rosacea
I’ve lived with rosacea for most of my adult life and there’s no easy fix-it solution. One treatment may work for the short term, but rosacea reappears.
There are four different types of rosacea, so it’s important to get an official diagnosis from a medical provider, preferably someone specializing in dermatology. You’ll need to give an honest health history.
I know there are side effects from certain medications and health conditions which can often present as rosacea. I’m also an Aesthetician and the medical side needs to be addressed first, otherwise harm can be done as underlying health conditions go ignored. Rosacea is a medical diagnosis, it’s not a skin type. Never allow an Aesthetician or RN to ‘diagnose’ you with rosacea.
What you can do to manage the redness once a diagnosis is given:
-Maintain a healthy blood pressure
-Avoid heat and humidity
-Stay cool especially while exercising
-Avoid spicy foods
-Avoid alcohol
-Avoid processed foods
-Avoid MSG and ‘natural flavoring’
-Eat more raw fruit and vegetables, way more.
-Use a zinc based mineral sunscreen, avoid chemical sunscreens
ALL of these need to be done together. You can’t just avoid the heat, but then have a bottle of wine twice a week. Rosacea doesn’t work this way.
Rosacea is managed, not cured.
For the past year I’ve also been using a hand held red light therapy wand I spent way too much for at a conference. Red light therapy is a medically-approved treatment for rosacea. I don’t have any official photos of a before and after, but I am hooked. Perhaps it’s a combination of a few things I’m doing, but I do see overall improvement. (In a future post I’ll go into my routine further.)
Just when I think I’ve got the redness under control, I eat buffalo hot wings with my family. The facial redness and burning appears within 30 minutes. I use an over-the-counter, inexpensive, redness relieving cream to moisturize my face. Calming, but not a cure.
And once again, our diet and lifestyle contribute immensely to our health.
