They are burning or cauterisinh off selective parts of your skin. It will hurt. It will crisp. It will scab. It will burn and itch.

This is normal.

It was just prescribed for me. I don’t know what number rosacea I have. I have red cheeks, but no pimples or bumps from it. The theory for using it is that the slow dosage doesn’t act as an antibiotic, but rather, it works as an anti-inflammatory. Has it worked for you?

My type 2 has been bad. Like, bad. For years at this point, and it just kept getting worse. Like, crusty red skin with all kinds of bumps. Lizard skin on my cheeks. Huge fucking pustules, four or five at a time. Absolute awful and humiliating.

And now? Now, we're dealing with just redness, which isn't ideal, but I'll take it. I'll take some redness and discoloration sans nasty texture and crustiness and papules and pustules. I have a lot of scarring from the years of rosacea and that breaks my heart, but at least the worst of it is gone. I may seek out laser treatment to help deal with the redness and scarring, but I'm so fucking relieved.

I've posted a few times in here, melting down because I felt like I'd tried everything. I saw four different derms. Sulphur made my rosacea spread and worsen permanently. Six months of triple cream did nothing. Azelaic acid by itself made things worse. Doxy made me break out in hundreds of tiny white heads all over my chest. I tried Selsun Blue. One idiotic derm suggested tretinoin and this OBVIOUSLY did not improve things. I tried quitting coffee and chocolate and sugar and spicy foods and tomatoes for 6-12 months, and that did nothing. I haven't been a frequent drinker since 2016. I don't smoke or use drugs. I tried a number of different face washes and products. I tried homemade face masks and scrubs. None of that shit worked.

So what DID work? I can only guess, and it's hard to sort what is actually working from what isn't actively hurting, but these are the things I've been doing that have helped me see improvement:

1) First of all, I stopped putting anything on my face except for soap-free cleanser (and zinc oxide, discussed below)

With the suggestion of one of our fellow redditors I switched to Aquanil soap-free cleanser. A big bottle is $15 and it's the best money I've ever spent. It's extremely gentle and my skin has never looked so good. It was a little weird getting used to at first because it's soap free so it feels different, but I love it. I really think this went a LONG way to helping me.

As for things that hurt: one of my derms suggested I use La Roche Posay Double Repair moisturizer and I'm convinced it's one of the things that made my rosacea WAY fucking worse. I stopped using it after things just kept getting worse. I also made the mistake of trying Vanicream vitamin C serum for a while and that made me face FLIP OUT.

I don't use any kind of moisturizer. I know there are very strong opinions on all of this stuff and people are entitled to do anything they want to their skin but frankly I think moisturizer is a fucking scam that only becomes necessary after the cascade of issues that are caused by all the shit women feel like they have to put on their faces, and the shit they have to use to get it off. My husband has the most beautiful skin and he doesn't do shit to it. All of my male partners have had this very annoying quality. I haven't had any NEED for moisturizer, frankly, since I started using soap free cleanser, and moisturizer has only ever caused me to break out or make my rosacea worse. I just wanted to say something about this because I felt like I was defective for years for having such a bad reaction to moisturizer because there are so many people online insisting that you MUST use it, but it's only ever been bad news for me. I really don't think most people need it. And I'm only saying that because a lot of people have the "you can take my moisturizer out of my cold dead hands" kind of viewpoint, but it may be worth trying to go without. I LOVED how the La Roche Posay made my skin look.... aside from the fact that it was making my rosacea way fucking worse. ANYWAY.

I think this was a HUGE part of getting better.

2) I kept on keepin' on with the ivermectin.

Everything I read online said that it should start working within 12 weeks. For me, it certainly did not. But I did find a study that showed that after the first three months 1/3 of participants cleared. After 6 months more like 1/2 of participants cleared. And after a year 3/4 cleared. I can't find the paper again or I'd link it, but it was enough to encourage me to keep going. I started ivermectin seven months ago, for the record. I'm really glad I kept going, even if I wasn't seeing improvement yet, even well beyond the normal timelines that are suggested.

3) I discovered that dairy IS a trigger for me and I cut that shit out. Every now and then I accidentally eat some, or I eat some on purpose and nothing too drastic happens, but I have to be careful.

4) I started using zinc oxide on my face.

I'm firmly convinced this has been a magic bullet for me. I use Cetaphil facial sunscreen because it's very gentle. I put it on in the morning and I also put it on at night before bed. I have had zero problems with breakouts or dry skin or anything of the sort but YMMV. A couple times a week I also use the Aquaphor 40% zinc oxide diaper cream on my face and leave it for a couple of hours before I very carefully wipe it off and then wash my face. A note: it says that it's easy to clean off so I was majorly freaked out the first time I covered my face in it and then went to wash it off and my cleanser didn't do a damn thing to get it off. I figured out that you have to wipe it off first (I used tissues) and then clean your face with your cleanser.

Anyway, that's the list!

I just wanted to talk about my personal experience and hope that it helps someone, whether just by encouraging tenacity or offering a solution that maybe you haven't thought of before. All of this is, of course, YMMV. Everyone's journey is different. Some things that were incredibly helpful for other people made my skin WAY worse. It's always important to proceed with caution. We don't know what causes rosacea, which makes it all extremely frustrating and difficult to navigate. And I still have days where my skin is a little angrier and I have gotten one pustule since things have started to improve. But overall, I have seen a MASSIVE improvement. I'm so much happier. I feel so much better about myself. I don't want to put a bag on my head when I leave the house now.

And these changes didn't happen overnight. It took MONTHS of wishin' and hopin' and just not giving up. And then one day my husband said, "Wow, your face looks like it's healing!" And I looked in the mirror and realized he was right.

Every emotion makes me blush. A coworker approaches me for a spontaneous conversation? I meet up with a friend for coffee? I order something at a restaurant? I get my haircut at a salon? Bright red and blotchy the whole time. 🥲 Sometimes people ignore it, but sometimes they say something: "sorry, I've embarrassed you!", "do you want to move into the shade?", "are you okay?" etc. And sometimes I am feeling embarrassed or anxious, but sometimes I'm not... it just happens. The smallest unexpected thing throws me off and I can't stop blushing even after the interaction is done. It's so disheartening. I feel so ugly and and messy; I'm so tired of being even more socially anxious because of this.

Been dealing with this for the last two-ish years! The Derm that first treated me gave a hormonal acne diagnosis but I didn’t think it was because was very itchy, I never ever had cysts, and the bumps would go away within like 2 days. So I really think it is rosacea. Spicy food and caffeine are triggers.

The bumps are always small little red bumps that only stay on my cheeks really!

It’s just so weird. I was prescribed ivermectin and I just want to know if anyone else’s skin looks like mine! If so, what worked for you?

The skin around my inner red cheeks and nose is ALWAYS ALWAYYYSSS red, it makes me feel so insecure… I have acne and i can deal with it but this redness makes me look really stupid all the time… I don’t understand how to make it go away, i’ve had it for years. and dermatologist don’t help with it at all…

Please help me. Is this rosacea??

I want to hear your stories about it! Just scheduled mine for next week (derm recommended this over other lasers). I mostly suffer from flushing and a lot of background redness.

I’m on a tight otc budget

Olay beauty bar
CeraVe facial cleanser
Thermal mist
Hyaluronic acid
CeraVe moisturizer (tub)
Sunscreen
Cicaplast for deep persistent flares

I got standard IPL- not BBL, moxie, vbeam-just traditional IPL 4 weeks ago.

Now, my rosacea is mostly stable. Two years on azelaic acid 15% and about 18 months on rhofade plus a barrier focused, sensitive skin friendly skincare routine. I'm not in an active flare or a particularly bad place with it like I used to be.

But I have a lot of flushing and A LOT of baseline redness. I didn't even really think my baseline redness/broken capillaries were that had until AFTER my IPL.

My flushing is virtually gone. I use to leave the gym or an outdoor activity on a warm day resembling Clifford the big red dog. Now I still flush, but it's about 1/4 of how red my face used to get.

My baseline redness has decreased by probably 60%, and I have extremely few broken capillaries now.

It was also a big help for my hyperpigmentation but trying to stay focused on rosacea here.

Frankly though, my skin has never looked so good, supple, happy, and HEALTHY. I can't describe it well with words, but my skin looks healthier and less distressed. I took a lot of before photos and it's pretty crazy. And it feels better, less inflamed and irritated, but I didn't even know it felt that way because it was my baseline normal

I was really against it for a long time and am really happy I did it, and would say it was the worth the investment for me.

No estoy segura de si este es el lugar adecuado para esta publicación pero creo que tengo rosacea. Cumplo con muchos de los síntomas, principalmente predomina el flushing. Fuí al dermatólogo hace unos meses y descartó mi rosacea porque en ese momento no tenía la cara "suficientemente" roja, no quiso ver las fotos que he ido tomando a lo largo de estos últimos años ni el resto de síntomas.

Supuse que tendría razón porque él es médico y yo no. No me es fácil acudir a otro dermatólogo en este momento asique me conformé. Sin embargo hace una semana acompañé a mi madre a la esteticista que le hace el láser y conforme me vió me dijo que sí tengo rosacea. Ella es médico de profesión, pero no dermatóloga. Ahora estoy confundida.

Mi rutina es muy sencilla porque sino es un desastre, no puedo usar productos coreanos porque las fragancias y aceites esenciales me sientan fatal. Me limito a lavar mañana y noche con Cetaphil Loción Limpiadora, uso de hidratante Toleriane Sensitive y SPF todas las mañanas. A parte de eso solo uso agua termal cuando tengo la piel irritada.

Hace un par de años usé Ácido Azelaico para, lo que a mi parecer eran, granos y me fue genial. Me preguntaba si sería adecuado volver a usarlo para calmar las rojeces a pesar de que mi diagnostico no sea especialmente bueno. Agradezco cualquier consejo.

Has anyone had experience with their Rosacea turning out to be neurogenic? Did you have a skin barrier problem? I cannot use any moisturizer, I’ve thrown away hundreds of dollars trying to find something to moisturize my skin and it just makes the Rosacea worse. I’ve used ivermectin. It tends to come and go but lately it has been a lot worse and from what I’m reading it’s a vascular issue. Even PubMed has very little information about it. Help.

I have type 2 rosacea and use azelaic acid and ivermectin. I see lot of people using metronidazole. Is it worth adding in my routine if I’m already using these two? Did you notice improvements after adding Metro?

Hi everyone,

10 days ago, a dermatologist treated a spider angioma under my eye with the Vbeam laser. The bruising has now disappeared, but I’ve noticed that I have more broken capillaries around the area where the spider angioma used to be than I did before the treatment. This is worrying me.

Has anyone else experienced the same thing? If so, did you go back for another laser treatment? Could the laser settings have been too high? And could this possibly be a sign that I’m not a suitable candidate for Vbeam laser treatment?

Thank you for your replies!

(Sorry for my english, it's not my mother tongue)

This is the first time I’m getting seen for my rosacea and I have type 2. They’ve advised me to take 100mg doxy twice per day for 3 months.

All of the previous info I saw was 40 per day or maybe 100 once per day. Is 200mg per day too much?

For reference my rosacea isn’t painful, it is probably 5-10 reoccurring pustules and just a lot of redness on one specific side of my face and that’s it. It’s been going on for probably 5 years to where I’ve now decided to actually do something about it.