My Facial Facts: Is Your Skin The Best It Can Be?

Well, I know there’s a lot of confusion when it comes to facial redness.

It often makes you wonder:

“Do I have rosacea or am I just sensitive?”

Obviously, if you have rosacea, your skin is sensitive.

However, just because you’re sensitive doesn’t necessarily mean you have rosacea…

See what we’re saying?

As we informed you in the last post of this same series, the determining factor is the persistence of the redness.

Only if it’s a pretty constant redness (which typically occurs on the cheeks, nose and chin), then you are probably dealing with rosacea.

Again, it is not known why rosacea develops, but it is most typically hereditary.

Who is more prone to having rosacea then?

It can occur among adults of any age, but generally it first begins appearing in your 30’s and 40’s.

Rosacea is more prevalent among fair-skinned people (for example of Irish, English or Eastern European ancestry).

It is more common in women, but usually more severe in men. Men can develop skin-colored papules (bumps that look like pimples, but that contain no pus). These typically occur on the nose, creating a condition called ‘rhinophyma’ which was what comedian W.C. Fields  signature physical attribute.

Why does rosacea occur?

The truth is it is not known. However, we can say it is typically hereditary.

So, a question you may not think to ask yourself about your rosacea is:

Can lack of stomach acid affect your rosacea?

According to a study published in the medical journal Lancet, rosacea may be linked to a lack of hydrochloric acid being produced in the stomach.

In another study, it was found that people suffering from rosacea lack the enzyme ‘lipase’ which is secreted by the pancreas.

Taking hydrochloric acid supplements or food enzymes to help digest your food better may actually improve the condition of your rosacea.

Food for thought- no punn intended (well, maybe a little…)

Interesting stuff, don’t you think?

Common triggers of rosacea are as follows:

• Emotional stress. Stress is the culprit of many health problems, and can affect rosacea (and decrease stomach acids).
• Learning stress management techniques, such as: yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises can help a lot!
• Hot baths and saunas
• Avoid these at all costs!!!
• Harsh skin care products mainly marketed for people with acne.
• Use gentle cleansers with no alcohol, menthol or camphor. Use mineral makeup. Minerals are antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.
• Scrubs
• Basically AVOID scrubs altogether…instead, opt for a gentle enzyme exfoliating mask instead.
• Exercise.
• Rosacea sufferers should avoid high intensity workouts.
• Instead choose lower impact exercises (yoga, Bar Method, pilates, etc.) preferably in cool, well-ventilated areas.
• Firm facial massages during a facial treatment.
• This stimulates too much circulation, which means more blood flow. Remember: you want to CALM the skin, not stimulate it.
• Opt for a lighter and shorter facial massage. The best is lymphatic drainage massage. Find a professional specialized in this technique.

How should you treat your skin?

Anything that calms the skin and strenghtens the capillary walls. One of our favorites serums to use during treatments and to recommend to clients for home care maintenance is Eminence’s Couperose-C treatment serum.

As we’ve mentioned in another post, serums are considered the treatment in your skin care regimen.

They’re designed to be smaller in molecule size to penetrate deeper than a moisturizer.

Think of it as the ‘corrective’ part of you skin care…in the case of rosacea, this is super important! (aside from wearing your daily broad-spectrum SPF, of course.)

When we have clients with extreme rosacea come in for a facial, they leave amazed at how fantastic their skin looks!

Even for days following the facial, they comment on how even-toned their skin looks (and this is after a gentle enzyme exfoliation and extractions!!)

The Couperose-C serum mentioned above is one of our secret weapons to achieve this! But you must wear it daily-preferably day and night.

In very extreme cases, there is a type of rosacea called ‘Ocular Rosacea’ where it can cause inflammation of the eyelids, mucous membranes (the pink part of the inside of the eyes and nose) and cornea.

Anything else you wondered or had questions about concerning rosacea?

Just let us know! Leave a comment below or write us directly at: questions@myfacialfacts.com

We would love to hear from you and look forward to helping you any way we can!

To your skin’s health!

The Derma Divas.

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Skin Conditions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.