Rosacea: a rescue from the redness?

Rosacea: a rescue from sensitivity and redness?

by Allison Browning

To date I have had so many emails requesting help for a strange embarrassing redness that will not seem to go away…

Rosacea is a common and extremely frustrating skin condition that has baffled specialists as to any one major cause. There is certainly no miracle cure but what we do know is that there are definite irritants, including: alcohol, spicy foods, nicotine, changes in temperature, sun exposure and emotional upsets and stress.

Rosacea comes in many forms, and ranges from mild flushing mainly over the nose and cheek area to severe rhinophyma, a swelling of the connective tissue and sebaceous glands in the nose causing it to appear uneven and bulbous in extreme cases.

It is often referred to as Acne rosacea due to the red, irritated and uneven appearance - however it is not a form of acne. Unlike Acne, there are no comedones (blackheads), white heads or open pimples.

Rosacea may begin as mild but persistent flushing, if it worsens it may form papules (raised lumps) and erythema (dilated capillaries appearing very red). If it does get to a severe stage it may affect the eyes leaving them feel irritated, gritty and swollen. This may eventually lead to the stage of rhinophyma.

There are various options for treatment depending on the severity. Lifestyle is a key factor; avoiding the known irritants is step one. Step two would be to look at times when the flushing is worse, to try and figure out your triggers - are the more irritated periods at times of stress? What had been happening at these times regarding your lifestyle and diet? In this way you might be able to avoid the triggers that make your rosacea worse.

Maintaining a healthy skin routine and diet are essential elements in creating balance within the skin and body in order to promote improvement. Skin care products should be prescribed by a skin professional to soothe the condition with treatment and corrective products chosen to balance and calm the skin this should take the form of a routine for day and night time. Harsh and drying acne treatments are a no-no, and it's also a good idea to avoid anything that is highly fragranced.

Naturopathy may be useful in looking at the body’s internal balance, while homeopathy or a visit to a herbalist can be beneficial for some in looking at both physical and emotional harmony in the body. Topical cortisone (steroid cream) treatments and antibiotics are often prescribed for the condition by dermatologists, so this is another option you can consider. Skin professionals will often look at specific corrective treatments to use within a skin program to rebalance the irritated skin.

Other relaxation therapies addressing lifestyle such as massage and yoga may be helpful, particularly if you find that stress aggravates your rosacea. A combination of the above options is often valuable in treating both body harmony and skin health.

The following skin products are designed to treat rosacea:

SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Gel Is effective when used on mild rosacea as a corrective treatment day or night under a moisturiser.

MD Formulations Critical Care Shielding Crème- is excellent when used day and night as a moisturiser over a corrective serum.

MD Formulations Critical Care Skin Repair Complex- to be used as a corrective treatment day or night under a treatment moisturiser.

Dr.Hauschka Rhythmic Night Conditioner Sensitive - an intensive treatment good for times when the skin is stressed or in transition. Can be used as a booster treatment between 2- 6 times a year usually for a period of 28 days. They are used alone at night or under your moisturizer.

MD Formulations Facial Cleanser Basic is an excellent non-irritating cleanser for exceptionally sensitive, red skins. Its original formula was designed for babies in humidicribs with hyper sensitive skins.

Murad do a treatment range and corrective powder to treat the flushing.

Derma doctor do an excellent treatment product for Rosacea called Calm, Cool & Corrected Rosacea Tx

Zinc based sunscreens (rather than those with a chemical base) may be less irritating on a skin with rosacea. Megan Gale's Invisible Zinc range is ideal, it contains no "chemical blockers" at all and gives excellent broad-spectrum protection to sensitive skin. This range provides both tinted and non-tinted options.

SkinCeuticals also offers Physical UV Defense SPF30, which features a blend of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide with no chemical blockers.

Mineral make up can be a good non-irritating option for those with rosacea to get some coverage without fragranced make up products. Bloom, Ultraceuticals and id Bare Escentials all do options.