Looking for some advice

[k]

Hey there,
I'm a 19 year old guy who has recently realized he suffers from rosacea. I remember about 2 years ago I sort of noticed that my face was always redder than other peoples', concentrated mainly on the chin and cheeks. I have a somewhat mild form of acne (never being free of pimples, but having few enough that it didn't really look bad), so I just figured the redness which never went away was part of that, the skin just never getting a chance to fully heal before more pimples came.

About 6 months ago the doctor told me I suffer from rosacea, and gave me some samples of metronidazole(sp?) cream, enough to last for 3 weeks or so. That didn't make a difference at all. About 3 months ago I went to another doctor who prescribed me some monocycline (mainly for the acne I think?). I was on that since then and just finished the course a few days ago. Three weeks ago I went to the doctor since the redness in the chin just wasn't getting better at all. He gave me some samples of dermatop (http://health.yahoo.com/drug/d03225a1), and i finished those the other day as well. The pimples are basically cleared up, but the redness in my chin is the same or worse.

My chin has been a bit of a problem for a long time, but now it just seems horrible. It's bright enough that people comment on it, and it looks very rash-like. My skin is dry, flaky sometimes, but at the same time there is almost always a thin layer of oil which shines, especially in pictures. It seems very "thin" and weak. It's hard to explain. The redness in my chin is sort of outlined by lines going straight down from the outside of my lips. I also have constant redness in my cheeks, above sort of horizontal lines from my lips, following my cheek bones outwards. In my opinion it looks bad having red cheeks and chin, and then the lower side portions of my face being white and normal.

I'm not really sure what else I can do about this. I guess I can let in a bit of my lifestyle. I mountain bike in the summer, and snowboard very often in the winter. This winter I wore something covering my face since my chin would get very red, but I just attributed that to windburn. Even though it didn't happen nearly as badly to anyone else. I drink (pretty hard) at least once or twice a week, for the last 3 years or so. I realize that drinking is a huge trigger of rosacea, but I really think it would be lame to quit. I'm a 19 year old university student who just wants to make the most out of life, and I don't want to miss out on a lot of good times with friends because of some skin condition.

What can I do? I've browsed a bit and have seen a lot of talk on laser treatment and accutane. Can someone give me a bit of guidance here? Unless there is something else I haven't been given, topical treatment doesn't work at all for me. Would accutane help? Keep in mind I have thin, dry skin. I read that accutane makes skin drier, so i am not sure. Maybe take it along with a good moisturizer to help that? Or should I ask about laser treatment? Can someone recommend me a good moisturizer to use? I have been using cetaphil gental skin cleanser for the last 2 weeks and it seems to be working very good. I was using an alchohol based aftershave up until a few days ago, so I'm hoping that was one of the things that caused problems.

I will see a doctor again pretty quick and get a referral to a dermatologist, I am just going to wait a few days because I currently have a bit of sunburn and pimple flare-ups from last weekend which are now just about fully cleared again, and I don't want the doctor to just pass the redness off as sunburn.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts, I'm just writing stuff down as I think it, and thanks to anyone who can give advice.

[s-kid]

Hi, not sure I can help but I suppose I'm in the same boat. I'm 16 so I understand about the drinking, although I don't really want to drink anyway I feel like even more of an outcast if I don't drink aswell as having a red face

anyway just wanted to share ur pain
Hope you find something that works.

[sammi]

Hi,
yaa I definatly know what you mean.. I'm also 19, I have the severe flushing type, and my entire year at college was a complete nightmare!! As for a good moisturiser I would reccomend "eucerin dry skin misturizing therapy original creme" its pretty thick so if I were you I would only use it at night, I dont really have dry skin on my face, but i use it on my hands when they get really dry and cracked, & it does an awsome job at moisturising. It has no purfume/colour etc. added so it would probally wouldnt irritate your face... umm as for accutane I really dont know anything about that.. I know some people have had good experiences with really low doses of it, and I know that laser can be good for reddnes. I dunno.. theres lots of good info this forum to help answer your questions
goodluck

[Max]

Three weeks ago I went to the doctor since the redness in the chin just wasn't getting better at all. He gave me some samples of dermatop (http://health.yahoo.com/drug/d03225a1), and i finished those the other day as well. The pimples are basically cleared up, but the redness in my chin is the same or worse.

Dermatop is a corticosteroid - and not even a mild one - shouldn't be used on rosacean skin (can aggrevate rosacea and maybe will in this potency, at least in mid-term use).

I will see a doctor again pretty quick and get a referral to a dermatologist..

I'd really suggest to do this. GPs often don't have a clue about rosacea - which results in prescriptions of drugs like above...

[phlika29]

Hi

I will ago there was talk about a particular type of antihistamine that can help with the flushing you get when you drink. It was talked about on the blushing forum (ESFB Bulletin board http://www.esfbchannel.com/forum/) awhile ago. Supposidly it helps with the histamine reaction that you get from alcohol.

With my flushing I have found that propanerol has helped the most along with laser/IPL. I personally found that even the low dose roaccutane made my skin worse (very dry and flushy). If you live in the UK a good consultant derm to see is Dr Chu at Hammersmith Hospital.

[Warren]

If I were you I would try to find a good laser/IPL treatment centre and go with that (if there is one). If you already have dry and flaky skin then you probably do not want to take the risk of isotretinoin (Accutane) as it has quite a few side effects, and even at a low dosage will have drying effects. With laser/IPL as long at the physician is properly trained and competant then at least any downtime is predictable.

[redhotoz]

Hi K

A somewhat delayed welcome to the Forum but a genuine welcome none the less.

What you have described sounds like Seb Derm, maybe? Perhaps Seb Derm and Rosacea combined? Have you visited a Derm yet?

Jen

[k]

Hi K

A somewhat delayed welcome to the Forum but a genuine welcome none the less.

What you have described sounds like Seb Derm, maybe? Perhaps Seb Derm and Rosacea combined? Have you visited a Derm yet?

Jen

I have a dermatologist appointment on October 19th so hopefully she can come up with something that helps.

Does anyone know if something like this: http://www.londondrugs.com/Cultures/en-US/P...
would actually help reduce redness? Like the redness in my chin isn't "flushing", it's just permanently there.

[redhotoz]

Interesting product. Personally, I doubt that it would work on permanent redness but it's cheap enough to give it a go. Let us know if you do decide to try it and if it does help with redness.

Jen