Rosacea Treatments

Diagnosis

Remember you must have a diagnosis from your Doctor. Other skin disorders and illnesses may appear like Rosacea and some serious illnesses may produce Rosacea type symptoms. This site is written by fellow rosacea sufferers not medical professionals and does not contain all information about all treatments. Please satisfy yourself of the most suitable procedures for you as an individual with your Doctor or Dermatologist..

Treatments

Commonly the first treatment for Rosacea prescribed by Doctors is antibiotic tablets (such as tetracycline) or topical gels containing the antibiotic Metronidazole. Topical azelaic acid is an alternative to topical antibiotics to treat mild to moderate spots. [source NHS]

Steroidal ointments are Contraindicated (NOT for use) in the treatment of Rosacea, in the short term they may appear to bring improvement, but the likelyhood is of worsening of the condition of the longer term.

There are also various light and laser treatments now available, I haven't had personal experience of these, please carry out a further search on the net and ask your Doctor or Dermatologist for details.

For severe rosacea and enlargement of the nose (rhinophyma) treatments should be discussed with your Dermatologist.

Avoid sun damage use a sunscreen of at least factor 15* year round even on mild days . Our Calmin Environmental Protection Cream (EPC) has a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) 15

Some useful links:
Patient information leaflet from the National Health Service here
Helpful information about sunscreens here

The Eyes

About half of Rosacea patients will have Ocular Rosacea. To what degree the eyes are affected appears to bare little relation to the severity of inflammation of the face. Common complaints are a dry and gritty feeling in the eyes.

Symptoms of Ocular Rosacea may be: Blepharitis, inflamed, dry and crusty eyelids probably at it’s worse in the morning. Conjunctivitis, feels like grit in the eyes, caused by inflammation of the white part (conjunctiva) of the eye. More serious problems arise in about 5% of those with Ocular Rosacea: Iritis, inflammation of the iris causing pain. Keratitis, ulceration of the cornea. This may lead to visual dysfunction, rarely blindness.

Treatment will be to reduce the inflammation of the affected part of the eye. Steroid eye drops may be prescribed. Tetracycline antibiotics also used to treat facial Rosacea has been shown to reduce inflammation and with early intervention can prevent blindness. Your Doctor may refer you to an Opthalmic specialist at a hospital, essential with the more severe forms of Ocular Rosacea. Check to see if there is an eye casualty department at your hospital that you could visit if your eyes are causing you problems.

Further reading from the NHS (where you may follow links for Rosacea, dry eyes, blepharitis and drug info)

Trigger factors

Flushing may be triggered by certain foods, stress, exercise, the wind, rain, sunshine, too moist an atmosphere, too dry an atmosphere, steam from washing the dishes, (cooking, bath or shower), Talking to people, the thought that you might be flushed or nothing you can identify. In other words it’s a right pain in the nether regions!

We have a list of my rosacea triggers, free with our skin care products or email us.

Trigger foods

Trigger foods (of which no-one has a definitive list), that might cause flushing and therefore flare ups (a general worsening of symptoms) may include, spicy foods, smoked and pickled items, foods with added niacin, (niacinamide may be preferable), alcohol. Caffeine and hot drinks. Always consult your Doctor before embarking on a program of food avoidance or diet.

We have a list of my rosacea triggers, free with our skin care products or email us.

Thread veins (telangiectasia)

These can be treated using surgical lasers (argon and pulsed dye lasers). The laser works by matching the wavelength of the laser light to the colour of the broken veins so that only the broken veins take up the heat of the laser light and are destroyed in a millionth of a second with no damage to surrounding tissue. This ensures no scarring. However treatment may need to be repeated if the thread veins return.

Skin Care

Many people find that cleansing with our Calmin Ultra Mild Cleanser to remove dirt, impurities, toxins and makeup from the skin without further irritation can be very beneficial. Further protection may be afforded by using our Calmin Environmental Protection Cream (EPC) SPF 15 with it's protecting, soothing and moisturising ingredients. Studies have shown that one of the EPC's ingredients for instance may help to thicken the outer dermis and lessen heat build up on the skin, two factors that may help to hide thread veins and have a positive effect on flushing..
More details with our trigger factor list, free with our skin care products or contact us.

Always use mild products especially designed for Rosacea or hypersensitive skin. Use water based products and avoid those that contain; denatured alcohol, witch hazel, tea tree oil, acetone, eucalyptus oil, clove oil, peppermint oil, menthol, lanolin or mineral oil. You may want to avoid anything on your skin that you aren’t sure of and then gradually reintroduce products once your symptoms have eased. Men should use an electric shaver. Include a product containing a UV filter of SPF factor 15 or above when out in the sun.

Controlling the flushing
One of the most distressing aspects of Rosacea is that people with it tend to Blush/flush easily. This is not to do with embarrassment, but can be to do with nervousness (no matter how slight), anxiety (again it could be miniscule), general stress (which is an all encompassing term!) or nothing that can be identified.
If you are flushed knowing that your flushing may make your Rosacea worse is stressful. Stress leads to further flushing now you have a really flushed face which is embarrassing which makes you anxious, being anxious causes you to flush more and on and on. Rosacea is nothing if not a very vicious circle. This kind of vicious circle can lead to panic attacks and avoidance of social activities. Do not be afraid to tell your Doctor how Rosacea is affecting you. It is a good idea to put your thoughts down on paper and give that to your Doctor at the consultation.
The menopause can cause flushing in some women which may aggravate Rosacea.

The flu or any illness accompanied by a high temperature can aggravate Rosacea (as if you didn’t feel bad enough). High blood pressure may aggravate Rosacea. When flushing is attended by itching, diarrhoea, headaches or difficulty breathing please consult your Doctor. Vasodilator drugs used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease may aggravate Rosacea.

A surgical procedure is available to treat facial blushing and facial sweating, it is called an Endoscopic Thorasic Sympathectomy (ETS). It involves keyhole surgery using an endoscope, with incisions being made under the armpit and a skilled surgeon then cutting or preferable clamping (this gives some hope of reversal if side effects are noted in the fortnight after surgery) sympathetic and kuntz nerves in the chest cavity (hence thorasic). The autonomic nervous system controls many of the body’s unconscious functions heart beat, blood vessel constriction/dilation, saliva in the mouth, blushing. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts the sympathetic nervous system and working in opposition to it the parasympathetic nervous system. The nerves cut during the surgery are those that transmit signals to tell the face to blush and sweat and coincidentally the hands to sweat.

My thanks to Paul for writing in regarding the potentially devastating side effects of ETS anyone considering ETS must must research the procedure and surgeon thouroughly. I turned the operation down even though it was freely available.

Please remember this site is run by fellow sufferers and not by medical professionals. The site passes on our limited personal experiences and does not offer exhaustive details of treatments, please see your Doctor for diagnosis and treatment.