Rosacea? Seb Derm? Sun damage? I've heard it all.

[rosesarered]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading the posts here for a good while. Like many others, I'm very confused by my skin. Different derms have given me different diagnoses, and the medications I've tried have had mediocre results at best. I've been thinking about IPL, since that might help with both sun damage and rosacea if either one of those conditions is what I've got. But if it's eczema, my understanding is that my face could get worse from IPL! It's so frustrating not to know what's wrong with my skin. I know no one here can give me a diagnosis, but I'd love to know your opinions based on your own experiences.

I'm 27, and have had this redness for a few years now. The redness on my face is in a butterfly pattern (yep, been tested for lupus). The skin on my cheeks is rough, with large pores and redness. I have a few small broken caps around my nose. Each pore down the side of my nose and on the red part of my cheeks seems to have a single, tiny white scale in it (they're so small derms look through magnifying glasses to see them-- on bad days they look like little white specks on my skin). The scales don't seem to come off, they're not itchy, and my face doesn't burn or feel hot. The redness does occasionally worsen, particularly in response to strong smells (if I'm in a shop with perfumed body lotions, for instance). Only time the redness almost disappears is when I visit Miami-- but other humid places don't work the same magic. I don't break out on my cheeks or nose at all-- just a few very rare zits on my forehead. My mom has the same redness I do-- at 60, it's just a bit more red and "windburned" looking than what's on my face, and she, too, has no breakouts.

So here's me-- well, part of me. I'm not brave enough to post my whole face yet :)

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s227/rosesarered_album/red.jpg

[DukeCity]

Looks like rosacea to me, I'd seek out a top rosacea Doc and get their opinion too. - There aren't too many out there, but it'll be worth the search.

[phlika29]

Welcome to the forum.

Could you perhaps explain abit more about other symtpoms. Do you flush for extened perions, does it feel like it burns? Does it respond to other triggers (besides smells)?

What are you using on your face at the moment, what have you tired?

Best wishes

sarah :)

[rosesarered]

Duke-- thanks for the opinion. Wish I could find a good rosacea doc here in Chicago... so far I haven't heard of one. I got all excited at first when I heard Dr. Crouch is from TN, because that's where my family's from, so I thought about seeing him, but unfortunately he's on the opposite side of TN from my hometown. The search continues.

Phlika-- I'm happy to be more specific. My skin does flush off and on, but keeping a record of the flushes hasn't done much to help me identify a trigger. Occasionally I'll flush while drinking wine (red or white), but far from always. Sometimes spicy foods do it, but no one specific spice brings on a flush consistently-- more often than not, I don't flush with spices. On the rare occasion that spice or wine makes me flush, the flush is pretty searingly red. It doesn't hurt, but it feels hot, and takes a couple hours to go away.

Touching my face or putting water on it (tap or bottled) is the most reliable way to redden it. However, the redness is not as intense as with the food triggers, and it goes down quicker.

Skincare products have been a mystery, too. Sometimes products containing alcohol irritate my skin, but sometimes they don't. Same with the active ingredients in sunscreens. I've had the most success with reducing redness using Eucerin Redness Relief and Dr. Hauschka products, especially the rose cream.

Derms have prescribed all kinds of stuff, ranging from retinols (irritated the crap out of my skin), vitamin C (no discernable effect), AHAs (skin freaked out), some sort of tar-based gel (got rid of flakies, but not redness), glycolic peels (seemed neither to help nor harm) and some sort of cream Rosacea med (can't recall what, but if anything it made my skin worse).

I think that about sums it up, albeit not very succinctly! :?

[phlika29]

It sounds like you have been down the same route as many of us. I am guessing that if you don't have rosacea you are probably very close to it.

I would advise that you don't put on any harsh creams and lotions on your skin and that you begin to treat it very carefully. I would not wash in hot water and it sounds like you may benefit from getting a water filter.

I would perhaps just generally try to have a healthy diet and try to cut out the more generally accepted triggers, I have linked a useful webpage:

http://rosacea-research.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

I always recommend that people try grape seed extract or pycnogenol from the health food shop as this can help strengthen capillaries.

It's just a matter of reading through the posts and deciding things that sound like they might suit your type of rosacea.

Best wishes

Sarah

[DukeCity]

I'm sure you meant Dr. Johnson in Tenneesee - I'm from Chicago too - and I'm driving down to see him in mid-June to start 5 Lumenis1 treatments.

[Quench]

Your skin looks very like mine did about a year ago. It is much improved, but not perfect, now. I agree with everything Phlika has said. This board is a goldmine of info so search around and try out those things that appeal to you.

[IowaDavid]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading the posts here for a good while. Like many others, I'm very confused by my skin. Different derms have given me different diagnoses, and the medications I've tried have had mediocre results at best. I've been thinking about IPL, since that might help with both sun damage and rosacea if either one of those conditions is what I've got. But if it's eczema, my understanding is that my face could get worse from IPL! It's so frustrating not to know what's wrong with my skin. I know no one here can give me a diagnosis, but I'd love to know your opinions based on your own experiences.

I'm 27, and have had this redness for a few years now. The redness on my face is in a butterfly pattern (yep, been tested for lupus). The skin on
my cheeks is rough, with large pores and redness. I have a few small broken caps around my nose. Each pore down the side of my nose and on the red part of my cheeks seems to have a single, tiny white scale in it (they're so small derms look through magnifying glasses to see them-- on bad days they look like little white specks on my skin). The scales don't seem to come off, they're not itchy, and my face doesn't burn or feel hot. The redness does occasionally worsen, particularly in response to strong smells (if I'm in a shop with perfumed body lotions, for instance). Only time the redness almost disappears is when I visit Miami-- but other humid places don't work the same magic. I don't break out on my cheeks or nose at all-- just a few very rare zits on my forehead. My mom has the same redness I do-- at 60, it's just a bit more red and "windburned" looking than what's on my face, and she, too, has no breakouts.

So here's me-- well, part of me. I'm not brave enough to post my whole face yet :)

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s227/rosesarered_album/red.jpg

Nice pics--it takes some bravery.

Just from that pic, I'd try a few IPL treatments. It tightens up your pores and can erase telangiectasia.

At 27 (I'm 28 ), I don't think sun damage would be the primary concern. Reddening, at that age, is most likely genetic (as far as I understand).

Of course, treat your skin gently. It looks like you're on that path toward some sort of flushing/blushing disorder.

What's your skincare regimen? Products you use? And do you feel very warm on your face when you're flushing?

[rosesarered]

[quote=rosesarered]Hi everyone,

Nice pics--it takes some bravery.

Just from that pic, I'd try a few IPL treatments. It tightens up your pores and can erase telangiectasia.

At 27 (I'm 28 ), I don't think sun damage would be the primary concern. Reddening, at that age, is most likely genetic (as far as I understand).

Of course, treat your skin gently. It looks like you're on that path toward some sort of flushing/blushing disorder.

What's your skincare regimen? Products you use? And do you feel very warm on your face when you're flushing?

Hi David,

I do have an appointment for an IPL consult in a couple weeks. I'm vascillating between excitement and terror, because I'm hoping IPL will make my skin better, but I'm terrified of making it worse, and it's hard to feel confident in proceeding when I've yet to have two derms agree on what I have exactly.

I've also ordered a red LED setup after reading all the positive posts about RLT.

As far as skincare goes, right now I'm using Aveeno Calming Lotion as my daily sunscreen, and Eucerin Redness Relief at night. I use a soap from an Israeli company called Sabon to wash-- it's a bar soap with mud in it. I would never have thought I could use a bar soap on my dry, sensitive skin, but oddly enough it's the only cleanser I've ever used that leaves my skin looking and feeling calm, and the results have been consistent over the past couple months, even on really wintry Chicago days.

I'd also been using Dr. Hauschka rose cream for the past two weeks. Initially it zapped redness on contact, which was wonderful, and really made me feel hopeful. However, the honeymoon seems to be over-- for the past few days, it's been producing redness rather than relieving it. I find that this happens a lot with products: they'll help for a couple weeks, then one day I'll put them on and an angry red streak will appear on my cheeks and last the day. Happened with Cutanix, too.

As for the flushing, I don't usually feel warm when it happens, but I do sometimes if the flushing stems from drinking alcohol. I don't ever feel serious heat or stinging, fortunately.

[Quench]

I find that this happens a lot with products: they'll help for a couple weeks, then one day I'll put them on and an angry red streak will appear on my cheeks and last the day.

me too!

[Simply Red]

Your skin looks pretty much the same as mine, with enlarged pores (Mine are enlarged on the nose as well) . I'm curious to see how your IPL works out if you do it, since we're so similiar in skin type.

Keep us posted :)

[rosesarered]

Your skin looks pretty much the same as mine, with enlarged pores (Mine are enlarged on the nose as well) . I'm curious to see how your IPL works out if you do it, since we're so similiar in skin type.

Keep us posted :)

I'll definitely post an update in a couple of weeks, because I'm going to see Dr. Johnson for laser while I'm home visiting family in TN. I'm pretty excited, but also nervous about it!

[DukeCity]

That's awesome - keep us informed on your treatment when you return!

[rosesarered]

That's awesome - keep us informed on your treatment when you return!

Will do! And thanks, by the way, for inspiring me to go a bit out of my way (well, 7 hours, to be exact) to see Dr. J! :)

[DukeCity]

Is that a 7 hr. drive from Chicago??? - I was planning on about 9 hrs.?

[rosesarered]

Is that a 7 hr. drive from Chicago??? - I was planning on about 9 hrs.?

Well, I'm flying into my hometown (Memphis) to spend some time with family, then driving to Sevierville (which, thanks to Tennessee's interminable width, is about 7 hours) and then flying back to Chicago out of Knoxville about 6 hours after my appointment.

I think you're right that it's 9 hours or so from Chicago to Sevierville. If this treatment goes well, I might be making that drive myself for some follow-ups.

[daisy966]

It is a 12-14 hour drive from Chicago to Nashville. Sevierville is much further east - and through the mountains I think (slow driving).

Dude this is so weird.

Your face looks exactly like mine.... red with big pores. I am 18 right now and for the past 2 years and since about a year have shown rosacea signs.

I am also in the Chicago area.. we have a similar condition I can tell. Please keep me updated on what you discover.

[youtube]

Dude this is so weird.

Your face looks exactly like mine.... red with big pores. I am 18 right now and for the past 2 years and since about a year have shown rosacea signs.

I am also in the Chicago area.. we have a similar condition I can tell. Please keep me updated on what you discover.

That was me by the way making that post : )

[mega77]

My skin was like that before, I got it from using neutrogena cleanser, it was to harsh for my skin, anyways

Your skin looks irritated/swollen in that area, you need to stop using any products and only use water for aleast a week, maybe put some neosporin on it to see if it helps it heal when you sleep, and stay out of the sun, then use a cleanser like Cetaphil (or Equate, samething but cheaper)

edit: remember to be very gentle with your skin whatever you do

Hi everyone,

That's what face and nose looks like also. my derm still think I should use glycolic acid to smooth out the texture of my face. I took my derm advice and apply the glycolic acid on my face and 20 minutes later my face was on fire. And now when I am excited or mad my face turn red easily. But my derm still insist it's ok to use and even for rosaceans. I'm mad and I should have know more than that. I guess the problem was I totally trust my derm afterall she was the first derm diagnose me with perioral dermatitis and rosacea. That other derms was a joke, some said I have ezcema, adult acne, atopic dermatits and so on.

mega77, I will try what you suggest to wash my face with water only for a week but the problem is I have oily t-zone. Well, I guess if you don't try you would never know the answer.

[Skywolf]

Do you have a water filter? I would reccomend one if you dont, There are harsh chemicals in tap water.
Your skin looks much like mine too, very big pores, red around the nose area. I have my so attractive mug up in the photo section too, but here is one place we can show each other what we look like, without fear, just understanding.

Laura

[Bichon]

Hello Laura,

I don't have a water filter but I'll get one since I been seeing many Derm in the past 6 months and didn't get me anywhere. In fact, I am seeing my skin changes and not knowing what are the right treatments anymore. I got so worry, confused and depressed that I lost 10 ibs in 2 months and I looked ten years older all the sudden. Now I'm on this restrict diet everyday and hoping to see an improvement day after day. I don't know how long I can keep on doing that! I am drain.......my family start to worry about my well being. So, I will take and try all the good advice in this forum. , I am so thankful to have all you guys here to support each other.

Pearl

Many thanks to all of you!