WOW David this is an amazing read! I posted some excerpts and commented here and there, but I just think everyone should read this whole thing. VERY eye-opening. Please read!!!
http://www.ausci.com/ROSACEA%20BOOKLET.pdfI'm just going through it now. This reminds me of a camping trip one year. We went camping and it was only around 60-65 degrees most of the time. During the whole trip my skin looked amazing. My vessels were completely constricted at all times. On the way home, we went into a warm restaurant and I ate. I had the biggest "warm room" flush ever. It was very sudden, and awful. Now I realize that, while my skin was cool, dilating chemicals were not being used - so they built up. So, after such a long time building up, there was an abundant amount to be released. I think this also helps explain why many of us do worse in the winter going from warm to cold rooms.. Thanks for finding this.
Here is a little snippet:
"In cooler environments, chemicals the body uses to dilate blood vessels are no longer getting released in significance. If the person is in a cool environment for a long period of time, then these dilating chemicals such as neuropeptides, begin to build up."
I never realized you can actually reverse anything with rosacea (except with IPL): "flush reduction methods over the long term that will allow you to reverse the excessive skin infrastructure and sensitization."
"If you reduce the over activity of the skin, you reduce the infrastructure required to maintain it. Less nutrients will be needed for supply, so less blood vessels are needed to get them there. Just as the body has a system to increase blood vessels and nerves in your skin to correlate with their activity, the body also has a system to reduce blood vessels and nerves in your skin when they are less active. The body uses growth factor regulation as one method of achieving this balance. This is why reducing flushing and skin irritation is so important."
The author actually has rosacea: "Putting some of the rosacea neuropeptide research I learned into practice, the coming winter I did an experiment to try to continually release neuropeptides thereby not enabling a build up of these chemicals by the nerves in my skin. After all, what is the facial flush? It’s not caused by a gentle release of inflammatory chemicals produced by the body, but caused by a massive release of these chemicals!
In effect I was creating a summer-like environment by using heaters to prevent my face and body from getting cool (without getting too hot). I got through the winter and saw further improvement in erythema and flushing.
I continued the experiment in the summer, but this time the cool environment was inside due to air conditioning or insulation. The warm room was now outdoor exposure to hot weather. I again tried to continually release neuropeptides throughout the day. I did use air conditioning sparingly during the summer only to reduce very warm environments like hot cars. But did not focus cool air directly on my face (flush zones) and did not get cool. Again I noticed a great reduction in overall flushing and my facial redness was further improved. Over time I noticed a greater tolerance to warm environments
There does seem to be a correlation between cooler environments and rosacea. In tropical southern China there is little rosacea found, but as you travel north towards areas that experience cold winters, rosacea is very common.
Over the previous 18 months I had experienced significant continual improvement in erythema and flushing."
Perhaps this also explains why I do so well in tropical environments.
I think a lot of us try and do this: "Many with rosacea even try to remain in cool environments for long periods in an attempt to reduce facial flushes from occurring. However, this is counter productive because it can result in significant inflammatory neuropeptide storage. When the person eventually enters a warm environment they have a build up of neuropeptides ready for release. In this situation a large flush will be difficult to prevent."
Interesting!!!!
"If the flush zones of your face (cheeks, etc) are cool to the touch, then it is very likely that the availability of inflammatory chemicals such as neuropeptides are building up. Your flush zones don’t have to be red hot for these chemicals to be released. If you want to continually release neuropeptides gradually, then you want to have neutral to slightly warm skin (not hot and not cold).
By ensuring your environmental temperature is biased towards warm, then your flush zones will be biased towards neuropeptide depletion rather than neuropeptide build up. I also believe that it is not the actual temperature that is important but more of a question of time. The longer you stay in a heat conservation phase (your flush zone is cold) then the longer the neuropeptide build up continues.
If you continually experience flushed skin in warm environments, and you just get hotter during flushes, then you need to reduce the excessive infrastructure in your skin before you can attempt to modulate your environmental temperature and avoid neuropeptide build up. First try IPL to reduce some of the extra blood vessels in your skin."
Some more tidbits: "From a biological view, the sudden end to an intense flush somewhat resembles the neuropeptide depletion induced by capsaicin (the active chemical found in red peppers)."
Does Capsaicin help rosacea? I would have never dreamed of trying a "hot pepper" extract on my skin, but is it irritating topically?
"Australian Sciences has conducted extensive research into the normalization of inflammatory skin cells with natural compounds such as silymarin, egcg, vitamin B12 and many others. Independent research has also showed these compounds to be effective for other inflammatory skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis...."
Artist
