Impact of rosacea on my life
In quite a number of my posts, I talk about my rosacea. The topic keeps popping up because my skin condition impacts my lifestyle.
That’s right, to a significant degree my life is influenced by the red, burning rash on my face.
From what I eat and drink, to how I exercise, to what I put on my face, is all impacted by my rosacea and my efforts to keep it under control.
What is rosacea?
First, it is not acne. As a matter of fact, treating it as acne can make the condition far worse.
It is an inflammatory skin condition on the face characterized by:
- small red bumps or pustules on nose, cheeks, forehead and chin
- burning or stinging sensation
- visible spider line blood vessels
- burning or gritty sensation in eyes
- red bulbous nose
Rosacea is a chronic skin condition. There is no cure. However, it can be minimized by avoiding triggers.
What are the triggers?
Here is where my life is impacted by my rosacea. In an effort to keep my face as rash free as possible I have to avoid the following:
- foods that cause facial flushing including, horrors of all horrors, chocolate
- temperatures that heat up the face, including hot baths, sitting around a bonfire
- wind and sun
- beverages such as red wine, coffees and teas
- stress
- most skin care products and make up
- menopause … okay, we can’t avoid that one, but it is a trigger
- high intensity exercise
Each person is unique
My mother has rosacea, but her triggers are not necessarily the same as mine. It is really a matter of paying attention to what causes a flare up.
For me this means:
I eat a small square of 85% dark chocolate. To eat an entire milk chocolate bar is out of the question.
The heater in the car is nasty to my face. I can feel an almost instant burning sensation. Saunas and steam rooms are avoided at all costs. I do use our hot tub daily. I am sure it doesn’t help, but we did make some concessions that help. It is a salt water tub, which reduces any chemical reactions. Plus, we do not have a roof over the tub, so the heat doesn’t build up in the air.
I have to wear a hat all Summer long. Mind you, this is a good idea anyway. However, although most rosacea informational sites advise a good sun block, I cannot use any, as they themselves are triggers.
No red wine, but I can drink coffee and tea. I just have to let them cool down first. But zero tolerance to spicy foods.
The only make up I can wear is on my eyes and lips. As well, I have to use a very expensive, totally natural skin wash formulated for rosacea. It is applied gently using my fingers. The roughness of a facecloth is another trigger!
I had to give up running. I might have been fit, but my face was an unholy mess. Fortunately, power walking is fine.
Are there medications?
Yes, and again, what works for one person doesn’t work for another. Definitely see your dermatologist, and you might have to do a some trial and error.
I used a prescription gel, but to be honest I’m not good about getting to the doctor to refill the prescription. It was great when I could request refills over the phone, but those days are long gone. Now I need an actual appointment. This irritates me, so now I manage my condition with all the lifestyle changes I mentioned.
Finding a balance
As with any chronic condition, you need to balance minimizing your symptoms with enjoying life.
I was willing to give up running, but I am not willing to give up my hot tub. I drink a glass of red wine on the rare occassion (because red wine is so much nicer than white) and I accept my face will be red for several days afterwards.
Some people choose to cover up their redness with make-up, risking a vicious cycle of flare ups. I decided I would try not to let my rash bother me on the bad days, and head out bravely into the world with a smile.
If you suspect you have rosacea, please see your dermatologist immediately. Leaving it untreated can lead to very nasty facial scarring. W.C. Fields’ bulbous nose is a prime example. No offence to the late Mr. Fields, but I like my nose just as it is.
Have your say:
If you have rosacea, do you have any tips to share on avoiding triggers?
My biggest challenge is finding a facial wash that won’t irritate my skin. What works for you?
More information!
The following sites provide excellent information on rosacea:
Mayo Clinic
Rosacea Facts
National Rosacea Society
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You’re already doing a lot of good things, like avoiding sun and heat, spices, and hot beverages. At the naturopathic clinic I work at, we sell all-natural skin care for rosacea (it’s not a good idea to put any chemicals on it that will absorb into the skin or simply suppress the symptoms) called Rocia (www.rocia.ca), and it really actually helps, along with these other things:
-Doing a homeopathic detox (we use Heel’s detox kit), which cleans out kidneys (major for the skin), colon, lymphatic system, etc. A detox may make your skin temporarily worse since your skin is the largest organ and toxins may choose that avenue to come out (as it’s already doing), and so we recommend a powder that can be made into a mask, called Luvos, by Biomed. I use this almost every night and I love it. This too actually works.
-drinking a litre and a half or more filtered water a day
-avoid alcohol
-avoiding dairy, meat, sugar, and wheat, as well as caffeine and spices (as you mentioned)
-eating 50% raw veggies, esp. dark greens, like kale, spinach, collard greens, and fruit and whole grains. you want your diet to be more alkaline than acidic (as does absolutely everyone. Acidity in the body causes or facilitates illness and disease and other ailments).
We find that those who eat a candida diet keep their rosacea under control or get rid of it, perhaps because rosacea and other skin conditions can be a result of too much yeast in the body.
I hope this helps, Eliza!
Hi Eliza,
I’ve had something — not rosacea– on my face for years, but nothing, including very expensive trips to a dermatologist, has made it go away completely. I have found as steph writes, a diet to lessen candida helps.
@Steph – wow! This is incredible information. Thank you! I will look into the products you mention. As for the candida diet, I looked it up … sigh … cuts out a lot of good stuff
However, I am going to slowly start eliminating different foods and beverages from my diet and keep track to see what affect that has on my skin.
@Lori – very interesting about the candida connection. See my note to Steph about eliminating foods and keeping track. Thanks.
Oh, I know. The candida diet is pretty strict. My favourite foods are bread and cheese and pretty much candida foods, of course (no surprise, then, how I got candida). But the diet really helps. I also got rid of my panic attacks doing it. I did it for a year and though I was pretty crusty for a while, I got used to it and it did make me better.
I’m going to do it again, starting with a detox. I’ve let myself slip a lot lately, and I’m really starting to feel it!
To keep track, try eliminating dairy for four days at least and then reintroduce it and see how you feel and look. Then try wheat for four days or more, and reintro, and then sugar for four or more and reintro. Or just google the elimination diet and see what comes up.
I dont have rosacea per se but I’ve always ‘felt’ stuff through my face. Stress, extremes of temperature, spicy foods, alcohol, hot drinks can all make me flush up around my cheeks and especially my nose – on a really cold day I look like Rudolph. It doesn’t help that I get very white circles around my eyes through wearing glasses.
I think it’s due to a combination of factors – poor circulation and, as the other ladies said, Candida. I’ve been working on removing all the culprits from my diet but it doesn’t leave a lot to eat. However, the benefits since I’ve stopped eating yeast, sugar and processed wheat have been extremely noticeable and, as the ladies have said, my panic attacks seem to have lessened too.
I’m determined to at least try to get through this difficult time in a woman’s life without recourse to prescription medications and maintain the body that I abused with anorexia for so many years. It’s tough when you’ve just realised how beautiful you actually are, only to watch the effects of the change take it away before you’ve had a chance to enjoy it.
@Joanna – you are the third person to talk about the benefits of a candida diet. Not just for rosacea, but for general well being. It’s time I put serious thought to what I can eliminate from my diet.
This information about triggers is excellent! I agree with the bit about medicines also – what works for some doesn’t always work for others. And I also agree about it not being acne and don’t talk about it in that way, since I believe that it leads people down the wrong paths.
Good luck with controlling your triggers. I think next I will post about rosacea triggers because I am mostly concerned with natural treatments for rosacea and that’s about as natural as it gets.
Christa
The detox route is good because it helps cleanse the organs such as the liver. Some have done Hulda Clark’s liver cleanse and reported, not only lessened rosacea redness, but a decrease in allergies. I thought this was interesting because sometimes rosacea does seem like a form of allergy. Some have theorized that it is an inflammatory reaction in the skin due to toxins that are unable to be cleansed the normal way because the liver is not optimized. So, the toxins “seep” to the surface of the skin in the weakest places of the epidermis – this is usually the thinner areas of the facial skin. Once the skin is weakened by inflammation, it takes a while for the skin to recover… and before full recovery, the process can begin all over again. This is why L-Lysine helps many patients with rosacea, because it helps the skin recover faster to keep the inflammation cycle from perpetuating.
@Abby – I have read several articles now on a connection to the liver. I am going to look into this more.