A mum-of-two who developed an embarrassing facial rash after going through a stressful divorce has discovered an over-the-counter remedy costing just $ 13.
Angela Simson told news.com.au the “horrific” rash surrounding her lips and covering her chin severely affected her confidence.
The Gold Coast mum and wellness coach, now 33, said she’d suffered from perioral dermatitis since she was a teenager, but the condition was never severe until her marriage ended.
“When I was 30 and I went through my divorce and I was obviously really stressed, it flared up massively,” Angela said.
“It was all over the bottom half of my face. It was red, and hot, and itchy, and I didn’t want to go out in public.
“If I did go out in public, I’d put makeup on it, which made it worse.”
“It was like it was on fire.
“It was so frustrating. I was going through a divorce and I was travelling a lot for work.
“I speak on health and wellness, and I was doing a lot of events (around the country) and I was mortified.
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“I would be speaking to people and I would be running to the bathroom every five to 10 minutes to put makeup on, and check how bad it was.
“It really affected my confidence. When I wasn’t travelling for work I would just sit at home,” she said.
“I didn’t want to go to the grocery store, I didn’t want to go out in public where anyone would see me, because I was embarrassed by it. It looked horrific.”
Angela said she treated the rash with a steroid cream, which made it go away temporarily.
“But then it came back even worse,” she said.
She’s since learned steroid creams can often have the result of treating a rash short term, but failing to improve the condition in the long term.
She said she’d previously used an off-the-shelf product to treat a rash on her hands she developed after using cleaning products at work.
Angela said using a $ 13 nappy balm made by MooGoo “helped massively”.
“It definitely took time. It would have taken probably about six to eight weeks for it to go away entirely, but it was a Godsend,” she said.
She said when she switches to other products she finds the rash will flare up again.
Angela said in addition to finding the right products, she avoids certain foods and tries to avoid stress. She also added a water filter to her shower.
Angela suffers from perioral dermatitis, a condition that results in a bumpy facial rash concentrated around the mouth.
In some people the rash can develop on other parts of the face including the forehead, eyes and the genitals. The rash can also cause a painful burning sensation.
Perioral dermatitis is most commonly seen in young women, who report up to 90 per cent of the cases, however it also affects men.
Health and Fitness | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site