[my] style files

Are you surprised this wasn’t my very first post? I am. I have talked about rosacea (pronounced: roh-ZAY-sha) for quite some time, being that I am affected by it. Rosacea is a common disorder of the facial skin that affects an estimated 14 million Americans. The scary thing is, most of those affected don’t know it. It’s critical to expose people to the symptoms of rosacea, while providing education, in order to significantly bring down the percentage (78!!!) of Americans that have no knowledge of this condition.

Per the National Rosacea Society, rosacea is quite common. It has been most frequently observed in patients with fair skin, but has also been diagnosed in Asians and African Americans. It occurs in both men and women and the onset typically begins at any time after age 30. I concur, as I was diagnosed with acne rosacea shortly after I hit 30. And yes, I have very fair skin. So why was I surprised? Simply put, because I knew absolutely nothing about it. I assumed I was having a weird breakout, perhaps reacting to various skin care products. Good thing I knew to schedule an appointment with my dermatologist. And thankfully, we caught it so early that you would actually never know that I have acne rosacea. My skin is perfectly clear (I say this not to brag, but to make the point about early diagnosis). So it’s no wonder that I am most passionate about skin care. I am a huge proponent of dermatology. I have found that prescription skin care medication/products can truly make a difference. In addition to the love of my life (skin care love, that is) Theraderm. The 4-piece set is proven to reduce redness associated with rosacea and happens to hold the most incredible ingredients ever to be mixed in one bottle.

The underlying cause or causes of rosacea have not been scientifically proven. With ongoing research, we can only hope it will lead to improvements in a potential prevention or cure. Some believe rosacea to be a vascular disorder because of its association with flushing, redness and visible vessels. Here are the symptoms to be aware of:

(1) Flushing
(2) Persistent Redness
(3) Bumps and Pimples
(4) Visible Blood Vessels

The subtypes of rosacea are:

(1) Facial Redness (Erythematotelangiectatic Rosacea)
(2) Bumps and Pimples (Papulopustular Rosacea)
(3) Enlargement of the Nose (Phymatous Rosacea)
(4) Eye Irritation (Ocular Rosacea)

You can find the faces of rosacea here. The most common triggers are sun exposure, emotional stress, hot + cold weather, wind, heavy exercise, alcohol consumption, hot baths (this killed me!), spicy foods, humidity, certain cosmetics and skin care products, heated beverages, dairy products, and more. You can find more triggers here.

If you have already been diagnosed with rosacea, like me, then you know to comply with medical therapy, protect your face from the sun, limit exposure to wind and colder days, take care of allergies or colds, and avoid your specific rosacea triggers. Rosacea is chronic - early diagnosis is critical. Please, spread the word.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, July 21st, 2007 at 7:48 am and is filed under skin care. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.