Kim'sBlog
Is it Rosacea?
Worldwide, 415 million people have been diagnosed with Rosacea. Are you someone who hasn’t been officially diagnosed but suspect you may have this condition that causes your skin to be constantly read, tight and irritated?
There are several stages to Rosacea:
With Pre Rosacea your skin will get frequent flushing – sometimes just your cheeks will become bright red, sometimes it may start on your chest, move up your neck then spread over your entire face. It will generally calm down after about twenty minutes. Your skin will often feel dry or tight and be quite reactive to new products that contain fragrance or alcohol.
Stage 2 Rosacea will present with red capillaries that you can easily see in the mirror, you get red quickly but it takes a long time for you to settle down or it stays ‘flushed’ especially over your cheeks and nose. You may get persistent and annoying tiny breakouts that don’t heal quickly or they could be non-tender lumps. The skin is not self cleaning properly so dead skin cells glue together and cause blockages. You may also notice some puffiness under your eyes and upper cheeks.
If you suffer with Inflammatory Rosacea, you’ll be seeing ‘block’ redness that never calms down across your cheeks and nose, it may even be present on your forehead and chin too. You’ll have an uneven texture to your skin and there’ll be yellow filled pus inside pimples if present. You will most likely need a dermatologist for medication. There has been great success with a new topical medication called WROFADE
Ocular Rosacea is a serious condition of the eye area and must be treated by a specialist as it could lead to blindness if left undiagnosed.
The causes of Rosacea are not really know. It’s generally accepted that 50% of sufferers are genetically predisposed. Scientists suspect it could be a defect of the immune system or a defect of the nervous system but there is always an abnormal presence of large numbers of microbes on the skin surface in most cases.
The other 50% of causes are triggered by environmental factors like sun (in particular, the Infra-Red Spectrum) and extreme hot and cold changes. Are you more sensitive to being in air conditioning or artificial heating?
Other contributing triggers are alcohol, spicy food, and stress factors like anxiety. So if you have a glass of wine or a Thai meal that makes you ‘glow’ – beware!
Rosacea may not present itself properly until between 30 to 50 years of age but it will definitely worsen as you get older by ignoring the triggers or being left untreated. So before thirty years of age it could just temporary flushing and after fifty – just constantly red.
The triggers you need to avoid:
#Alcohol
#Hot spicy food
#Extra hot beverages
#Infra red radiation (sun or saunas)
#Wind
#Strenuous overheating (intense exercise without adequate warming up)
#Overheating in bed at night
#Anxiety, stress, nerves (you need to learn about stress management)
#Never EVER wash your face in the full stream of your shower head (it’s just too hot)
#Fragrance, menthol, peppermint, alcohol, Vitamin A (retinolds), glycolic acids in your home skin care ingredients must be avoided
#Aggressive Facial Treatments like laser, IPL, (Red) LED or any light that incorporates heat.
You need to discover your particular triggers as soon as you can. It may involve keeping a diary over a couple of months to identify the culprits. But as a general rule, avoid extremes of temperatures like sun, saunas, snow over exposure.
A word about the Dermadex Mite!
While this skin microbiome is not the cause of Rosacea (because everyone has these ugly little critters on their skin’s surface all of the time) On rosacea skin, they are found in very large numbers. They thrive in an inflammatory environment and they literally FEAST on the external surface where there is a build up of dead skin and infection from breakouts. It becomes a ‘negative feedback’ cycle of inflammation feeding the mite which exacerbates the breeding of the mite which leads to more intense inflammation.
So – What do you do?
If you suspect you could be experiencing rosacea but aren’t sure, talk to us! Or if you’re not near Vivente, find a Beauty Therapist experienced in how to strengthen your capillaries and manage redness. If your skin condition is beyond our scope, we’ll let you know if you should seek a medical opinion next.
Keep your home care simple and introduce new skin care slowly. Always patch test a small amount of a new product (on the side of your neck) for 24 hours minimum before applying it over your entire face. If you have a reaction when you’ve used more than one product – you won’t know which one is the culprit!
Absolutely avoid Vitamin A and Glycolic Acids products or any aggressive peels or scrubs.
You’ll still need to exfoliate but Enzyme based ones are best for inflamed skins as they contain no grits or glycol;ice.
Choose pure mineral foundations that are free from fillers and fragrance.
Salon Treatments need to focus on:
#Anti-inflammatory
#Antimicrobial
#Mild hydration
#Avoid aggressive ingredients
#Strengthen the capillaries and skin
#Skin protection with heat shock proteins
#LED ( green light for redness & capillary strengthening) (blue light to assist in bacteria control)
If you’re in the early stages of Rosacea, we’ve developed a treatment program at Vivente to get your skin settled quickly and get some confidence back that you can do lots to prevent your skin worsening over time.
We call It The Tranquil Skin Package and you’re going to love how great your skin looks and feels. There’s absolutely no aggression and our high quality LED has both Blue and Green Light options. The package includes full sized home care products with quality ingredients designed to calm your skin quickly and reinforce the benefits from your salon treatments. The package is payable over four sessions, so very affordable. We include digital skin diagnosis as well.
Book Online or Telephone 0499 006 199 for an appointment today