My Background:
Rosacea is not fun to have. I didn’t even know I had it until late last year when I went to the eye doctor. For weeks I’ve been suffering from a couple of styes (don’t know what styes are? lucky you! basically it’s an infected eyelash gland that causes something like a pimple to be formed in the area) and one just would not go away and as he was inspecting my eyes he casually mentioned, “well your rosacea is inflamed, and that’s what is causing your styes.”
A condition I had not even known I had was causing the most annoying eye problems I’ve had to suffer through. And it was only getting worse! I’ve had more styes in the past six months than I’ve ever had in my life combined. With help from my eye doctor, I have now managed to heal the styes that popped up and stopped new ones from forming.
What It Is:
But what exactly is Rosacea? It’s a skin condition yes, but one that for the most part looks harmless. Until it flares up, that is. Holy crap, do flare ups suck. Every person has their own symptoms of Rosacea, mine were facial redness and the GOD DAMN STYES, ranging from simple flushing of skin to skin thickening. Below is an image to the different subtypes of Rosacea to get a better idea of what I’m talking about. It also links to rosacea.org which is just the best place to get any and all info regarding this skin disorder.
Rosacea does not have a cure but it can be controlled.
What I Did:
I was prescribed antibiotics from my eye doctor to calm my skin down. Antibiotic’s have that neat side effect of calming skin but as a female you may want to be wary of how many you take as another side effect could be a yeast infection! FUN! I was still in the process of taking care of a pesky stye, so I had to have it popped (just… ouch, man) and then take the antibiotics for some weeks.
Along with the pills, I had to take notice of what in my diet may be causing these flare ups. Spicy food, caffeine, and warm drinks may trigger your rosacea. I hate spicy food but indulge in caffeine on a daily basis. Not only can certain foods trigger it but the weather, stress or anxiety, and even skin care products. This winter has been exceptionally cold and windy, bingo. Well what can one do against Mother Nature? Load up on mother-effin’ moisturizing products!
I went to my local skin care store (I live in NYC, so Flushing is my go-to for any and all beauty purchases) and stocked up on a few lotions, moisturizers and a crap-ton of face masks! Do not underestimate the power of a face mask! After a couple of months, my skin is now fine and I haven’t had a flare up since.
What to Take Away:
So what was the point of this post? Well, honestly I just wanted to get this off my chest. Rosacea sucks ass and is a hassle to your everyday life. But it helped me understand what my skins needs and I’m sure if I stay on top of my skin care regimen my skin will thank me for it in the future. If this post has helped anyone then I consider this a success. A lot of people may not even know they have Rosacea until it’s too late. So if you think you have Rosacea, please check out the link provided above and go to your dermatologist. So what say you? Have you had to deal with Rosacea flare ups? How? Any tips? Do you have to deal with a different troubling skin condition?
-Joy
starryskin.com 