Apurva Tathe

Does anyone have any experience of doing chemical exfoliation on rosacea skin? Chemical exfoliation is very good for skin once in a while but what about rosacea skin?

I have been noticing the fact that how all the factors come together in an interplay to cause any condition and how paying attention to the factors and working with them would relieve you from the symptoms. My yeast overgrowth was aggravating my flushing, my blood vessels had become very dilated and at one point my skin was a full dry land and I coincidentally conversed with Dr. O’Desky our MAC member and she understood the condition and asked me to do gut cleaning. I was already a little bit resolved with the condition but did gut cleaning and not only gut cleaning but I have had such foods which kept my gut pH alkaline and I was already washing my face and scalp with ketoconazole with zinc pyrithione lotion and now my skin is in good condition not only yeast overgrowth was reduced but my intense prolonged flushing is at bay, meaning very mild flushing and one more thing I have considered, the environmental factor. My skin has withstood the extremities of temperature frequency  this season. So I was on with my internal and external cure meanwhile when the favorable temperature stability came it automatically helped to get my skin breathe and respond to the cure. So I observed how gut microbiota and skin microbiota are in close connection with each other and not only skin microbiota but gut microbiota also reacts and responds to the environmental factors. So I concluded how skin microbiota overgrowth and then its stability was responding to gut and temperature changes and how in turn that yeast growth was controlling the already existing inflammation of the skin.

On 2/19/2020 at 1:20 AM, Admin said:

Trevi has a post that he says just using warm to hot water for three months and he has clearance. He does mention in the initial post he has been using some boric acid as well. We will follow up and see if anyone else confirms that this helps improve SD/Rosacea or not. 

Using just warm water to hot water is about as natural as it gets. 

You be judge whether boric acid is natural or not. 

I think he may have an oily skin and oily scalp so using warm to hot water helped him a lot and did not cause much problem but if one has a dry skin and dry scalp this technique would not work and dry out even more and would cause flakiness.

4 hours ago, Steven Zeigler said:

Hi All,

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this community. I have a story I want to share about my journey towards a Rosacea diagnosis and learning about and dealing with the disorder.

In my late twenties I began to have symptoms beyond what I thought was just a little localized acne and redness. I had a nurse friend that suggested hydrocortisone cream for the redness and it actually worked for me. Around the same time I developed a temporary skin condition that was diagnosed as eczema. It was on my hands and the doctor said it was stress induced eczema and gave me a cream that cleared it up, never to return.

Twenty five years later (6 months ago) my face...caught fire. I had what I would call sudden onset rosacea. It was bad. The red butterfly came on strong. I went to the doctor and she diagnosed it as rosacea and put me on that standard old school anti-microbial cream (now she wants me on oral antibiotics) and I am now looking for a regimen (and products) that work for me and....to understand the condition better and manage it somehow.

A few thoughts and insights I have gained in my research and in understanding my body and it’s reactions that I would love input on.

1. It is complicated and there is no one cause or cure but a large complicated web of interconnected factors.

2. Stress and mental health plays a HUGE role. I still have hopes that when my life situational stress and depression settles down, I may find more relief.

3. Over all health plays a huge role. Diet. Exercise. My diet has been horrible as I have been eating out a lot and drinking more and exercising less since it “came on strong”.

4. Environment (for example it is winter and I have been using a space heater to heat my room but the house is freezing) could play a role. 

5. Every individual is different.

 

Does my thinking seem correct or on the right tract to those that have more experience?
 

Is sunscreen important? I am very fair skinned but not outside a lot but I have not been using sunscreen.

Beyond affirmation and question answering. My hope is that insights I have and my sharing will help others in some small way.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes what you have pointed out above is correct. There are more interconnected and internal factors or subordinate factors though which enhance the condition but you sometimes never know what activated this condition and have to go through all the loops.

Yes sunscreen is important if you are a very fair skinned person but it all depends on skin makeup (from makeup I am saying composition) because skin of color people like me have more melanin production that kind of gives protection from sun rays and that also depends on how your skin reacts to sunscreen if you have dry or oily skin . I use my homemade zinc sunblock on top of lathered moisturizer since I have a dry skin but you just give it a try buying something. There are recommendations of sunscreens in our rosacea topics. you can read what suits you best.

On 2/11/2020 at 8:34 PM, Admin said:

Apurva, 

My dermatologist told me that I have SD on my forehead and into the hair. For about three months I have now had some issues similar on the back of my head just above the neck that has not responded to my normal shampoo, Coal Tar (I usually use a generic T-Gel from Walmart or CVS), so I tried using Nizorol (Ketoconazole) brand shampoo which did improve the issue but it simply didn't go away. What really helped was using an old jar of Sulfur Butter from a tip Joanne Whitehead posted a while back. We do feature it in our affiliate store but when I tried to purchase another jar it wasn't available on Amazon. So I contacted the Braunfels Labs company website, and it is no longer listed. So I contacted the company asking what happened and got a response from DP Davidson, who explained that the Sulfur Butter is still available but on a different website, sulfursoap.com.  So I ordered another jar since this cream contains the following ingredients: 

Your experience and mine indicates that fungus and rosacea has not been ruled out and even though SD and rosacea can co-exist, there is probably some relationship between the two skin diseases. Not sure what ingredient in the Sulfur Butter is improving my fungus issue in my scalp but I think the Shea Butter, Hemp Oil, Avocado Oil and Jojoba Oil may have something to do with it along with the sulfur. 

Yes I also have used shea butter a while back and what helped shea butter in that it soothes out the itching sensation and absorbs in skin like I have applied nothing. It really helped a lot. I also had SD and it went with the use of ketoconazole with zinc pyrithione lotion but this time the experience of dry crusty pimple like rough appearance around the mouth and jaw line really indicates how the yeast overgrowth and rosacea play a vital role in inflammatory response and I agree with you that it has not been ruled out and how treating the secondary condition automatically controlled the primary condition with less flushing experience. So we can observe that besides demodex mites other microbial flora this time fungus can play a vital role in aberrant inflammatory response and fungus may play a role in interacting with resident immune cells.

While talking about rosacea there are so many things and factors to consider. Even if you are trying everything to help control this condition, skipping just one thing is enough for its persistency. A few days ago I suddenly had a sandy rough patchy and scaly skin texture on already flushed skin which was aggravating the condition of inflammation altogether. I already have controlled and managed rosacea but only relapse with the onset of fall and continue with winter but If I describe the condition of my skin, it was a skin barrier texture which was not allowing anything if applying topically. It was as if my skin lipids were severely imbalanced. I could not understand what made this condition to appear but I was on with my internal and external cure. It was a little bit resolved but then I examined the pattern of that condition appeared and did a lot of research and found the pattern resembled to yeast infection may be to blame because I had very rough papules like appearance around my mouth and jawline which was quite itchy and again I remembered how I took the treatment regimen when I had seborrheic dermatitis and It was completely gone. Now I considered my severe scalp dandruff and I correlated everything from my scalp flakiness to my intense flushing and on top of that sandy rough flaky skin. Usually I get flare-ups in this season but do not bother much like pain and burning sensation and pruritus but this time it was bothering much and I decided to give it a try the same treatment regimen I had during Seborrheic dermatitis because the treatment regimen for SD and yeast infection are same so I washed my face at night with Ketoconazole 2% with Zinc Pyrithione 1% lotion and the next morning I found a drastic change in my skin as if it is restored to its natural balance and then I washed my hair with that same lotion and I am going to continue this for few days.

The major change and outcome I discovered with respect to overall condition :

When I treated this condition with ketoconazole and zinc pyrithione the next day I got very mild flare-up and was not flushing for prolonged period but before that I was getting frequent flare-ups and the flushing was consistent, intense, burning and painful . So I discovered how a yeast or fungal infection can also aggravate the condition of rosacea and even go further can cause the aberrant hyperactive immune function in play. Besides parasites and bacteria how yeast or fungus can play with immune system with respect to rosacea needs to be more discovered.

14 hours ago, RedVelvet said:

Hi Apurva,

I know exactly what you are talking about and I experienced it twice in the past two years. The first episode was after we moved into our new house and I had been under a lot of stress and not eating well. I also considered the possibility that a change in environment could have triggered it. Different water, different air, new sheets/bedding, new washing machine. I think all these things can play a role in reactions when we have sensitive skin. It resolved on its own and then came back a year later for a week. I'm not sure what brought on the second episode, but I did a fast for 2 days which seemed to help a lot. I noticed over the years that whenever I would get the flu and not eat for a few days (and my stomach and colon would empty out) my skin would clear up immediately. So even though I've had food sensitivity testing done with no positive findings, I feel there is still a gut connection. When this occurred I also stopped using all facial products except coconut oil. Thinking back, I think my skin was also reacting to the coconut oil which has antiviral, antibiotic, antibacterial and anti fungal properties (the lauric acid in the oil). Since I had untreated demodex mites at the time I'm sure my skin was experiencing die-off from the coconut oil, which caused even more of a reaction. I would advise you to do a one or two day fast (but continue to drink herbal tea or cranberry juice as needed) until your skin heals and then try to think back on the past week or two if anything changed- medications, laundry detergent, facial products, etc.  It's so hard to figure it all out, but I still believe rosacea can be controlled naturally with enough detective work. I would also advise you to keep a journal of foods, creams, medications, and hormonal changes. Good luck!

Thank you so much for this insight. I also have to find out what bothered my skin. I always keep the things in check. I think the gut thing resonated with me a lot because skin and gut has some connection in rosacea. I also do fast but it's been a long time I didn't. I think I need to do it. Thank you so much.

1 hour ago, RedVelvet said:

I am eternally grateful for the members of the forum for sharing their experiences. I spent hours/days/weeks reading posts, articles, and research studies published on the forum. I was determined to figure out what was causing my rosacea, and I did. My dermatologists never mentioned demodex mites or the damage they can do to your skin. Once I learned about this, I was on the right path. I hope to help others through this long arduous process. Please feel free to contact me with any questions! 

Thank you for this consideration and welcome to the RRDi. I also have seen your work on rosacea on your website and as a practitioner you have lot to tell about different things. I was going to post this as a separate thing but now I can post it here to ask you about this.

Recently my skin got very sandy and rough, little swollen appearance out of no where and if I filled air in my mouth like a balloon it had torn down the skin like dry patches. Even if I drink a lot of water, slather my skin with moisturizer. There is no way of sun exposure as harsh to draw moisture out of my skin. But I know a lot of rosaceans experience this thing at times and this condition automatically goes on its own. Now it is fairly settled down on its own but still completely has to go. but it aggravated the condition of rosacea as if triggering. What is the root cause of this and how to care and cure it naturally  so that it does not appear next time? Thank you...

9 hours ago, Mandy Kimber said:

I have just been diagnosed with bvFTD a form of early dementia .... developed rosacea at the beginning of the year when my bvFTD was getting worse, frighening to realise they are linked 

 

Yes they may be linked because roscaea is a kind of chronic inflammatory condition which may or may not be associated with co-morbidities and can occur with other co-expressing conditions. Rosacea can co-exist with other inflammatory conditions. If you are an elderly person and you have been diagnosed with a form of dementia, it is linked to chronic inflammation that means neuroinflammatory condition and neuropeptides are associated with this inflammation because they are the mediators of inflammation and neuropeptides circulate between the brain and peripheral tissues and hence found in the skin and is the cause of your rosacea because chronic skin inflammatory conditions are associated with neuropeptides.

On 1/17/2020 at 4:41 PM, Antonia Turner said:

Hello Apurva, I have had Rosacea since my 20's, I probably saw a skin doctor in my 30's and been on Doyxcycline for over 10 years I believe. It's been a frustrating blur but in a nutshell too long. I have a fan at work I turn on no matter how cold I am to cool down my flares. I get red at home too not just work but atleast at home its easier to deal with. I am sorry you are dealing with this too, I feel your pain believe me! They say Rosacea mainly affects fair skin, I am part spanish and german I have olive skin so that theory isn't true. Tell me about your history if you wish.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

Ok so it has been a long journey for you with respect to rosacea. Yes this theory does not go completely with only fair skin people get rosacea. There are some published research on rosacea in skin of color people. I am an Indian and I also have olive skin with yellow undertone and the bizarre thing is Indian skin is something very acclimatized to sun rays because of its extreme hot and humid climate and we do not get easily anything related to skin but when I got this condition five years ago it was unknown to me and initially it was in an exaggerated condition difficult to control and handle but gradually I understood with trial and error considering my diet what I eat what I apply on my face and environmental and immune conditions. Now still it remits and relapses with frequent episodes but now I know how to manage it.

14 hours ago, Antonia Turner said:

Hello thank you for replying. I just ate a Blueberry Kind Bar and got red blotchy cheeks, so much for "good grains". I tried Finacea, Mirvaso, trying Soolantra all generic brands. Natural products I tried pumpkin seed extract, licorice root, Madagascar Centella, vitamins a thru all. I am not sure I have those 2 autoimmune diseases but a skin doctor told me maybe I have one of those too being I flare get red no matter what I eat and even if I dont eat I sit at work and can get red for mo reason (not stress). I am taking Doxycycline right now my doctor tried to switch me over to Minocycline which was a nightmare my skin freaked out so I am back on Doxycycline. I cant even find a local doctor to help or make a diagnosis if I have them besides Rosacea. I am premenopausal and I hear that as a excuse from doctors. I dont see why no matter what I do or dont do my skin is like this. I wil try no sugar.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
 

May be It's not about eating blueberry bar and then getting red blotchy cheeks.sometimes the environmental factors are the triggers. because there are so many factors which trigger rosacea inflammation. genetic, environmental, your immune system, microbial flora of your skin, food triggers and many more. and the condition you described that when you do not eat and you just seat at work not taking stress even if in relaxed state you get red for no reason and this happens to me exactly. So I think the environmental factor may work here because with the onset of fall and continue with winter our body adjusts with the temperature called thermoregulation.You can read about it here :

https://irosacea.org/forums/topic/4120-autumn-and-rosacea-flare-ups/?tab=comments#comment-5278

Could you please tell me when did your rosacea condition start? you are new to this condition or it's been a long?

16 hours ago, Admin said:

"Considering properties of the identified major compounds, essential oils of both studied myrtaceae could be used in the medicine field including the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry." 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S222116911630404X

Amazon doesn't sell Callistemon viminalis essential oil. A google search doesn't show how to purchase it either. Maybe someone can find it?

 

Yes I know this very well it has its medicinal properties and used for food and pharmaceutical industry considering its compounds but not much research has been done on this plant when it comes to skin diseases especially for rosacea and the link you provided It is already mentioned in my articles reference note. Yes you can not find the essential oil online that is why how I made this concoction oil I have explained this in my article.

Yes the reason is, having read all the threads and posts in the RRDi forum, they justify themselves with a pretty good amount of knowledge gained. but in my opinion I would also suggest all the rosaceans to come out and share your knowledge and problems with us and ask your questions so that we could help you out or either we could get something new out of this because every rosacean has different experiences and different outcomes with respect to their rosacea.

Brady and I are gaining interest in viruses in rosacea so if any member has any experience of it, they can just share their experiences or problems or questions with us.

I am already onto it.Yes we must do research on this theme to know more about viruses in rosacea. Infact I have been talking to so many researchers who work on skin microbiome in infection and diseases and share my research ideas with them. It would be a good idea to do such research on fresh theme.

Yes sugar is an inflammatory food and causes inflammation because of its high glycemic index because when you eat sugar it directly goes to your gut and gets processed and enters blood stream and increases insulin level and when you are already prone to inflammation, It exacerbates and fuel the condition of inflammation. If you can reduce the intake of sugar you can after some days easily feel the roughness above the inflamed skin going away.

Very good post. I also have been researching and trying to find out the ways in which mite-bacterial interaction as well as viral interaction in rosacea exacerbate the condition of inflammation.

I have with my care controlled or you can say remitted the condition of rosacea. It is less exacerbating and only bothers in fall and winter and I have control over it at many times but how stress and less sleep can relapse the condition of rosacea when it is already in control, I have experienced. The dilation of blood capillaries start showing and the erythematic condition characterized by flushing is more prevalent when there were less signs. So the things you can do are take more antioxidants since stress means if you go beyond it is cellular stress which changes the skin resident proteins and immune cells and do the things which help alleviate stress so that you can have good sound sleep because again less sleep means increasing the oxidative stress. Antioxidants and good sleep are the main things you can count on.

Yes I have had experience of blepharitis with ET rosacea and papulopustular rosacea so every patient with both types of rosacea should go for blepharitis mites test before it becomes chronic because in early phase you can get rid of blepharitis if it is acute.

Trillium

On 8/22/2019 at 11:16 PM, Trillium said:

Cordain is one of the advisors here and that is enough  to have me remove my postings here.

Hii Trillium, I read one of your posts about using metronidazole topical cream with ivermectin. I do not know much about the duo combination of creams in terms of results but I know about metronidazole cream which my doctors had prescribed me and you have already made your point and explanation of how these creams work. so its no use discussing the same thing but with my experience why we should use antibiotics instead of steroids for rosacea is that steroids exacerbate the conditions of rosacea. you will have heard about the steroidal rosacea. My skin improved a lot using metronidazole cream with oral antibiotics.

(your one more point about you were told rosacea is an autoimmune disease but it's just an infestation.) It is not completely right. though it is not an autoimmune disease but it is a chronic skin inflammatory disease which primarily includes immune cells and system. It has similarities with autoimmune conditions in terms of deregulation and misguiding of immune cells but then it's all about different immune cells playing their parts and contributing to these conditions. Infact the skin-microbiome interaction in rosacea is what alters the immune cells creating inflammatory response and vice-versa.very few research is going on this topic about does immune-compromised condition cause microbiome to increase in number or vice-versa.

Yes I guess the mites can spread from the skin contact if the mites are in aggressive number on your face because as far as I know even on your face the mites will not stay at one place they tend to go from one place to another. normal skin also has demodex but in lower numbers but it has found the cause of rosacea with increased number of demodex.Don't cancel the trip. Better to consult dermatologist to find the better treatment for your rosacea.

Yes I think we have to pay attention to the other skin-microbiome interaction also which tend to play a role in rosacea especially I was thinking of bacteriophage (bacteria+virus) which might play a role in rosacea and very few research is going on this rosacea and the idea of research on this theme would open up a new direction for rosacea. Think out loud.

In my opinion, if we do research on the causes of rosacea we ultimately will go deep into the ground picture such as on cell and molecular and immunological level. If we find the main factors behind this condition, We then can cover everything in a broad picture to be focused on. First we have to find the root cause of this disease and everything will come into place.

9 hours ago, Admin said:

Apurva, 

Might not be rosacea. Some conditions you may want to have your dermatologist rule out: 

Erythromelalgia

Keratosis Pilaris Rubra Faceii

Pityriasis rosea

There are probably a number of other possibilities to rule out since the list of skin conditions that look like rosacea keeps growing. 

What are you treating your erythema with? 

 

Yes I know it's not rosacea but erythema (redness). I know there are so many conditions which look like rosacea but they are not but we do not know the underlying cause might correlate.it might be a co existing condition occurs with rosacea.

I haven't done anything for it. It is slowly decreasing itself.

has anyone noticed something experiencing this unusual condition with them? First time I have seen something like this and the thing is erythema is extended to arms and the redness is not causing any pain and itchiness and the startling thing is I get intense erythema on my right cheek than my left cheek and  the erythema on my right hand is more than the left hand. So I was observing, has right face erythema anything to do with right hand erythema? Does it have any connection in common?

23 hours ago, Rory said:

No, its the oral, apple flavoured horse paste with the syringe. You have a picture of it at the top of this page. The ingredients are not listed on the box. 

Ok I guess you are ingesting it orally? and if you are ingesting it orally, it has residual effects means it is stored in body fat and then progressively released to work and taking too often will cause build up. So you have mentioned that you have already taken your first dose so wait for one week and see the results and then follow the next dose and the recommended dose is 200 mcg(micrograms) per kilogram body weight but slight point difference will be ok but ask and consult your physician before you take any treatment.