Any advice about rosacea before I have to wear a bag on my head?

[MaryWiselyornotatall]

I have recently been diagnosed with rosacea, a skin condition which causes red flushing and broken veins on the nose and cheek area, and which can lead to that horrible red, bumpy nose which is often regarded as a heavy drinker's complaint. The doctor says it isn't bad enough for antibiotic tablets, thank god, because at the moment I don't have the horrible pimples which it can cause, so has given me some metronidazole gel to apply twice a day.

I do have one tiny, bumpy patch on my already fairly noticeable nose, and am desperate to try anything which might minimise the chance of it getting worse. Does anyone have any suggestions, apart from nose amputation? I would try anything, whether skin products to help, or cosmetics to disguise the redness. It is apparently very common, but I don't find that particularly consoling. I don't want to look horrible!

TIA.

Thank you Mary. I am doing okayish. Most of the time.

Just wish I could find a permanent solution for my skin though as I had having to remember taking a daily pill.

I use the metanizadole gel,took about a weekish to start working but then my skin was so much better,tried to not use it but it all returned so now it's used every day.

I jsut use a tinted moisturiser,boots no7 is great with a touch of concealer or that green stuff if really necessary.

The less stressed I am the better mine is,alcohol has a horrible afect on mine too.

So to sum up for me it's,minimal stress,not too much alcohol,bed by 10ish every night (including weekends),using the gel daily,eating a reasonable diet (too many carbs seem to make mine worse,as in bread)

No alcohol, no carbs, no caffeine, no chocolate, early nights, low stress, sunscreen... we should be marketing this to the Daily Mail as a New Year diet.

So here we all are wearing bags over our heads to hide the ravages of rosacea, while at the same time turning into the dullest people in the world. No-one would want to talk to us anyway,so a win/win situation, I feel.

I am now off to bed with a cup of tea - oh no! Caffeine is now my enemy! - to compile a shopping list of products to repair my face. Thank you for all the suggestions, and I will update on anything that works.

Goodnight, and sleep well, all.

Cetaphil is good. Dermalogica ultra calming cleanser is another one I just thought of

I have been drinking de-caf drinks for years now, honestly I cannot tell the difference.

Agree re the Stress thing, mine is always worse when I am at work.

A tip for make-up is that I use Estee Lauder Double wear foundation, but then I use a Bare Minerals Foundation as my face powder, if that makes sense? So I am using two foundations on top of each other. I find that this combo has really good staying power.

Good plan, MM. Might try using the Mineral Veil over an ordinary foundation to prevent the cakey look. Off to the shops today, with any luck.

Honestly, the double foundation thing has changed my life!

I use the primer before the mineral makeup, stops the dry look. It's like a serum and sooooo soft.

I have mild rosacea. It's really strongly climate-dependent. Harsh, windy, subzero weather and central heating break up my skin, make my nose permared and cheeks rival those of Father Christmas. Balmier climates - the Tropics where I lived before and my current Mediterranean home - are perfect for my skin. No redness, no flakiness, even my ocular rosacea has calmed down, almost no coverup needed for redness (the sheerest foundation is enough).

I've used the clinique anti redness range (combined with some anti acne stuff) which has worked well. The green tinged daily protect cream is fantastic for dampning down the redness.

I have this, and was put on low dose roaccutane by my dermatologist which cleared it up a treat but made my skin very dry. Then I became pregnant and my skin was perfect - I didn't have to wear makeup for the first time in 15 years.

Unfortunately mine is set off by stress and lack of sleep, and since I have a high maintenance DS who doesn't sleep, my skin is shit at the moment :( the metronidazole gel doesn't work for me and I can't have any oral treatment until I stop BFing. Clinique mineral foundation and Bobbi Brown creamy concealer are my best friends!

I have had a message from Avene asking if I want to trial a new product of theirs specifically for rosacea. Is this genuine or a scam? Do companies trawl MN looking for potential victims customers? Not sure how to respond.

I had my first flare-up when I was under a lot of stress, for me it's definitely stress-related.

I found going "back-to-basics" as it were, no exfoliators, face-washes helps during a flare-up.
I use Simple face-wipes to take eye makeup off, then rinse my face with tepid water & pat dry with a very soft towel. Never rub! Next Liz Earle Skin Repair Moisturiser in normal/combination.

At the moment my skin is fairly good, so I'm using one of my Christmas pressies, Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream & it seems very gentle & soothing on my skin.

my sister has it and uses clinique redness solutions make up and she looks amazing. Brilliant stuff.

I would be very wary Mary to be honest, even if it is genuine I'd be cautious about trying a new product when you have just been diagnosed and are starting to try and control your redness.

Thanks, MM. The metronidazole seems to be calming it down, so perhaps I will just carry on as am for a while. I know Avene products are good, but I was wary of this contact. Mrs 'Can't be too Careful' - that's me!

This is what seems to be working for me:
-moved in the opposite to others, away from liz earle towards the boots no7 hot cloth cleanser. the cloth that comes with this is too scratchy so i use old le cloths or a flannel.
-EPA fish oil tablets. these have made the biggest difference. i also take floradix liquid iron (no idea if this helps but have read that iron tablets can aggravate rosacea)
-on advice in the liz earle book I've tried pro-biotics and do think these make a difference
-keep a food diary. look out for syptoms after spicy food, wine, all the usual suspects.
-I use la roche posay factor 50 most days. the dermalogica ultraclaming range is good, especially the barrier repair. they do an spf20 cream that's good for red patches. don't use it all over the face or you'll look like the wicked Witch of the West.
-clinique redness solutions make-up.
-it's the supplements and wine-free life that have made the real difference. imo skincare can aggravate the problem but on its own is not a solution.

MaryWisely - Avène is a very reputable brand, highly respected in France with excellent products that are often better than prescription medicines. I would try the Avène products if you are offered them!

@MaryWiselyornotatall

I have had a message from Avene asking if I want to trial a new product of theirs specifically for rosacea. Is this genuine or a scam? Do companies trawl MN looking for potential victims customers? Not sure how to respond.

Please report that PM to us, MaryWiselyornotatall. They're breaking our rules and we'll need to mail them about that.

You can have laser treatment for rosacea - it's supposed to be very effective, although I don't know how much it is.

I have had it done for spider/broken veins that I have on either side of my nose.

I don't have Rosacea myself but I use skin products from a company call Sher and have noticed one of the areas they seem particularly focused on is conditions like Rosacea - they are expensive to get started with but their products last ages... I particularly like their Light Moisturiser and Face wash.
(www.sher.co.uk). Hope you find something that helps soon.

Help! How do I report this? Can't see how to do it.

@MaryWiselyornotatall

Help! How do I report this? Can't see how to do it.

Sorry to be so slow answering, MaryWiselyornotatall.

There's a Report this Message link at the top of every PM in your inbox. Just click it.

Thank you.

All done!