Rosacea

[infamouspoo]

Anyone got any tips. Poor DH has this. We are waiting for the dermatologists refferal as its affected his eyes as well as the unsightly rash across his cheeks. The GP gave him a mild antibiotic cream but said no-one knows the real cause. He's been told to avoid caffeine, spicy food, acohol and getting too hot.
So he's now walking around like he has the plague and his life has finished
So, any advice? Any alternative remedies? Can he get it under control?

Try low carb diet.

I have suffered with this since getting pregnant with ds1 (now 11) and it is only in the last 3 months whilst low carbing that my skin has really cleared up.

Also ask the doc about roaccutane.

I feel for your DH as you do feel very self conscious but my skin has never looked or felt better!

is low carb possible as a veggie? Will get him to ask about the roaccutane thankyou

busy checking our recipes now. I have coeliacs so we live on rice and curries/chillies. He eats breads and sugary things as well. I've told him to cut down on sugar as I'm sure that cant do him any good either.
What about creams on his face? I use coconut oil as a moisteriser and skin protector. Would that help?

I got rosacea when pregnant and I started using Decleor face cream with the rose essence in it, and it has really helped. It is quite expensive but I buy on eBay and it has been worth it to me.

Needs to cut out sugar and white carbs.

Tis possible to do low carb veggie. Huuuge thread on mumsnet bout us all low carbing.

High fat, protein and get carbs from veg. Lots and lots of water.
Next bootcamp is in April.

I have some cream for my face too but am bad at putting it on. Acea i think its called.

I have been prescribed an anibiotic lotion called ZINNERT. It is in a bottle a bit like a roll on deoderant but the top is a pad and you just pat it on twice a day.

It has worked really well it seems to dry up the bumps and helps take the redness out.

For a moisturiser I use clinique for rosacea apparently you need to use oil free moisturiser.

I have it to. I get lazer treatments that deal the veins at a clinic. I have sessions when needed as the veins come back. It was the most effective thing. I use environ products in my face from the clinic as well.

Sorry about terrible spelling on phone.

he's made another appointment to see the GP to get this zinnert stuff. Only a 5 week wait as its not 'urgent'. The dermatology appt will be 6 months! Thats because its in his eyes - sore, itchy and gritty.
So he has been off caffeine for 3 days now. Honestly, you'd think it was the end of the world. I have coeliacs so am not falling over in sympathy but at least he is listening to advice. He is refusing to google any tips himself (typical man)
Once is discovers his triggers, will he be able to keep it more or less under control? He's nearly 50 and did get alarmed at one picture I showed him.

Well I became tee total in Jan and that combined with low carbing has really improved my skin.

Tis not as bad as your dh's sounds and not in my eyes but I would try and get an earlier appointment with the doctor. Tis affecting his eyesight!!! That is important!

not affecting his eyesight as such, his eyes are just gritty and sore. There are no appointments to be had unless its an 'emergency' Rosacea isnt classed as such.

I'm womanfully preparing to drink his wine now

Hi,

If his eyes are sore, itchy, and gritty he could have a condition called rosacea keratitis. Do you have an eye casualty near you? If so you should get him there, ulcers can form and cause long lasting damage I believe.

For years I had a red face, spots and a sore eye. A new work ID photo made me see that the sore eye was half closed and I went to eye casualty. Discovered there that the skin thing was rosacea and the eye thing was rosacea keratitis. Eye fixed with steroid and antibacterial drops and a method of eyelid cleaning. Rosacea treated with various things over the years, currently long term antibiotics. was a revelation to me that I needed to use gentle, mild stuff on my skin to calm it - until then I had only just stopped short of bleach and brillo pads! Still have high colouring, old ladies admire my rosy cheeks while I cringe inside and one place where I visit for work the staff fondly (!) call me the farmer's wife one, but no fools sing Rudolph anymore.

Hi there,
The biggest thing that made a difference for me was giving up caffeine, Id say it relieved my symptoms 90 percent. I also used to apply a lavender gel made by Amphora Aromatics (buy online). Just a thin layer at night really seemed to calm things down the next day. For his eyes, you can buy 'artificial tears' over the counter, no need for a fancy brand, just ask for Hypromellose (sp?), they will help keep his eyes moist. I also think stress at work was a major factor for me.

I've had this for about 9 years. I wear very pale foundation to attempt to cover it. Last year I went to the docs and she said they would normally start someone on the antibiotic cream and then if it doesn't work (which she said it doesn't normally work) they then move on to antibiotic tablets. I tried tablets first and they did improve it. But since I stopped taking them it came back as before. Interesting that Pinkpinkeverywhere says decleor worked as I remember my skin improving with these products a few years ago. I might try that. Have you heard the theory that it is related to little mites that naturally live in the skin but with people with rosacea they are found in abnormally high numbers. Basically they don't know what causes it for sure and different things work for different people. It does take a while to get used to living with it. I can sympathise with your DH feeling uncomfortable. I try to remind myself that, although I wish I didn't have it, I am lucky that i do not have a disability and that life is too short to let a red face ruin it.

Eyes - using lots of cotton wool balls, dip in a solution of No More Tears baby shampoo. Really get into the lid so that the eyelashes (especially on the inside) are given a good wash. Do this every morning.

DH had to do this in combination with oral antibiotics for years and he's only recently stopped. He has 1 coffee/morning and virtually no booze, which I think helps a lot.