Rosacea... anyone managed to control theirs

[Wholelottarosy]

Wasn't sure the best place to post this but hoping some one here can help.

Need to get it diagnosed officially but looks like I have Rosacea on my cheek. Red, itchy, bumps, spots. Only seems to flare up just before my period but it's very obvious and embarrassing. My mum had it too until she hit menopause but I am ways of that yet ( I think) . Has got alot worse, or only just presented in the past few months.

I have been trying body shop camomile cream but doesn't seem to do much and there are so many products I don't know where to start.

Has anyone got any suggestions for tried and tested products they can recommend please? Or how I can hide it?

I am fair skinned and red (auburn) haired, so freckles and moles galore so the sun hates me.

I always wear spf on my face, and use a daily moisturiser, used to be johnsons ( which was amazing) until they stopped doing it so have been trying others.

any help or suggestions would be most welcome. Thank you

The only thing that has ever helped mine is soolantra. Nightmare trying to get the GP to help, so I got it through Superdrug and did an online consultation

La Roche face wash, toner and moisturiser keep mine mild!

Second Soolantra! Only thing that worked for me.

Mine went when I gave up cakes, biscuits, bread, pasties etc. I gave them up because I was getting stomach ache, tingling etc but the rosacea disappeared too. I don't know if it's gluten intolerance - I'm OK with some bread (e.g. the "proper" sourdough rather than the fake supermarket stuff) so I have the feeling that it's the additives they use that are upsetting my skin and all the rest, rather than gluten.

Soolantra here too after I was diagnosed by a dermatologist.

Go to your GP and get properly diagnosed. Mine gave me antibiotics firstly and that never worked but soolantra has been amazing. For the redness iv been using rosalique a green tinted moisturiser. Expensive but worth it. If it is rosacea it will be trial and error with products.

As above Soolantra can help. You should also be careful to use a Mineral sunscreen. Don’t use soaps on your face. Or foaming cleanser.

Calming and skin strengthening ingredients like niacinamide, azelaic acid, ceramides will help.

light therapy LED treatments will help.

I’ve recently discovered a product called Hypo21 too

I was diagnosed by an ophthamologist. Turned out my blepharitis was a symptom of rosacea (flushing, broken veins). Soolantra was excellent and I still use it occasionally.
Game changer though was laser treatment - about once a month during the winter only. No more flushing and "butterfly" appearance has gone.
Have gone up a notch with daily SPF : now use Isdin 100+
Dermatologist recommended Toleraine cleanser (La Roche Posay) which I''ve been using for several years.

Another recommendation for Soolantra. Was plagued by rosacea for years, a couple of months using it and my skin cleared up and the worst symptoms haven't returned a couple of years on.

I still get the odd red flushing due to hormones/spicy food/alcohol but the bumps, flakes, pimples, scabs etc. haven't returned and they were the biggest issue.

I used Superdrug online Dr service and paid full price just out of ease. It's not cheap cream but the tube lasted ages and the repeat one I bought about 6 months later just in case I haven't needed to use.

I tried all manner of beauty treatments, diets etc. over the years but Soolantra was the only thing that properly worked.

Disclaimer: I can't guarantee it works for everyone but it seems to for loads of us.

It's a proper progressive skin condition, not a cosmetic thing. Get a proper diagnosis and treated.

Mine is kept under control with Soolantra. The stuff to deal with redness did not agree with me. Long-term antibiotics must play havoc with your microbiome, so I would now not go that route, tho I did with the GP. Proper referral to a consultant, who dx'd it in 10 s flat. Been really good with the Soolantra, hadn't realised how bad it was until it was better.

The consultant didn't agree with me about this but food makes a lot of difference. Ultra-precessed food is not good for the skin or health at all!

Oh wow thank you everyone I wasn't expecting such a response.

I have taken photos and will send to the gp for a consultation. This can take a while so in the meantime I wanted to try and find something that may help. Having looked at images, symptoms and with my mum's history i am pretty certain what it is but appreciate skin type react different.

Can I ask why some posters wouldn't recommend foaming cleaners? I use the body shop aloe for sensitive skin but wondering if this isn't helping?

I see sooltran is recommended, looking at superdrug it's saying £55 for a tube? Is this something that would normally be prescribed by gp? Wondering if I should wait to see if they diagnose me with rosacea and prescribed the ointment before paying out the money?

I have decided to give my eight hour ointment a try and see what happens, the way my face is today i can't see how it could get worse....

Has anyone ever found a correlation between periods and flare ups? Or perimenopause?

(Admin happy for you to move this to a more suitable place if it fits better somewhere else. Thank)

Thank you again everyone you have been so helpful!

I had metronidazole cream (rosex) from the GP for a few months. It slowly but surely cleared it up. Then for about the past year I’ve been getting azelaic acid cream (Skinoren) prescribed which has stopped it returning and also makes my skin feel lovely.

Soolantra is a prescription cream. It worked well for me with oral antibiotics too.

Foaming cleanser is a no for me too, I use a non foaming one and actually using it and letting the skin dry out before using a good moisturiser has really helped.

Rosalique is good as a cover up but I had awful problems with it piling and stopped buying it.

I use Skin + Me daily too, at night, which has transformed my skin.

Mine is nearly home after having it all my adult life. I use CeraVe sensitive wash and then CeraVe PM moisturiser or the bog standard one in the big tub,there's a lotion too of you prefer something lighter. It took 3 weeks to see an improvement. I also had to stop using SPF as everything aggrevates my skin, I wear a hat instead.

GONE not home

@Homewardbound2022 did you have IPL? My GP and derm tell me nothing will stop the flushing but from my own research I think laser treatment will at least reduce the severity of it. Interested to hear more from you about it. I just have redness and flushing, no spots. Antibiotics and Soolantra have done nothing.
OP, try dermatica for a blend of the right ingredients for you - this probably works out cheaper than getting soolantra, rosex etc on prescription separately and will make life easier with only one thing to put on your skin.

Cetaphil gentle cleanser and their moisturisers is what I use (the spf50 one for day and the rich night one for night)

@Redmum22 love the username!!
To your question: I'm not certain what kind of laser treatment it is. But I've been going to the same doctor for several years and the transformation has been amazing. I used to flush horribly particularly when coming from the cold into a warm room. Now I have no more flushing episodes at all. Laser is expensive (about 180 euro a session IIRC) but worth it in my case. I now do a "maintenance" programme of maybe 5 or 6 treatments during the winter months, spaced a few weeks apart.

Soolantra is really the only thing the calms mine down, as does avoiding triggers. My main trigger is the sun, so I'm a bit miserable at the moment. My nose is very swollen and spotty but will settle down once the weather cools down and the clouds appear. (Roll on, autumn!)

Soolantra completely cleared mine up. My GP prescribed antibiotics originally which I was reluctant to take.
I went away did some research and requested Soolantra which the GP was happy for me to try on prescription.
I used around half a tube and it was gone completely. It’s definitely worth discussing with your GP.

@Wholelottarosy a very good cover-up is Biarritz tinted SPF50. Available in three shades. Lovely texture and finish.

Yeah soolantra and/or azelaic acid.
Sunscreen.
Nothing foaming/plant oils/perfumed - stick to CeraVe or Cetaphil
no exfoliation
GENTLE is the key and less is more.
Watch Dr Sam Bunting videos on youtube.

Thank you again everyone.

The doctor has diagnosed it as roscea and has prescribed me soolantra. Unfortunately there is a shortage of the size they prescribed so now need a new prescription for the bigger size, hopefully get it tomorrow . Need to try for 8-12 weeks and see what happens.

Also picked up some la rocha sp? Products in boots and will see how I get on with those. Couldn't remember the types you kind people advised but by the sounds of it may be a bit of trial and error.

Thank you again your advice has been so helpful.