a steroid. Tea tree and aloe vera also seemed to lessen the reddening and itching.

Had itchy flaky skin on my forehead on and off for a year, comes and goes, tried T Gel, suncream, washed helmet pads, new helmet, different washing powders, saw doc and steroid cream for a week seemed to clear it, but he said not to use it long term. So not sure what to do now. Diet stuff mentioned above is interesting.

Hiya,

I had forgot to say in my previous post on this subject. Be careful of creams and ointments containing petrochemical products. Some people like me are allergic to petrochemicals.

JeZ

Won’t necessarily be eczema in those locations, especially if you don’t get it anywhere else like behind the ears, inside your elbows etc.  Could be fungal, diet related, or a few of the other things mentioned.  Try a tiny bit of over the counter hydrocortisone cream from the chemist only for a few days (as above, if you say it’s for your face, they won’t give it to you, because docs don’t like people using it too much because it thins the skin over time, and your facial skin is already thin enough…). If this improves it, then try swapping soap/facewash for water and an emollient cream such as Cetraben, and only using hydrocortisone briefly during flare-ups.

DON’T USE AQUEOUS CREAM, it makes most skin conditions worse! No idea why shops are still allowed to sell it.

If it doesn’t improve much, or if you’re only seeing improvement with the hydrocortisone, not the emollient, see your doc.

So I proscribe that

Whoever invented English should have outlawed words that reverse meaning just by changing one letter! 🙂

Mrs Dubs has a nightshade allergy, which presents as eczema – but usually on the hands.

She also needs to avoid fizzy drinks,

I was getting on my forehead and it spread to my eyelid so I gave up trying various OTC solutions and went to the Doc. They prescribed  some protopic 0.03%. A tiny bit of it cleared it up in no time. If it ever starts to come back I put a tiny amount on again and it goes away.

I got it around my eyes. To start with they gave me super weak hydrocortisone. That did nothing.  3rd or 4th time to the docs they gave me some cream, I can’t remember what. It calmed it down in hours, it never came back. It’s so long ago I can’t remember what it was sorry
So yeah, hassle your doctor!!

I suffer from this.  Started at the side of my nose and I now get it on my eyebrows.  It’s feels stress related if anything.  If I’m in a stressful situation at work I can feel those areas tingling.

Anyway.  I regularly use epiderm cream or E45 which really help with the symptoms.

Epiderm cream comes in a small pump tub and I always have several tubs on the go.  One in the car, at work, in the bathroom.  My wife even carries one in her handbag so it’s always handy and only a couple of quid a tub

Well, NAC did the job for me (not the reason I started taking it). Used to get flakey skin around eyebrows, eye lids and upper lip. 5 days of NAC and it’s 90% gone. NAC is in capsule form. You eat it.

Note: I’m not a doctor.

NAC

acetylcysteine ?  Interesting

I have exactly what OP describes.  I wear a mask in the office all day and use a nose clip to keep my gegs from fogging up.  I’m almost certain it’s that (week off last week and it’s almost gone. could be SP50 and alpine air/sun, I suppose)

@djambo – I get similar (including between eyebrows, forehead), from late autumn until the spring.

Sunlight and therefore vitamin D.   Things that go downhill in Autumn in the northern hemisphere.   We don’t get enough vitamin D through exposure to sunlight (as there’s not enough sunlight) and it’s hard to get it through diet (although a good diet will help).

So Number 1:  Take a vitamin D tablet, every day, from October > March.  As per the recommendation of UK. gov 🙂

I combine this with making sure I do sweaty exercise and make sure I have a long soak in a very hot bath at least once a week.

Since taking vit. D my winter dry skin problems have pretty much gone to about 10% of what they were.  I’m closing on 50 now and wish I’d known this when I was 20.

Other than that – good diet, don’t drink every day.   No amount of emollient moisturisers really helped me (it wouldn’t “go away” but it manages the flaking issues) – but the Vit D, sweating and long hot steamy soaks – job jobbed.

I used to get it on my skin for years, mostly on my hip and thigh. I started using a natural nettle soap and it has never come back, must be 8 years clear now. So i’d recommend something like that. It’s a far nicer soap to use, i also have a nettle shampoo which is great. The nettle soap is way less harsh.

Those that are recommending alternative soaps/cleansers etc……it’s much  more likely that you’re allergic to a particular element or chemical in soaps/shampoos, than than the nettles or beetle dung  in your alternative actually doing your skin good 🙂

*I realise the net result is the same

Sounds like seborrhoeic dermatitis to me. We see it a lot. Nizoral cream is usual first line. Contact your gp. They might ask you to send in some photos. Don’t expect an nhs dermatology referral. At least not until you’ve let your gp use their actual clinical skills and experience. 🙄

https://dermnetnz.org/topics/seborrhoeic-dermatitis

Appreciate the sentiment, but my experience of trying to get a diagnosis from a GP has been very hit and miss, literally.

I find CeraVe to really help with my occasional eczema.

I have this also, diagnosed as seborrhoeic dermatitis. Steroid cream from the GP and Double Base cream helps a lot.

Docs must hate folk googling and telling them what their patients have, there must be so many different skin complaints, I was thinking rosacea or whatever it’s called but I would want someone who sees things like this every day give their opinion rather than a bike forum. I know from the far fetched building fabric problems and what some folk reckon it has to be and how to cure it often seen on here

Had this for years, then earlier this year I self diagnosed with Seborrheic dermatitis.

Tried to treat with nizoral shampoo and a ketoconazole cream, worked a little but kept coming back.

Went to the doctors, he agreed and prescribed more nizoral/dandrazol shampoo (ketoconazole) and an ointment of miconazole and hydrocortisone.

Within 7 days I was clear. Now have to reapply for a week every few months. Much better