Newbie- mild case

[Beacon Beak]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum but am VERY happy to have stumbled up on it.

I am a 32 year old woman who is very, very fair skinned (Irish), except, of course, for my nose which is swollen every morning and red all day, every day all year round. God help me if I cry ...my nose, eyes and swell like crazy and I have trouble opening them the next morning. This extreme redness only takes a few sniffles with a sad movie to appear too : ( As you can imagine, I avoid any movies that may cause me to cry. That is not the kind of first impression I want on a date.

Here is what I do to take care of my skin:
I do not tan, I use sunblock religiously, have stopped using all facial cleansers with alcohol or witchhazel in them, and I do not drink or smoke at all. I use anti-redness creams daily on my nose and I really don't think they do much. I use a Cetaphil for sensitive skin to wash my face and that seems to irritate it less. Yet - my nose is still red. I don't not have much in the way of acne related symptoms although I do have mild eczema on my chin that is better with Cetaphil too.

I have not been diagnosed with Rosacea but both my mother and father have it (mom has redness and broken blood vessels and dad has redness and mild pimples on the nose). This makes me think I am a likely candidate.

My question is, what can I do to get the redness and swelling under control at this early stage so that it doesn't worsen? I can cover it with make up usually but I can't wear make up 24/7. I'd love to get this under control.

Thank you everyone! This forum is great for those of us who don't know what to do.

Self-consciously yours,

Beacon Beak in Canada

[redhotoz]

Hi Beacon Beak

Welcome to the Forum and hope you can find the info you are looking for. There are many options and ideas floating around in past posts, so if there is something specific you want to know, run a quick Forum search to see if it there have already been discussions on it.

Now, to reducing redness and swelling. Mmm! There are sooo many creams out there that claim to reduce redness but many simply do not work. Many of them cost a fortune too! I'm not sure there is anything you can put on your face to reduce the swelling. I've spent way too much time and money trying to find that miracle cream - there simply isn't one!

Antibiotics (Doxycycline or Tetracycline) will help a little with the swelling and you may find a slight difference in the redness, but there are negative side effects from taking antibiotics.

I've been down the path you are about to embark upon, trying to find what works to control the Rosacea beast and I believe I have now found the answer for me. Everyone is different, so what works for one person may not work for another. Anyway, I started the Candida Diet last month and red light therapy from home this month. I've seen a HUGE improvement to my face (I had papules and pustules, constant redness, burning, swelling, blushing and flushing). I'm not 100% there yet but I know I am on the right path for controlling my Rosacea. You might want to consider these options.

Best of luck!

Jen

[Beacon Beak]

Hi Jen,

Wow, you just started the Candida Diet and red light therapy and you can already see a difference? Fingers are crossed for that to continue!

Not sure what will work for me but I'll look at both of those. I've heard of red light therapy but not that diet.

Thanks : )

Lisa

[redhotoz]

Hi Lisa

Yup! Good, huh! Things are going really well for me. Not perfect and there are ups and downs but nothing like before.

You'll never know if you don't give it a go and diet is the cheapest alternative when it comes to controlling Rosacea. Why not start out on the cheapest path and if that doesn't work, then you can go and spend hundreds of dollars on useless creams?! LOL Sorry, not trying to be mean or anything but I do get tired reading about people searching for the miracle cream (or medication) that is simply not there! I'm not including you in that Lisa! :)

Hey, even this arvo...I thought my face was playing up a little. I took my son to soccer training and a friend asked me what I was doing to make my face look nice again! :D

Anyway, you do have many options to consider and I wish you the very best of luck with whatever you decide to try.

Jen

[Beacon Beak]

Jen,

Are you doing just red light therapy or are you doing blue as well? I've seen a few sites that show red lights that you can buy to use at home but they often talk about the blue light being needed too.

Also, is the Candida Diet a sort of 2-week detox? If so, what do you plan to do eating-wise in the long-term to maintain the benefits you gain or will you have to do this periodically?

Beacon Beak
P.S. I hear what you are saying about people wanting a magic pill or cream. It's the same way with weight loss. Sure, it would be nice if there were a quick and easy way, but nothing worth fighting for comes without a fight.

[redhotoz]

Hi Lisa

My LED array is made up of all red lights. There are lamps on the market with a red/blue combo. I believe the blue is more for acne and the red light is the preferred option for Rosacea. Having said that, there have not been any clinical studies to prove this yet. All we have right now are anecdotal reports from fellow Rosceans getting benefit from using the red lights at home. I know of at least half a dozen other people who are doing red light therapy from home for Rosacea and all have said that it has improved their skin after using it for a while.

If it does interest you, there are a few past posts on the topic which you can read by doing a Forum search for "red light" or something like that.

The Candida Diet will be a long term project for me. I understand that further down the track, you can start to re-introduce some foods back into the diet. But for now, I find there are plenty of choices of what to eat. Just on the losing weight issue...I understand that on this diet you also lose weight!

Jen