Guide

Erythromelagia (EM) is one possible diagnosis to differentiate from rosacea. What is it? We have a post on EM and another post on the TEA non profit organization. Both posts require you to join the RRDi with a subscription. 

    Find a dermatologist! 

We have a post about the AAD and how you can find a dermatologist in your area. (Requires Subscription)
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

There are now spa treatments using cryotherapy. Will this work for rosacea? Cryotherapy has been used to treat phenotype 5. Will it improve any other phenotype? Time will tell since without a doubt we will be receiving reports whether any other phenotype is improved with cryotherapy. To view this post on cryotherapy you must join the RRDi and subscribe. 

We may be hearing more of using computer aided diagnosis (CAD) in diagnosing rosacea. This post/thread will continue to add more information on this subject as more papers are released. To view this post requires RRDi membership subscription. 

This may help reduce the number of reports on misdiagnosis. These papers on this subject are coming out of China, showing that this country is way ahead on using AI with computer aided diagnosis in dermatology. 

The RRDi has a Reddit account, r/rosacearesearch, with as of this date 163 members which is quite small compared to the much larger rosacea group shown above, r/rosacea, that has over 39.5K members!  Without a doubt r/rosacea is one big rosacea group! 

r/rosacea introduction • rudely treated

About three years ago I joined this group and was treated rather rudely as if I was Adolph Hitler or Judas Iscariot and it hurt me deeply and it has taken me this long to finally comment on this rosacea group at Reddit. I am recording screen shots for historical purposes so that if this comes up in the future at least I was able to tell my account of what happened about three years ago when I had such an awful experience posting at r/rosacea. It made me so shell shocked I still have a very difficult time posting on any rosacea social media site out there since manners have changed so much from when we first started posting about rosacea on the internet over twenty years ago. I made videos about rosacea and social media without a doubt due to my not so 'excellent' adventure at r/rosacea which impacted me so much. I will now share my experience. 

r/rosacea - who runs it?

Who runs this rosacea social media group at Reddit?  Do you know? Three years ago you could view the moderator list before you joined which thankfully I still have a screen shot because now the moderator list is hidden to unregistered members in this private group. Wonder why the group hides the moderator list?  Do you know? So three years ago this is who was running this group: 

Do you recognize some of these poster/moderators at r/rosacea?  Do you know who they are, their background and if they have any credentials as a rosacea 'authority'?  Why do they hide behind a cryptic display name?  If you read Reddit's policy on hiding the moderator list it states as the top reason, "We hide the moderator list (sometimes referred to as the “mod list”) in certain situations to help protect the safety of our moderators." There are other reasons that Reddit acknowledges in its policy to allow hidden moderator lists. One is you have to join to see the list of moderators. So the current moderators are basically the same except for BotDefense who left which is shown on today's date for your convenience: 

To show you how the moderator list is hidden from unregistered members see the home page of r/rosacea below as of today's date: 

Scrolling down you can see clearly the moderator list is hidden. Also note the first rule in the right column about being 'excellent to each other.'  I certainly don't feel that my adventure with r/rosacea was excellent at all. 

So if you care to search through all the posts at r/rosacea and go back about three years you will find an archived conversation [Question about Soolantra base] I posted replying to a question by u/fission with one of the moderators and note the rude manner I was treated when I posted (as rosacearesearch) about the ingredients in Soolantra: 

Conversation continues: 

Conversation continues:

So you be the judge and decide if my experience that I feel was quite rude, lacks civility or manners is actually true or not? On a different conversation [Last Monday vs. This Monday (only 4 days on Ivermectin, routine in comments)] posted by u/jessicadiamonds here are the screenshots of the conversation: 

To understand what is happening with skin industry (requires subscription to read) rosacea research and social media you simply have to know the facts. 

Without a doubt most of the rosacea research is sponsored by the skin industry, particularly pharmaceutical companies and cosmetic manufacturers. The skin industry is using social media to advertise to set trends. The RRDi is the only non profit patient advocacy grassroots organization for rosacea that is NOT sponsored by the skin industry (all the other rosacea non profits are sponsored by the skin industry and have board members that are dermatologists or businessmen). To deep dive into this subject READ THIS POST (requires you join the RRDi as a member)

When we quarantined most of our website from guests and only allowed a small percentage of our website to be viewed by guests and required guests register as a member of the RRDi we increased our FREE membership dramatically in the first year we did this. However, in 2022, we have switched to a subscription based website and noticed a dramatic reduction in membership since we now require a donation of at least $2 for one month of access to our wealth of rosacea data. Whether this works or not will determine the fate of our non profit organization. Watch our Rosacea Episodes S2:E1. If you want us to continue we rely on the public for donations and not on the skin industry as the other non profit for rosacea organizations that are comprised of board members who are dermatologists and businessmen and none of them suffer from rosacea. Why not join our cause and help us find the cure for rosacea. 

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Dry skin (Xeroderma) can be a co-existing condition with rosacea. When treating rosacea with topicals or oral treatments, a common side effect is dry skin, and if one already has dry skin, this complicates and exacerbates the dry skin issue further. "Symptoms most associated with xeroderma are scaling (the visible peeling of the outer skin layer), itching, and skin cracking." Wikipedia

We have a post that deep dives into dry skin and rosacea for your investigation but it requires a membership subscription to view below. 

A very popular treatment for rosacea is Oracea (brand name doxycycline). Doxycylcine has been used to treat rosacea for many years now which is a derivative of tetracycline which has been around even longer to treat rosacea. The unique feature of Oracea is that it is low dose timed released doxycycline. We have a sub-forum in the category PRESCRIPTIONS with many posts related to doxycycline and its use in treating rosacea. If you are currently taking doxycycline or investigating its use in treating rosacea and want more information you will need to subscribe as a member and join our non profit for rosacea to view these posts. Please join. Then click below for our sub-forum on doxycycline: 

https://irosacea.org/forums/forum/85-doxycycline/

Trailer Below (longer version scroll down - complete article keep scrolling down)

Watch the ten minute version below:

Some Anecdotal Reports Say Yes

an editorial by Brady Barrows

This subject is an interesting one since this gives rosaceans hope if rosacea goes into remission. Does it? To deep dive into this subject which is a FAQ answered in our member sub-forum along with hundreds of other FAQs click below (requires subscription😞

GUT-BRAIN-SKIN AXIS

The Gut-Brain Axis is well established. Is there also a Gut-Brain-Skin Axis?

The Huff Post speculates there is. The evidence is now established that there is a gut-brain-skin axis. 

If you want to deep dive into this subject for rosacea research and development we have an article below for your private reading if you join the RRDi and subscribe and join our non profit organization for rosacea. 

More Women than Men Have Rosacea?
In a significant number of medical papers on rosacea, the general consensus has been that more women have rosacea than men, particularly in certain variants of rosacea. Typical examples of medical authorities who report that more women than men have rosacea are shown below. We also have investigated and report what clinical papers mention which sex has what issue (rosacea variant or phenotype) more than the other. You can only read this post if you join the RRDi and subscribe: 

The RRDi is the only non profit for organization that has debunked this common misconception spread all over the internet in rosacea social media groups. This is because the RRDi is comprised of volunteer rosacea sufferers and not supported by the skin industry or have board of directors made up of dermatologists and businessmen. If you want to deep dive into rosacea research and development join the RRDi and you can read the entire article about this subject below: 

This Question and Answer is one of the FAQs published in the private area of our website: 

Q: I am a 53-year-old man. When I turned 50, I developed severe rosacea. I tried everything, and nothing helped.

I just returned from a two-week vacation in the South Pacific. I learned to snorkel and scuba dive and was in the ocean every day. By the time I left, all signs of rosacea were completely gone.

I don’t know why salt water works to clear up the skin, but it’s almost miraculous.

The answer to this question is in a post in our private and secure member area of our website and requires a subscription: 

The RRDi has an incredible amount of free rosacea data in our public forum for guests in your search in controlling or curing your rosacea. We have a private forum if your prefer privacy, which has way more rosacea information for your investigation if you are researching and developing a treatment for your rosacea. When you are in your social media private group for rosacea, how do you search for a subject you are searching for? You can always ask the group. How is that going for you? You may want to learn how to enhance your digital search on rosacea using the powerful digital tools that are available for free by joining the RRDi as a member. What are they? 

A friend sent me a YouTube video about a doctor who was interviewed on NBC News with Brian Williams which made me aware of Eric Topol, who wrote a book, The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care, which started a search about what this genius is saying about the digital revolution and medicine, and how the RRDi is on the forefront of this with rosacea. 


If you are intrigued with what Dr. Topol is saying, as I was, you will be interested in an interview Dr. Topol had with J. Craig Ventor, Ph.D., on MedScape (Dr. Topol happens to be the Editor-in-Chief of Medscape). If you want to deep dive into this subject read an article we have published on this subject below which requires a subscription: 

A significant number of rosaceans have reported that their visit to the dermatologist lasted five minutes or less. Yes, it is possible to get a correct diagnosis of rosacea in five minutes or less but you also might be misdiagnosed. There is no data on what percentage of patients are misdiagnosed but the facts are that you could be misdiagnosed. Please take our poll on this subject

What do the facts reveal?

A joint survey of 1,511 participants by Galderma/NRS helps us some about understanding why a correct diagnosis path takes a number of months or why patients have a 'complicated diagnosis path.' To dive deep into this subject read are article below which requires a subscription: 

If only we had a dream team like this to differentiate rosacea from the list! 

Differential Diagnosis of Rosacea
Authoritative Resource Guide

The RRDi has a list with sources showing differential skin disease(s) to consider in diagnosing rosacea when patients present with erythema, telangiectasia, or flushing. To review this list of skin diseases that mimic rosacea requires a subscription as a donation to our non profit organization for rosacea patient advocacy. 

In the past a diagnosis of rosacea usually required only a physical examination and a patient history by a qualified medical physician. Currently there are now a number of tests that may be considered to differentiate rosacea from a plethora of other skin conditions and diseases that present with erythema (requires subscription to review). 

Learn More (requires subscription to view)

Image courtesy of sodahead.com

Whenever the subject of demodex mites (demodectic rosacea) comes up there is the age old quandary, which came first the demodex or the rosacea? We have published an article that thoroughly discusses this topic but requires a subscription to review. We also have a sub-forum on demodectic rosacea (requires subscription). Here are some posts in this sub-forum worth investigating:

There even two more pages in this sub-forum to view posts on demodectic rosacea. Lots of investigating for you to browse. Subscribe

There are no known articles that have actually studied whether rosacea is contagious. We have a post on this subject worth reviewing that investigates this thoroughly. However, it requires a subscription to view. 

Is Coffee a Rosacea Trigger?

First off just remember that whenever you hear about rosacea triggers that usually the list of triggers has not been substantiated in any clinical studies and most of the triggers are simply anecdotal reports based upon surveys or polls. 

To learn more whether coffee is a rosacea trigger requires that you subscribe as an RRDi member (your subscription is tax deductible). 

    WATCH VIDEO

The logo of the RRDi includes a butterfly because rosacea typically manifests itself in a facial butterfly formation. "Half a century ago, Edward Lorenz, SM ‘43, ScD ‘48, overthrew the idea of the clockwork universe with his ground-breaking research on chaos."  Lorenz created an analogy with the flapping wings of a butterfly what beautifully describes how the initial conditions may create an effect not imagined. What are the initial conditions with the result in rosacea chaos?

Victor Gabriel's Butterfly Effect in Acne and Rosacea
A paper written in 2018 by Victor Gabriel, et al., discusses the 'butterfly effect' not only in rosacea but also in acne. The concept of the butterfly effect "is associated with chaos theory, and it is a concept originated in meteorology, which represents the dependence on initial conditions." 

read our article on this subject that goes into a deep dive on how the butterfly effect is in rosacea.  (requires subscription for members only)

At the above post we have an article on Cosmetics for Rosacea 101. (requires subscription for members only)

We also have cosmetics for rosacea in our affiliate store. 

In our member forum we have a sub-forum COSMETICS. (requires subscription for members only)

We also have a video available for the public: 

The RRDi has hundreds of Rosacea FAQs which we have categorized in one member sub-forum. (requires subscription for members only)