So I've had rosacea and acne for 33 years. I've been on roaccutane low dose for around 2 years which controlled the acne but over the summer, the rosacea became out of control on my nose with blood red heat and multiple papules - around 10-15 bumps on nose at any one time. I saw my dermatologist a few weeks ago and she took me off roaccutane (gulp) and gave me Soolantro cream which contains an anti parasitic called ivermectin. The theory behind it is that rosacea is caused by demodex mites - don't Google it or you may be freaked! - and that this new prescription only cream kills the mites. Apparently the faeces from the mites cause irritation, bumps and redness in rosacea - studies have shown that every adult has demodex mites on their face but that rosaceans have 10 x the amount than normal population. To say I was sceptical was putting it mildly and I was very nervous about a new topical - had zero success with metrogel or fiancée in the past in fact they both made everything worse.
Well blow me down, the soolantro cream is bloody working - within 3 days ALL of the papules had gone - some bumps had been there for months and I thought had scarred. The skin is smoother and somehow thicker - I am two weeks in and the skin is much less red - more pink. Didn't post before now in case it was a fluke but so far so good.
Apparently there may be a flare at 3 weeks as any eggs laid at point of starting won't be killed until they hatch and that takes 3 weeks - baulk!- so if I get a flare at 3 weeks, I will report back as it would support the demodex theory.
At this point, I don't care about the yuckiness of it all just cuffed to bits that finally my rosacea is under control.
So if you have rosacea, get to your GP. Apparently it works best on popular rosacea and doesn't claim to just help redness but I've found it has definitely helped me on both counts.