Hi! A programmer's profile.

[chomwitt]

Hi to everyone.
I am a newbie in this forum . I am 30 from greece.
According to a pfd paper introducing a grading system i have a mild
Subtype 2, papulopustular rosacea.
I learnt that i have rosacea in 27!! Before that dermatologists were
saying i have a mild acne.
The treatment i follow is
a sunscreen,(Avene,20SPF) which apply every time i go out in day.
a gel (Robaz -metronidazole) ,(i dont trust my last doctor in this..its
for the papules i think..)
and a soap for the face.


My main trigger is a combination of heat,anxiety,sweating.
But my main problem is my overincreasing fear ,caused by
many 'small' incidents that the light from computer monitors LCD-TFT or
is another trigger. And that's bad consindering that i am a programmer
and computer science teacher having to spent hours in front of a monitor.
My productivity is going down!! And my anxiety up.

My last news is that i'am searching for ways to work in LCD monitors
with the 'backlight' turned off (can i do that and will that work?)
or buy a projector (i assume that it'll be better) or change job!!(worst
case scenario!)
For the moment i work less with the brightness of the LCD-TFT monitor
in its lowest trying to be as far as i can.

Any feedback from people with the same fear concering computer's
monitors would be very welcomed.

[Quench]

Hi Chomwitt.

I think that there is a kind of screen that you can get to put over the monitor that will cut down on the glare. Sorry I don't know the exact name.

I would also reconsider using soap on your skin if I were you. Soap can be very harsh on rosacea skin - try something milder instead.

[Firefly]

Hi Chomwitt,

I also experience some inconvience using computers. Especially my eyes although my face becomes a little bit more blotchy to the sight. Using a sunscreen (clinique supercityblock for me) seems to protect my skin from environmental triggers in all cases. So maybe it'll work for you too.

[Driven]

I'm a technical writer, so this subject is always "in my face" so to speak. CRT (old-fashioned tube) and LCD screens both contribute to my flushing. This has been my experience so far - larger ones are generally worse, especially older tube TV's. I had a 27" JVC TV (CRT) for many years. Once I was on the road to recovery, I finally discovered it was one of my worst triggers. A newer 27" Magnavox that a family member recently purchased has no effect whatsoever, even sitting four feet away from it playing video games.

At my former employer, I used a 19" ViewSonic monitor at work that was as bad as the JVC (I discovered both were a problem at about the same time), and interestingly enough, an $80 Fellowes anti-glare/static filter eliminated the problem. This filter has a ground wire that attaches to your computer's power supply, continuously draining static electricity away from the front of the monitor. I use a 17" Digiview (CRT) with my home-based business which doesn't cause any problem at all. It's about 7 years old, and I'm dreading the day it breaks down.

Contrary to what many people seem to think, LCDs are capable of causing a reaction. I have yet to encounter a laptop, portable DVD player, or LCD monitor that doesn't cause a reaction in me, but I haven't tried those LCD monitors that claim to be low radiation. Headphones have the same effect, as do "ear bud" type headphones like you get with an iPod - although to a much lesser degree. Probably just the presence of that electric field, even around the wires. The cell phones I've owned don't seem to cause a reaction, although I do get a mild headache if I talk for more than an hour or so. That can't be good...

Now that I'm familiar with the tingling sensation of a reaction to an electromagnetic field, I can sit 10 feet from a tube television and tell within a few minutes if it is a culprit or not. I even have to avoid the first row of cardio machines at the gym - the ones directly in front of the TVs hanging from the ceiling.

I suspect that when it is time to shop for an LCD monitor, I'll either try one of these or see if the anti-static filter works for LCDs like it does for CRTs. One major drawback to the filter is that it makes the image less clear.

[flatside]

this is very interested. i never considered the LCD or any monitors might be causing my problem. but now that i think of it, my problem didn't really appear until i started this job where i sit in front of an LCD screen for 8 hours a day. thanks for the info guys

[Rauno]

I've noticed that monitors make my rosacea worse, too.

For a week we have had a new 19" LCD monitor and it seems that it troubles me more than the old one which wasn't a LCD.
The old monitor usually made me flush only when I sat in front of it for hours.
The new one on the other hand seems to cause me a flush much faster.
Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions since we've had this LCD for so little time but I'm afraid I should have searched for one that would be better for my rosacea rather than agreeing with getting an usual one.