What is the X Factor in Rosacea?

[Guide]

The Rosacea X-Factor Syndrome is an interesting concept originated at a rosacea yahoo group sometime around the year 2000. The X-Factor is 'the factor of a regimen of treatment for rosacea that is not fully understood when rosacea is controlled in one person, but the same regimen doesn't work for another rosacean.'  One factor to consider is understanding the placebo/nocebo effect which may explain why this phenomenon occurs. 

While one rosacean may report success in treating rosacea explaining their treatment in detail, another rosacean will try it and not find the same level of success. Why? What is the X-Factor? The X-Factor may be rooted in what causes rosacea or what you believe is the cause.  Possibly your bias toward the treatment also factors in the placebo/nocebo effect which may explain it.  There may be other reasons why a particular rosacea regimen for one rosacean that works to control rosacea will not work for another rosacean but for now the X-Factor is a good explanation to describe this phenomenon or syndrome. 

The King of the Soolantra threads is an example of the Rosacea X Factor who report that Soolantra is God's grace to rosacea sufferers and then there are those who say Soolantra doesn't work for them. Those who use Mirvaso are another example of the X factor with positive reports and the negative reports that indicate the syndrome.  

Trigger factors are included in the X-Factor, since what may trigger a rosacea flare-up in one rosacean may not trigger another rosacean. Trigger factors only MAY trigger a rosacea flare-up no matter who makes up the trigger factor list. 

One of the problems with the X-Factor is that there is the difficulty of defining rosacea and how rosacea is often misdiagnosed. When a physician says that you have rosacea (or one of the phenotypes [used to be called subtypes] ) this disease looks like so many other skin conditions that a rosacean may find later that it is SD, PF, PD, or demodectic rosacea. The disease has such a broad spectrum and looks way too much like acne, SD, lupus, PD, and a host of rosacea mimics. The point of all this is that when one is looking for a treatment for rosacea, assuming that the doctor is right about the diagnosis, and finds out way down the line that what is on the face is actually another skin disease or condition, the X-Factor goes into another realm, the Rosacea Twilight Zone. it really shows that we need research on this, and that is why this non profit organization was formed in the first place, to do just that. For more information, read Rosacea Research in Perspective of Idiopathic Diseases.

As for treatment, you should first read the Gold Standard Treatment for Rosacea, and if this doesn't work for you, then read the post, When Rosacea Resists Standard Therapies.

The real question is what is the X-Factor for you? The X-Factor is why treatment for rosacea is an individual thing. What works for one rosacean may not work for another. The X-Factor will not go away unless we find a cure for rosacea.

Rosacea Research
The Rosacea X-Factor is with us until we know more. What about researching rosacea? Understanding the Risk-benefit Ratio in Rosacea Research & Development will help. 

One other thing you can do is join the RRDi and help us find the cure. If you joined our cause and we reached 10K members, and each member donated one dollar, we could sponsor our own double blind, placebo controlled, peer reviewed clinical study on the X-Factor with the collaboration of the RRDi MAC (or we could research another subject!). Please join. 

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