After 6 scary weeks with rosacea, where am I at?

[willingtotry]

Thanks again Nat. At the moment, for me, it feels like a daily fight. I have had a week where every other day has been a good day. And just when i started to feel good and maybe some progress, the next day would get me down again. I realise that it is something i have to learn and manage and time will tell to what extent this will affect me.

My flushing and bad redness at night has actually stopped. I am not burning at night which i did for the previous 6 weeks. However, in the space of 1 week, i have noticed a definite change (for the worse) in my face. Last week i had night burning, but no real redness during the day. Now, i seem to have a bit of a permanent redness, which i find noticeable, but others probably don't. Although my burning has subsided to a certain extent, i have noticed my nose is starting to burn now and has started to react more so in the past 24 hours. I tried to exercise yesterday and it was unsuccessful. I think it affected my nose as it hasn't been the same since. It seems to have inflamed it.

Anyway, hope to get through the weekend with some progress, but not holding my breath.

Thanks again!

WTT

[Scottish]

Hi Scottish,

If your question was directed at me, I have no idea what prompted me to get rosacea. I really do think a long period of anxiety/stress brought it on, if that can be so. Looking back, i do remember a period for a few months where i would get out of the shower and be unusually red just on each side of the nose. It was only a slight change and i didn't think much of it. But, then it all hit me about 6 weeks ago when my face felt like it was on fire for a whole weekend. Since then, the redness started to come.

Anyway, i have it now and i have to live with it. In saying that, I am leaving no stone unturned in my fight to overcome it.

Wtt

I think I can help you but we need to identify what precipitated your flushing episodes.

Would I be correct in assuming that you were using a cleanser (soap, Salicylic acid, dandruff shampoo, etc.) of some sort to wash your face prior to that weekend? Did you get a sunburn or a windburn, perhaps? The reason I ask is because I'm almost certain that most cases of rosacea and seb derm are caused by incremental tissue damage and to reverse it you simply need to stop washing and cleansing your face so much. Inflammation is just our body's way off repairing tissue damage and fighting off pathogens. Unless you are immune compromised in some way, there is no reason to think your skin condition is anything but tissue damage incident to a burn of some sort, whether it be chemical, radiation, friction, etc.

My advice would be to buy some coconut oil and apply it generously before bed. When you wake, gently rinse with cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. If your face gets dry after the morning rinse, apply some moisturizer. If you see a white film beginning to develop over the inflamed areas of your skin, this will be confirmation that your skin is damaged and that the process of repair needs to occur.

Just my two cents.

[willingtotry]

Hi Scottish, i try to think back to when my rosacea first came on. At the time, i actually thought it was from airconditioning. Where i work, they put in a new system and the airconditioner used to blow straight onto my face for long periods of time (about 3 weeks) and then i started to get the burning, which i thought was my skin drying. I was hoping that was the case, but my situation got worse and just burnt all week and then the blotchy skin started to hit me when i got out of the shower. 7 weeks later, the burning is not as bad, perhaps due to medication, but i still get flushes.

I might give coconut oil a try. I bought tea tree oil but am worried as i heard i had to mix it with something. Could it be mixed with coconut oil and applied????

Thanks!

wtt

[Scottish]

Hi Scottish, i try to think back to when my rosacea first came on. At the time, i actually thought it was from airconditioning. Where i work, they put in a new system and the airconditioner used to blow straight onto my face for long periods of time (about 3 weeks) and then i started to get the burning, which i thought was my skin drying. I was hoping that was the case, but my situation got worse and just burnt all week and then the blotchy skin started to hit me when i got out of the shower. 7 weeks later, the burning is not as bad, perhaps due to medication, but i still get flushes.

I might give coconut oil a try. I bought tea tree oil but am worried as i heard i had to mix it with something. Could it be mixed with coconut oil and applied????

Thanks!

wtt

Yes, that prolonged exposure to cold air sounds like the culprit, my friend. Combine that with other factors - showering, for example - and you have a recipe for tissue damage.

As for mixing tea trea oil with coconut oil, I am not sure how that would work. The general rule of thumb in chemistry is that likes dissolve likes, meaning oils dissolve oils, so by mixing the two, you could create a solution. That said, I would recommend you just stick with coconut oil. Everyone so far is having great results from this, myself included. The idea is to reduce your skin's water loss to the environment.

[willingtotry]

Thanks, it is definitely worth trying and at the moment I am doing everything i can to get this under control.

If i were to lean toward a reason, i do think my diet may have had an impact on me getting rosacea. I have heard that it could be caused by a digestive problem and over the past year I have not really followed a good diet. Too much coffee, too much diet coke and not enough nutritional food. I am taking this condition as a wake up call and have turned everything around. I am trying to look for a positive in the situation and it is that I will be much healthier, slimmer and unfortunately, redder .

However, i am not going to discount your thoughts and i am definitely going to give coconut oil a try, as well as get my diet in order.

Thanks again! Appreciate the quick response.

wtt

[Scottish]

Thanks, it is definitely worth trying and at the moment I am doing everything i can to get this under control.

If i were to lean toward a reason, i do think my diet may have had an impact on me getting rosacea. I have heard that it could be caused by a digestive problem and over the past year I have not really followed a good diet. Too much coffee, too much diet coke and not enough nutritional food. I am taking this condition as a wake up call and have turned everything around. I am trying to look for a positive in the situation and it is that I will be much healthier, slimmer and unfortunately, redder .

However, i am not going to discount your thoughts and i am definitely going to give coconut oil a try, as well as get my diet in order.

Thanks again! Appreciate the quick response.

wtt

You're right to concentrate on your digestive health as well. It is a key factor in attenuating inflammation. I would recommend perusing this site: http://drhyman.com/blog/tag/diet-nutrition/

It should help you make more informed choices about your diet.