Rosacea? Seb. Derm.? Both? Your opinion, please.

[Ontarian]

Hi.
Please, click on the link below and let me know what you think about my face.
My history, very briefly:
Late 2001- diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis
Early 2002-seborrheic dermatitis disappears for 5 years
February 2006-red patch noticed on the right side of my face
August 2006-dermatologist diagnoses me as having seborrheic dermatitis and a little bit of rosacea
September 2006-another dermatologist says "You are fine, I don't see any rosacea", even though I know something is happening to my face.
October2006-Diagnosed with blepharitis (meibomian gland dysfunction), which, according to optometrist, is caused by rosacea.

I have totally lost faith in medical profession. I don't know whom to believe. I still don't have final and coherent diagnosis.. I am sure you guys will be able to help me more than any doctor so far.

A little bit about the posted pics:
1) February 2006: Pink patch appears on my right cheek. It is noticeable to me, but unnoticeable to everyone else.
2) Approx. March 2006: The cheek is now redder
3) June 2006: One of my two worst attacks. The right side of my face is quite red. Pores are enlarged on that side of the face. Notice, also, that the right nasolabial fold is swollen. The nose is red, but I think that was due to sun exposure.
4) Left side of my face is totally normal. This is taken on the same day as pic.#3 (worst attack). Very weird, eh?
5) Another strange occurence...small patches of redness on both nasolabial folds. Notice that the moustache area also has red patches. This indicates seborrheic dermatitis rather than rosacea to me...But, I don't know...
6) Another day
7) Early August 2006 - in sunny New York, symptom-free.

Right now my symptoms involve redness and miniature papules on my nose and somewhat red right cheek (with enlarged pores). The left cheek is still relatively fine (knock on wood). Also, my right eye feels horrible - burning and gritty - result of blepharitis??? But, the left eye is fine. Isn't all this peculiar?

If anyone can help me figure out what I have, I will be eternally grateful. :D

Please see pics. by clicking on the link below. And sorry for the scared look - But, I am scared by what is happening to my face...
Thanks!

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gcalma@rogers.com/album?.dir=e97cre2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

[Chris1982]

I must comment that your pics do not show signs of much. Your face looks totally "normal" to me...just maybe a little flushed from a work out...can not see any signs of any major skin abnormalities.

[Ontarian]

Thanks, Chris.
I did not exercise before taking any of those pics. It's interesting that you don't see any abnormalities in them. I can see them so clearly, especially in pic. 2, 3, and 6. Pic. no. 1 does not show much as it was only the beginning. Pic. 5 shows the left side of my face, which is generally clear. In pic.6 I am symptom free.

It's funny...To you, my skin looks normal, and I know every milimeter where my skin has changed. I guess we are our own worst critics...

[Quench]

Your skin looks fine to me too.

If you download a photo and color/exposure correct it you will indeed see that the nose and cheeks are a classic rosacea red. Not the worst case, better than mine looks.

ADS6 (not logged in)

[Spav]

I think people often are too quick to diagnose people with rosacea on this forum. ADS6 how you can say it looks like 'classic rosacea red' i don't know. Ontarian said himself his nose was a bit read due to sun exposure.

IMO his skin looks great. Yes his skin looks very slightly red in some pics but so does in so many people. There are also so many other skin conditions that can cause redness. Surely when diagnosing rosacea theres has to be more evidence of rosacea symtoms. ie: Regular flushing to rosacea triggers, telangestasia, swelling, pustules etc.

I think people often are too quick to diagnose people with rosacea on this forum. ADS6 how you can say it looks like 'classic rosacea red' i don't know. Ontarian said himself his nose was a bit read due to sun exposure.

IMO his skin looks great. Yes his skin looks very slightly red in some pics but so does in so many people. There are also so many other skin conditions that can cause redness. Surely when diagnosing rosacea theres has to be more evidence of rosacea symtoms. ie: Regular flushing to rosacea triggers, telangestasia, swelling, pustules etc.

If you do download and color/exposure correct you will see it is as I said. I suppose some don't know how to spot a photo that needs adjustment and/or know how to correct color/exposure problems. However I did not say it was rosacea did I? I said it was the classic rosacea red. You read too much in to my post.

ADS6

[Spav]

If you do download and color/exposure correct you will see it is as I said. I suppose some don't know how to spot a photo that needs adjustment and/or know how to correct color/exposure problems. However I did not say it was rosacea did I? I said it was the classic rosacea red. You read too much in to my post.


ADS6,

Firstly i apologise if it sounded like i was having a go, that was not my intention. I just get frustrated when i see so many photos of people with seemingly great skin being diagnosed with rosacea.

With regards to the photo, you don't give me enough credit. I had downloaded the photo and corrected the exposure.

[Ontarian]

Ugh…This is more confusing than my doctors.

Whoever says my skin is “normal”, has no idea. It’s red, ruddy, with enlarged pores (especially on the right site of my face). I notice changes as it is my own skin. It often itches/burns. My right eye’s lower eyelid is inflamed and my eye is burning. I was told I had meibomian gland dysfunction / posterior blepharitis (most commonly caused by rosacea). I am not imagining those things. It is not all in my head.

Spav,
my intention was not to frustrate you or anyone else. I get somewhat offended when you say “people with great skin”, while referring to my pictures. You are sounding just like my doctors who dismiss me and don’t listen to my concerns. The only reason why people with what you see as “great skin” (probably meaning mild skin problems) post pictures, is because that’s when they notice changes. That’s when people are very worried, depressed, and anxious as it is all very new to them. That’s when people need answers and are overwhelmed with new info. In addition, that’s when people tend to be in denial. Once you are in the severe stage, of course you don’t need to post your photos – you already know very well what you have. Nowhere have I seen disclaimer saying “only people with severe rosacea can post photos here”. I also indicated clearly in my first post that I needed help with diagnosis and was very honest with the description of my photos (indicating where my face was clear and indicating where I had symptoms). For you to dismiss me as having “great skin” and nothing else is really upsetting. I’ve been through some really difficult times lately, trying to grasp what is happening to my skin, dealing with extremely annoying eye symptoms, going through bad depression and anxiety.

The reason why I posted my pics. is because I thought I needed help and people’s opinions. Not to frustrate you. I know there are some things that do not look like rosacea there, especially the asymmetrical nature of my redness. On the other hand, my symptoms got worse in the summer (as opposed to getting better in the summer when I only had seborrheic dermatitis). Meibomian gland dysfunction coinciding with skin changes also indicates rosacea. Presently, my nose is redder than in those summer pics., it has a papule or two every single day, and I clearly see tiny, tiny broken blood vessels on it (not yet on the face, though). In addition, my mother has rosacea, so I am obviously genetically predisposed to get it.

If I have rosacea, I want to know it before it’s to late. That’s the reason why I posted the photos. Not to frustrate you. The colours are bad on those pics., I know, but that’s how Yahoo! posted them, I am not a computer expert. I guess I’m going to take them down, before everyone starts downloading them and “colour adjusting me”. 

Again, sorry if I frustrated you. It was not my intention.

[Ontarian]

Deleted !!!
Moderator, can you, please, delete the link from my first post. Thanks!

[Spav]

Ontarian i don't have any problem with you posting your photos and never said i did. My issue was the difficulty in diagnosing someone with rosacea when they don't display obvious symtoms when there are many other conditions it could be.

Also in my post i said "seemingly great skin", which is not what you quoted. I said "seemingly" as it is obviously my opinion from the photos you posted.

Lastly i didn't mean to offend and please don't take your photos down on my account.

[Strive]

I think we also have to take into consideration the quality of the photos. I know I've taken a picture of myself when I've been burning red in the mirror, and was surprised to see that it didn't translate much, if at all, to the photo. I probably have a substandard digital camera.

[phlika29]

I'm guessing that the photo got taken down as I can't see it now. Ontarian I think you are obviously very sensitve about your face at the moment.

A few years ago I was in the same position I could see lots of change (for the worse) and would constatly ask my partner what he could see, why he couldn't see it until I went mad. From reading your various posts I get the impression that you want and need a definitive diagnosis. I think that this is causing you alot of stress and you need to rethink this strategy. It took me years to finally get a diagnosis of rosacea and to be honest it changed nothing, I treated the skin the same and took the same drugs.

But its never as simple as that, sometimes I still not sure that its purely rosacea or mainly seb derm making me flush, or blocked pores giving me bumps that make me flush.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that whatever you have you just need to treat your skin carefully as if you have rosacea/seb derm.

I don't think any of the posts where meant to cause offense to you, I find that with the computer things can be misinterpreted very easily. I hope that you are not put off from this forum as you will find useful information that will help rosacea prone skin.

Best wishes

Sarah

[Penguin]

I know what you speak of Ontarian, when I first had symptoms like 15+ years ago had perfect skin, fair but on the dry side, a basic skin "type" . I was always sensitive to stuff but nothing to write home about and flushed to drinking wine which I didn't think was a skin disorder but a sensitivity to alcohol. I literally woke up one morning and my skin had changed...not to the eye of the beholder but definitely to me...it was just weird skin. I remember my sister telling me I was full of it, blah blah...it kept getting worse and I kept covering it up with makeup, then she saw me without make up one morning and wanted to know why I was so red! So anyway, please just treat yourself like you have rosacea until you figure it out...it can't hurt you. Nobody on the forum can make it better, only you can by taking the precautions that you've read about here. Wish I knew then what I know now, that's for sure!
Take care,
Penguin
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