New Rosacea Web Site

An interesting new web site on rosacea, living with rosacea and treating your rosacea can be found at:
http://www.rosaceadoctor.org/index.htm

Finding Your Rosacea Solution

If you think you have rosacea, it is always good to get a second opinion from a professional. However, a doctor's solution to rosacea is NOT THE ONLY solution. Doctors will prescribe almost anything today. There are so many rosacea treatments that can be prescribed. Prescription is not necessarily the answer! While some rosacea treatment prescriptions do have wonderful results, they also have their side effects and negative results. It's good to always stay informed about what you are taking.
Most importantly, a rosacea sufferer must always remember that it is not all about what you are TAKING, but what you are DOING that can help get rid of pesky rosacea flare-ups. Healthy lifestyle changes MUST take place to keep rosacea in check over the long haul of this little road called life.

Rosacea and Stress

Stress is a fundamental cause of rosacea. You can combat stress by changing your situation, your attitude toward people and things (we can learn to be positive), and taking the personal time out to have fun and friendship. Sleep eight hours or more per night to help alleviate stress. Caffeine, being a stimulant, can make you hyper and cause difficulty in sleeping.

Living With Rosacea

While rosacea is impossible to cure at this time... it is possible to alleviate its symptoms. Rosacea occurs for so many reasons, including: heredity, stress, alcohol consumption, overheating, overcooling, etc. Here are some foolproof LIFESTYLE changes to help you overcome rosacea. Importantly, there are LIFESTYLE changes... these are something you should so every day. Once a year, once a month, or even once a week with not aid you at all in your pursuit to get rid of rosacea flare-ups. Suffering from rosacea is serious. Here are some rosacea tips.

Summertime is Suntime

Effective rosacea treatment and skin care also involves preventive rosacea skin care. The use of sun screens is just one of these preventive skin care measures.
Sunscreens are designed to protect against sunburn (UVB rays) and generally provide little protection against UVA rays. Sunscreens work by reacting chemically with the skin cells to protect them from the UVB rays of the sun. Unfortunately for those who suffer with rosacea, the ingredients in protective sunscreens can actually cause a sunburn-like photosensitive reaction. This reaction includes a rash or itchy red breakouts that can persist for days giving an appearance similar to rosacea. Studies by the Australian Journal of Dermatology indicate that 81% of the reactions caused by photosensitive persons were caused by two primary ingredients- oxybenzone and butyl methoxydibenzoyl methane.
Chemical sunscreens contain chemicals such as benzophenone or oxybenzone (benzophenone-3) as the active ingredient. They prevent sunburn by absorbing the ultraviolet (UVB) rays. Most chemical sunscreens contain from 2 to 5% of benzophenone or its derivatives (oxybenzone, benzophenone-3) as their active ingredient. Benzophenone is one of the most powerful free radicals generally known to science. It is used in industrial processes to initiate chemical reactions and promote cross-linking. Benzophenone is activated by ultraviolet light. The absorbed energy breaks benzophenone's double bond to produce two free radical sites. This explains why most chemical sunscreens cause various degrees of redness and sensitivity to rosacea sufferers.
A sun block stays on the skin's surface to form a physical barrier so it's less likely to interact with the skin's cells and cause a photosensitive reaction. Two sun blocks we have found to be non-irritating are; Baby Block by Banana Boat with an SPF 50 and CityBlock by Clinique.
Physical sunscreens contain ingredients such as zinc oxide, sodium chloride, or titanium dioxide. These physical sunscreens are topical and do not penetrate the skin. They work by reflecting the ultraviolet (UVA and UVB) rays away from the skin. These physical natural minerals as a sunscreen are preferable for rosacea sufferers. Also, you can get further sun protection by applying the chemical sunscreen over the physical sunscreen, which helps to keep the skin from being irritated by the chemical sunscreen.

Cause of Rosacea

The precise cause of rosacea is still unknown, a multifactorial cause is likely. Over the years, many suspected but unconfirmed causes contributing to rosacea have been discussed. These factors include but may not be limited to a genetic predisposition, heredity, dyspepsia with gastric hypochlorhydria, inflammatory bowel disease and infestation with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, seborrhoea, Demodex folliculorum mites, endocrine diseases, vitamin deficiencies, microcirculatory disturbances, hepatopathy or psychogenic factors.

Skin Damage From Laser

I always feel frustrated when anyone experiences a side effect from laser or IPL treatment. Thankfully, most of these reports are posted within the first two weeks, long before the skin has to heal.I wanted to show you a horrible photo of my first laser treatment over a decade ago.

I choose the top guy in the field (Dr.Bridenstein of U. of Pittsburg Chair Dermatology) who used the 585nm pulse dye laser. Knowing nothing, he offered me several treatments at low energies or one big treatment (if you could stand the pain). I opted for the one big treatment.

Once again, I am posting these photos so it may give some peace to those scared of lasers. Dr. Bridenstein gave me a second degree burn. I actually went to the burn unit and they dressed my face and gave me ointments to use for three weeks.

The photos are not great,but it just shows how resilient the skin is. Top Photo: 26 days after treatment. Purple color is burned flesh. Clear ointment over top. You can see that my eyes are still almost swollen shut 28 days after treatment. It took more than three months for it to clear. Then my flushing and neural pain took off evenworse.

Bottom Photo: I took a year off from lasers as I was scared to death. I then used 6 photoderms to reverse everything. The bottom photo is taken two days after my final photoderm.http://www.drnase.com/LaserBurn.htm Just goes to show you how tough the skin is.....even rosacea skin.It also reinforces the continuing theme that when I do something(right or wrong), I do it 150%.Regards,Geoffrey______________________________Dr. Geoffrey NasePh.D. Neurovascular