Rosacea in Australia

275 Comments over 6 pages ↓

#80687 Vagabond on December 24, 2011 at 2:30 PM

Greetings to all other red-cheeked Santas.
Reassured to read there is hope of returning to something approximating my fair-skinned former self as I continue exploring, photographing and painting all of Australia’s parks—into my fifth year as a vagabond. I hike a lot, well slathered and sheltering under a broad brimmed hat. Invariably my face glows scarlet from the exertion and the slightest exposure to sunshine even with SP30+ triggers a breakout of ugly pimples. Like many of you, I’m teased about imbibing too much, or getting too much sun! If only it were that simple to prevent, eh?
Quit the grog (I rarely imbibe). Avoid the sun. (I do and as a consequent have to take Vitamin D supplements)
Fortunately I’m a whiz with Photoshop and have gorgeous unblemished skin by the time photos of myself enjoying this or that park arrive at one or other relative or friends’ mailbox.
Way back when a period of great stress first triggered Rosacea, my Victorian dermatologist prescribed ROZEX. My skin reacted by producing even more pimples! Thanks Mate.
Somewhere a few years down many dirt tracks, a doc in SA prescribed ERACNE to combat the
pimples. Doesn’t do a thing for the redness but it does reduce outbreak of bumps and blemishes.
The most effective in almost entirely eradicating the pimples (not the redness) overnight is a medication prescribed for another condition: DIPROSONE. Nasty stuff which thins the skin with prolonged use, thus resorted to only before venturing back into civilization to restock larder and do laundry. Once confident in public, I’m now embarrassed by my perpetually scarlet cheeks.
Confronting a batch of WA relatives for the first time tomorrow, Christmas Day, but not wishing to be taken for Santa, provoked a spend-up in a chemist on CLINQUE REDNESS SOLUTIONS. Green tinted SP15 base and make-up does an okay job of covering redness but plastering make-up on to conceal c rosacea is not a solution to it, is it?
Thus I’ve just ordered ZENMED. Will it work? Or should I consider laser treatment somewhere down the long and dusty road? Would appreciate feedback from others who have taken this step.
New Year’s resolution?
No more chocolate.
Sob.
No more red face.
Grin.
Happy new 2012 fellow cheery cheeked lads and lassies.
At least we can see our rosy, blemished faces.
My dear, diabetic friend, Ann, cannot see my face, nor hers, anymore.
Blindness trumps rosacea any day.

#87800 Jeanette on January 19, 2012 at 11:29 AM

I had a bad outbreak of Rosacea through December and January which resulted in a trip to the local GP for more pills and creams. While the pills helped the creams did not. Rosacure helps my skin, but could not purchase it anywhere. My tube was way out of date. After talking to Mr Google, for a while, sent an Email to the makers in Italy, who gave me an email address for george@emagin.com.au who is their Australian contact. The company is Emagin Pty.Ltd
Unit2, 37-39 Green Street,
Banksmeadow
Sydney NSW 2019
They have Rosacure Intensive with SPF 15, as well as Rosacure Fast. They will also be marketing a cleanser and these products will soon be available in certain outlets [do not know names]

If anyone wishes to purchase these products just email George who was most helpful.

#88970 Scotty on February 5, 2012 at 11:28 AM

did like try zenmed like everyone else when theyre desperate but it was pretty much a waste of money, i still use the cleansing cream though, its been the best cleanser ive found anyway, but the support serum doesnt seem to do anything except make ur skin a bit oilyer and the anti redness mask actually dried my skin out out and doubled the redness so i dont know how they figured that. hopefully thats helpful, just be careful with the mask!

#89711 Adam on February 14, 2012 at 8:57 PM

Good little site and the Australian focus is necessary. I agree with a few of the other posters and strongly encourage everyone to consider DIET.

I’m pretty sure my ‘rosacea’ coincided with being prescribed internal and topical steroids, but I’m now almost certain that wasn’t the cause (it just made it worse). Then I ended up with the typical random flushes – really red, blotchy and painful but not the pustules. This went on for about 6 months, then started getting more severe. GP prescribed Doxycycline and Rozex – like everyone it seemed to work for a day or two and then it came back worse. The Rozex definitely dried it out and made it worse and I reckon all the Doxy did was kill off a few million stomach bacteria. Got a referral to a derm etc..

Then I just copied the lead of a few people on other forums and went cold turkey on caffeine, alcohol, sugar and wheat. Three days later you wouldn’t know I had it.

I’m almost certain now that I just can’t eat wheat – looking back I’d say I’ve had a minor wheat allergy for about 20 years and it’s just intensified in my 40s.

Might not work for everyone but worth a go – eat whole foods, avoid any processed stuff, and stay away from all the drugs and lotions. I’ve cancelled the derm appointment. Relying on doctors to solve this type of thing is dodgy given they don’t even know what causes it – try diet and work out what it is that’s causing it. I suspect it’s probably different for different people.

#89755 Irene McDonald on February 15, 2012 at 7:09 PM

Steroids can cause Rosacea symptoms which cease when the medication is stopped.

I agree with diet being a huge part of Rosacea but still believe the right skincare can help tremendously. Creams with MSM (an anti inflammatory) can work wonders without drying skin or any other side effects.

[removed] have a Blemish Gel that does not dry skin but clears pimples and blind pimples very quickly.

As a Rosacea sufferer I am constantly striving to improve my skin.

#89947 James on February 20, 2012 at 3:25 PM

I’ve just been using Neat 3B cream on my face for the last month and it’s almost totally rid my face of Rosacea. It’s a cream designed for skin chaffing but it’s worked for me.
Look, it’s worth a try because I know the frustration I went through with this problem and all the lotions and potions out there that promise everything but deliver nothing. It may not work for you but it certainly has for me.
What I like is that it’s cheap and easily obtained and I believe in the law of ‘unintended consequences’ in that something designed for one thing can help another thing which it wasn’t supposed to help.
I hope this information helps someone out there.
Good luck.

#89949 Julesie on February 20, 2012 at 4:27 PM

Hi to the person who is using beat 3b cream did you have acne or just the reddness cos I have no acne just the red and have tried everything aNd willing to give anything a go that works for other people

#89951 James on February 20, 2012 at 4:45 PM

I had some redness but not all that much but I did have pustules on my nose which have totally disappeared. In fact, I’ve been told that my skin looks great now. What I’ve discovered in these forums is that different things help different people and it’s very possible that 3B may not help someone else, however, if you’re like me you’re bound to try anything to get rid of this insidious problem.
By all means, give it a go and see what happens. It will only cost you a jar of cream ( and no, I don’t sell this product either”.)
I’ve put this information here to try and help others because I know how you all feel.
I just hope that I can help some people with this information.
Please report back and give us all feedback (good or bad) on this product.

James

#89952 julesie on February 20, 2012 at 4:51 PM

Well i am willing to give anything a go i am heading down to the chemsit now to see if i can get it and your right i looked it up on line and it is cheap and to get rid of this embarrassing red i am willing to do anything….i am sick of wearing make up and when you think about it that cream gets rid of redness on other parts of the body why not your face i will keep you updated thanks for the advice!!

#91857 Deb on March 12, 2012 at 7:08 PM

Wow fancy stumbling across this after about 3 years of trying all sorts of things – all natural – different diets, no grog, no sugar, no wheat, changing face creams, etc etc, to no avail whatsoever.

Still not really the wiser after reading through all the comments except to keep trying!

I’m not sure about the 3B cream for me, the ingredients look dodgy, at the moment I’ve just started on some unscented Sorbolent so will see how that goes.

Time to start up on another diet too.

All the diets I’ve tried have generally been for no longer than about 6 weeks – does anyone know if this may not be long enough to see results?

#91885 Sharon on March 13, 2012 at 4:53 AM

Deb,
I went to a dermatologist in Brisbane. He advised to not eat any of the food listed on the rosacea.org site as per link here: http://www.rosacea.org/patients/materials/triggers.php

I followed this and have found some of these foods have a huge impact on my face, such as yoghurt. Tomatoes are a food high in histamine and they are usually a no no food for people with inflammatory issues. The only thing I found confusing is high histamine foods as some foods have high acidic levels (and are high histamine) but change to alkaline when consumed such as lemon.

As far as face creams go, you can buy Dermaveen, Cetaphil or QV from chemist. They are better than sorbent products as they have no petrochemical compounds and are just as cheap.

Good Luck

#91909 diva on March 13, 2012 at 11:04 AM

Hi all…my dermtologist recommended me QV and it dosen’t work for me but i’ve been trying A’KIN unscented facecream sample which the pharmacist gave me as i wanted to try if it works before spending the money.Has anyone tried this product before or has it helped them with rosacea?Any kinda information wold help

Thx

#94190 Ria on March 31, 2012 at 6:01 AM

Hi guys,

Everything i have tried has eventually reacted to my skin except for the few suggestions i will share. My dermo suggested Avene intolerant range and i have been using it for a few years with good results. Still have rosacea but it is fairly mild. I find if i use avene, take telfast 180 and get lots of exercise, my skin is usually pretty clear. Avene also make a green tinted rosacea cream which works quite well. Not as well for those with super sensitive skin though. One other thing which has helped has been daily zinc supplements. – good for the immune system too.

#95755 Fruity on April 7, 2012 at 8:47 PM

Hi all

First of all, great to see an Aussie site on this topic, after trawling through numerous forum chains discussing US-centric treatments and dermatologists!

I was diagnosed with rosacea 2 months ago when seeing a doctor about the persistent redness on my cheeks and obvious broken capillaries around the corners of my mouth (I don’t have the associated pimples described by other sufferers). Sick and tired of years of having to wear makeup just to cover these problem areas, I finally went and saw a doctor in Chatswood, Sydney, on the recommendation of a friend. My doctor recommended I go for laser treatment, on a machine called the V-Beam, made by a company called Candela. http://www.candelalaser.com/products/index.cfm?task=vbeam

The procedure is much like what you go through with hair removal laser treatment – quick hot bursts of laser accompanied with a blast of cold air, and even with your eyes closed and goggles on, you can still see flashes of light. You get zapped repeatedly over the affected areas, and each treatment takes 10-20 minutes. It’s not overly painful but still unpleasant, particularly around sensitive areas like your eyes (keep them CLOSED!) and nose.

I’ve now had my 2nd treatment (out of a possible 4-5). After the 1st treatment, I was swollen and bruised badly in 4 spots where the machine had to be cranked up a bit (circular bruises of 1cm in diameter) so I looked like I’d been in a fist fight with someone holding a lit cigarette. I looked really bad, dreaded going out, and had to carefully cover the dark red bruises with more makeup whenever I had to leave the house. But after about a week, the results really started to show. The bruises and swelling went away, the redness went down dramatically, the capillaries were much less noticeable, and the surface of my skin actually looked smoother and finer, like I had makeup on! My boyfriend dubbed it my “new face”.

So I’m sitting at home, bruised again but looking forward to seeing the even better results this time around. I hadn’t tried any topical treatments before going to laser, but can definitely say that laser has worked wonders for me. One more thing – after the laser treatment, you have to apply sunscreen whenever you go out, so it can be a bit of a pain being super-religious about it everyday. I now try to buy moisturiser and makeup with SPF15 in it already to make life easier.

Hope this helps anyone considering going down the laser path.

#95890 :( on April 8, 2012 at 1:36 PM

Hi there, fruity about this laser treatment how much is each session

#95905 Fruity on April 8, 2012 at 3:40 PM

Hi

Unfotunately it’s not cheap. I was charged $400 per session, and then Medicare gave me around $120 back. Medicare covers some of the cost as this treatment is considered to be “medical” rather than “cosmetic”. If you might need 4-5 sessions like me, then safe to say that you’ll need to set aside around $1.5K for all the treatments. My doctor didn’t require me to pay for a set number of treatments upfront, so I make separate appointments and pay per session. I’m intending to take a see-how-we-go approach: if my skin is completely clear after fewer sessions, then hopefully I can save some money.

After posting my comment yesterday, I then looked on some other messageboards and to my horror, a rosacea patient had V-Beam done and thinks it contributed to her worsening eyesight AND pituitary gland cancer!! These were definitely not risks that my doctor informed me about (if the claims are in fact true). He assured me V-Beam was completely safe, and only penetrated to a certain layer of the skin. My doctor did do a few zaps quite close to the eye area as I mentioned before. I already have shortsightedness but there hasn’t been any change in my eyesight and I had an eye test done recently.

I will definitely speak to my doctor about these claims before my next session, so maybe it’s worth raising these issues with your doctor too, if you decide to look into V-Beam.

Good luck!

#98079 Mia on April 22, 2012 at 11:25 PM

It is great to present treatment options for people, but I am somewhat hesitant as the website is more about advertising than anything else.
Also do not understand what the reference (and contacts!) for hyperhidrosis treatment (surgical, to start with!) is all about. The fact that you only list sympathectomy in relation to hyperhidrosis is a warning sign.

The fact that there is no ‘contact’ for the ‘moderator’ is another warning sign.

Clearly you have not done your research. BTW, sympathectomy results in permanent vasodilation (also in the face), which can make the rosacea symptoms worse.

Here is what the medical professionals have to say about sympathectomy:

Patients should be clearly warned that sympathectomy is not as minor a procedure as usually asserted
Ann Thorac Surg 2001;71:1116-1119

Patients should be informed of the bradycardia resulting from sympathectomy
Ann Thorac Surg. 2002 Dec;74(6):2076-81.

bradycardia as likely, compensatory sweating as obligatory after Sympathectomy
Clin Auton Res. 2003 Dec;13 Suppl 1:I36-9.

Bradicardia, hypotension and hypoxia are frequently observed during sympathicotomy
Clinical Autonomic Research, Volume 13, Number 2, 147-161,

Sympathectomy induces adrenergic excitability of cutaneous C-fiber nociceptors
J Neurophysiol. 1996 Jan;75(1):514-7.

limited sympathectomy does not reduce postoperative compensatory sweating
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12514588

Hyperhidrosis is not caused by ‘overactivity’ of the sympathetic nervous system
Eur Neurol 2000;44:112-116 (DOI: 10.1159/000008207)

etc, etc.
http://ets-surgery.blogspot.com.au/

#98097 David Pascoe on April 23, 2012 at 9:38 AM

Hi Mia,

You can find how to contact me on the About page above.

ETS is definitely not to be entered into lightly.

There are warnings on the site about ETS (admittedly not linked from this page), here is a warning from an accomplished researcher: Rosacea ETS Comments and Warnings

davidp.

#98099 Mia on April 23, 2012 at 11:56 AM

Maybe that is a good enough reason to remove the links (free ads…) of the ETS surgeons then?…

#98100 David Pascoe on April 23, 2012 at 12:30 PM

Google Ads can follow you across sites. From my investigations ETS ads won’t show on this page because of the content here, but might show if ETS ads were interacted with on (i.e. clicked) another site before visiting this site.

Not saying that all ads here are recommendations from me, but I do filter out sites that are spammy or scammy looking.

regards,
dp.

#98101 Mia on April 23, 2012 at 12:32 PM

I tried the links under ‘dermatologists’, but none of those links works. It does not contain any names or addresses. Yet, the ETS surgeons are listed there by name, some with addresses added. NOT kosher!

#98104 jenny on April 23, 2012 at 4:03 PM

mia.
this site is very beneficial to people with rosacea,it is a way we can communicate about treatments.most of us have been to dermatologists and we investigate what is the most suitable for us.most of us are sensible and there fore we know which avenue we persue. it is a way we vent about having this disease

#99190 Mike on May 11, 2012 at 5:48 PM

Hi All,

Been awhile since ive been on here just reading through all the posts top see if there has been any developments!!

I have done more research and alot of people are now having success with rifaximin but like everything in oz its hard to get a hold of its found in sme diharrea tablets etc.

Perosnally i have had great results with using BB cream ive been been using “innisfree bb cream’ its a great concealer and is also a SPF 34 so can wear all day long and it doesnt look like you have it on for us blokes.

But wanted to make this permant so i went and invested in Gemini Laser – sure is daunting to go through with it but the results have been outstanding i no longer wear any skin products, the flushing still comes but nowhere near as red or the intensity and the flushing subsides with 10 mins back to normal skin colour. You look like you get bashed up abit with swelling and skin colour but after 8-10 days your good to go back in the public!

Ive booked in for another round to try knocking it on the head for a little and to just get top up treatment throughout the year, it is expensibe but if you add up the dr bills, creams, tablets im sure laser would come out in front.

The redness on my face is pretty much gone even in a hot room where i would struggle the most it still goes red but no one would think any different of you.
I honestly think this is the way forward ive gone 4 weeks without using a single product on my face and my skin looks like it did before this horrible thing takes a hold your life.

Anyway just my story/journey keep fighting the fight and you/we will get there

#99358 wilson on May 14, 2012 at 10:35 AM

Hi David

i am attaching an article I found in the UK daily Mail. hopefully it might be the soultion for some.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2143499/How-salt-blasting-surgery-cured-disfiguring-condition-called-drinkers-red-nose.html

Many thanks

Wilson

#99430 jenny on May 15, 2012 at 6:39 AM

hi all just wondered how the 3b cream went,i know that some of u are trialing it.would love some feedback jenny