My Rosacea

With the changing weather here my rosacea symptoms popped up Monday. For those of you who don't know what rosacea is, it is characterized by a red face that looks somewhat like a sunburn. There are 4 basic subtypes of rosacea. I have the simple flushing type without pustules (thank goodness!). The capillaries in my face dilate and my cheeks, chin, neck and nose flush. I have been taking clonidine for the past two days for the flushing as well as applying jojoba oil and creams to calm the skin. I am taking aspirin and oil pills to help alleviate the inflammation. The flushing has decreased to about half of what it was but the stresses involved in teaching work against the treatments.

The cause of rosacea is unknown. It may be an autoimmune response that is inappropriate or it may have an allergic component involved. No one really knows. There is also no cure. I work at beating down the symptoms and have been fairly successful in recent months until this week.

At its worst I can have peeling, itching, and a burning sensation with the face achieving the most interesting purple color! It can affect the eyes as well, causing extreme irritation and redness. Things got so bad a year ago that I went in for a laser treatment to destroy some of the facial capillaries.

There are a lot worse chronic diseases in life but rosacea is embarassing and very frustrating to deal with. As a teacher I need to be confident when in front of a class. This disease destroys confidence and makes me want to hide at home in bed.

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