ROSACEA: THIS MUCH I KNOW

There’s a lot we still don’t know

The kicker when you get diagnosed with rosacea (apart from the fact it’s ‘incurable - you can manage it but it’s not buggering off any time soon) is that there is still so little known about it. No one really knows why you get it, but genetics are a factor. I didn’t think it ran in my family, but a recently unearthed pictures of my dad (who died when I was a teenager) show that surrounding a compulsory-for-80s-dad mega-moustache was significant redness and a rosy glow that probably wasn’t all down to his lunchtime Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Fair-skinned people are more prone to rosacea, and if you blush easily you might be more likely too.

Frequently mistaken for other conditions - acne, menopausal hot flushes, plain old ‘sensitive skin’ or allergies - the real number of people who suffer from it is uncertain. There’s also no hard and fast treatment. Various things such as medication, skincare and laser therapy can help, but every person’s skin and rosacea reacts differently so there’s a lot of trial and error.

you need to see a dermatologist

GPs are wonderful at many, many things, but in my experience, and those of heaps of other rosacea patients I’ve spoken to, they are largely unable to deal with this. My interactions with GPs during flare-ups range from one who didn’t even know how to pronounce it, repeatedly saying ‘rousasicca’ (to rhyme with Boudicca), which is second only to my mum’s cute nickname of roseyshire - to one who tried to prescribe me steroid cream.

I did my research and went to see Dr Stefanie Williams at the Eudelo Clinic, because not only is she a specialist dermatologist with an interest in rosacea, but she’s also a sufferer herself. I didn’t just get a bag of prescriptions (two prescribed creams and a low-level antibiotic), but lifestyle advice and a list of skincare and makeup products to use. After ten days I saw a significant improvement.

identifying your triggers really helps

Most rosacea sufferers have near-permanent underlying redness or blotches, and then there are the joy of flares, when your face can go from zero to oh-my-god-have-I-just-leant-over-the-Chernobyl-reactor-core in a matter of seconds. Reasons or ‘triggers’ for these vary from person to person, but alcohol, spicy foods, hot drinks and emotional stress are common catalysts. Mine include  airplane travel, red wine (even the good stuff) and sex (only the good stuff). I tend to avoid triggers when I really don’t want a flare, for example, I won’t have a coffee just before a big presentation, but wine is far too delicious, and anyone that wouldn’t like your rosy face isn’t worth sharing your orgasm with anyway.