Treating Rosacea: Eliminate? Control? Fix? Cure?

How do I fix/control/treat rosacea?

Instead of trying to eliminate rosacea, start thinking in terms of managing it. Rosacea can’t be cured, but it can be controlled. If you are constantly looking for the symptoms of rosacea to completely go away, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment.

I am in no way saying that it isn’t possible for your rosacea to disappear, but realistically it might be more advantageous for you to see rosacea as being an ally, continually relaying messages to you about the state of your internal health. This of course includes the amount of stress in your life.

I am not trying to trivialize something that is serious. I am really trying to guide you to a new way of thinking; I also want you to understand that your body is constantly sending you signals about what it likes, what it doesn’t like, and how it is handling everything you are feeding it and asking it to do for you.

This relationship (between you and your body) needs to be a close, committed marriage of awareness, acceptance, and responsibility. Otherwise symptoms will go unnoticed until, perhaps, it is too late. And I’m not just talking about rosacea. I am speaking on a broader platform about every conceivable disorder caused by a body imbalanced. Rosacea may be burdensome to handle on a day-to-day basis, but if you figure out your body’s language you can cut down the amount of symptoms and therefore the look of rosacea.

Professional help. The experience many of my clients have had at the dermatologist is not a great one. Commonly, dermatologists do not spend much time delving into your history, and rarely if ever do they ask questions pertaining to your diet, skin care regime, and other factors that may be affecting your skin. In part, I think this is because many dermatologists simply don’t believe that you are what you eat. Yet to me, this is one of the fundamental truths about life, and I apply this principle to my work in skin care with all of my clients (and now you). What you eat and drink does affect you, but decide for yourself if you experience this to be true in your own life. I am starting to hear of more dermatologists being alert to the food/body connection, but more often than not it is a quick in-and-out of their offices. You may have to do a lot of the research and investigation yourself.

What I have divined from my clients is summed up with the words “patient, heal thyself.” This is not to say that your skin problems should always be self-diagnosed or go undiagnosed. On the contrary, if you think you have rosacea, I highly recommend a checkup with your dermatologist.* But don’t expect a very long consultation or a great deal of helpful information.

Generally, you will get a prescription for medication, oral and/or topical. Topical medications like MetroGel® or MetroCream® may indeed help to keep the redness down to a minimum. As with so many aspects of rosacea, the efficacy of these medications is individual. Some people have great success with them, while others said these products didn’t seem to help. It’s worth a try to see if you can keep your rosacea at bay.

*Be sure to get your moles checked while at the dermatologist!

You know more than anybody else about how you are affected by food, drink, activity, stress, etc. So truly, I give you the responsibility to get to the root cause of your rosacea more than I expect a dermatologist to do so for you. You know better than anybody what works and what causes reactions. A dermatologist cannot follow you around all day to see what you do, but you are there with yourself and therefore can gather a wealth of information on what creates reactions and what creates a calming of rosacea. “Patient, watch thyself and thy habits, then go forth, and avoid thy triggers!”

Photoderm is a laser therapy that has been found to be effective for rosacea. Photoderm uses an intense pulsed light source that tunes into the blood vessels and can potentially clear up rosacea—capillary-wise. Dr. Geoffrey Nase, author of Beating Rosacea, says “Photoderm was the single best treatment for my facial flushing and rosacea symptoms. Six full-faced treatments resulted in dramatic improvement in flushing, skin sensitivity, chronic facial redness, swelling, burning sensations, rhinophyma, and pupils. I cannot recommend this treatment any more highly.”

I have fairly normal, very fair skin, but at age 38 and with two young children, the skin on my nose, cheeks, and chin gets red and hot. Do you think it is rosacea and if so, do you have any specific recommendations?

Usually hot and red are indications of a possible rosacea condition. My first recommendation is to read up on the subject and educate yourself. After reading enough material, you may find that you have many of the symptoms of rosacea. If so, you really ought to get diagnosed by a dermatologist—to be sure—and then try the different topical medications that may indeed help your red and hot skin. Some people find the topical medicines effective, others do not. Understanding more about your triggers and how to manage this disease (if you indeed have it) is the best first step to helping to control the symptoms.

Rosacea is a very frustrating skin condition. If you do indeed have it, hopefully you have also discovered what your particular triggers are. They will be individual to you, but it is imperative that you know what causes a flare-up so at least you can be somewhat in control of this skin affliction. You may have to let go of or alter anything that you find aggravates the situation. Read as much as you can on this subject. Remember, knowledge is power.

For more articles about this skin condition, read  

• What is Rosacea? 
• What causes rosacea to flare up? Rosacea triggers
• IPL & PhotoFacial treatments for hyperpigmentation, capillary issues & scarring
• PLEASE—No Hot Water

Avoiding all triggers may be easier said than done. If wine is one of your triggers, for instance, drink it! Just know you will most likely experience side effects (a flareup of rosacea) if you do indulge.