My sister-in-law called today upset because the doctor told her she had perioral dermatitis. Sounds bad doesn’t it?

Let’s break it down and it won’t be so scary. First of all, dermatitis is simply an inflammation of the skin - usually in the form of some sort of rash. And perioral just means “around the mouth.”

So basically, she was diagnosed with a rash around her mouth. But then again, she already knew that! That’s why she made an appointment with the dermatologist to begin with.

Once I explained the meaning of her diagnosis to her, she just laughed. Why do they always make it sound so awful?

Here are a couple of other common types of dermatitis:

• Atopic eczema - This is the most common one and usually results from some type of internal irritant.
• Allergic contact - This is as the name sounds, when the skin comes in contact with something that it is allergic to causing inflammation and irritation to the skin.
• Irritant contact - This is usually caused by a certain chemical substance that causes the skin to become irritated.
• Infantile seborrhoeic eczema - Also known as cradle crap, this forms on the head and can spread very quickly.
• Gravitational - This particular type hits people in the legs, usually elderly people and is due to poor circulation.