rosacea...??

[mikki]

http://img341.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rosaceaoj1.jpg

Can anyone tell me if this is rosacea on my nose? I know the photo's not really clear... i went to see the family doctor and he said it is... but I'd like a second opinion

A bit about the nose... i have bumps on it.. but some are filled with white puss... which i can squeeze out. i also have a lot of little holes on my nose... normally some kind of white/solid ocular form in that i can pick out. My skin nose is often red/darker color than my other skin.. which i used to thought was because my excessive attempt to try pick those ocular things out

[Froggirl]

Hi Mikki

Welcome.

It is really hard to tell from the photo's if you have rosacea or not. Unfortunently there are a number of skin conditions which can look similar. Do you have any triggers that seem to make it worse?

I saw that you also posted another thread, about the metronidazole topical your doctor prescribed. I really think it would be worth giving it a go and seeing if it does help or not. It will take at least four-eight weeks to really kick in though. If it does help that it might indicate it was rosacea, or at least it might rule out a few things it's not!

[mikki]

thank you for the reply :)

After reading a lot around... I think it is rosacea. Apparently my grandmother also had it too.

I kind of get that I should avoid triggering rosacea and preventing it from getting worse? I have a few question, hopefully someone can answer for me.

1. what is "flare-up and remission"?

2. On top of Noritate topical cream, can I use other products such as night mask?

3. "Sufferers should use a mild soap or cleanser that is not grainy or abrasive" Does that mean I shouldn't exfoliate my skin?

4. When you eat or do certain stuff, it'll "trigger" the rosacea. Does that mean say... your affected area will flush up? Or your rosacea condition will worsen by the continuing triggering?

[Froggirl]

Hi

1. A flair up just referes to symptoms getting worse, so if your a flusher it might be that certain things result in an instant reaction, so for me sunlight, over heated rooms or hot cars, alcohol (to name a few triggers) will cause my facial skin to flush, so to go very red and feel hot and painful. A flair with P&P might be the next day, so you might notice that if you've had a lot of sun the next day you may get more P&P coming up than usual.

Rosacea can vary a bit over time, so for some people they have periods of remission without many symptoms, where there skin might look really normal. Sucessful rosacea treatments may cause remission, but continued treatment and trigger avoidance is still needed because it the majority of cases it will flair up again.

2. You can use other products with the Noritate but you need to give it enough time to soak into the skin before you apply anything else to your face, so personally i leave around an hour.

3. Rosacea skin is extremely sensative and many common skin care products and practices can make things much much worse. Treat your skin like silk, avoid anything which may be irriating and be extremly careful what skin care products you use. So exfoliating your skin is not such a great idea. There is more info at this website:

http://www.dermnetnz.org/acne/rosacea.html

4. So triggers with rosacea are things that makes things worse, so either more flushing or more breakouts. It's generally impossible to avoid them all but it is worth seeing if cutting out some helps your skin. So some things like hot baths, harsh skin care, suntanning can be obvious triggers and can also be easy to cut out but there are also many many things you won't be able to totally avoid.

Hope that helps!