talkhealth Blog

It was touch-and-go for a while but now I’m certain: my rosacea has returned with vengeance. Once again my skin is flushed, flaky, spotty and my god so itchy! I’m ashamed of how much I’ve been scratching lately but half the time I don’t even notice until I’m mid itch or bleeding (pleasant). It’s very depressing and demoralising that my third course of antibiotics hasn’t kicked this, I feel like I’m trying to run away from something but I’m only ever gaining some distance. I never really escape. Maybe I never will.

Other Treatments For Rosacea

On the plus side (ha!) I’ve had a chance to use a product my mum purchased for me. She saw Dermalex in Boots and immediately thought of me even though I was currently enjoying the temporary freedom of antibiotics. At the time I was mildly annoyed that she’d bought me something, desperately hoping that my condition was gone for good. I used it a couple of times but never in any kind of dedicated way. And it would have been impossible to notice any improvement because I was still on my prescription.

Ah how the times change. Using Dermalex whilst in a full-blown break out is somewhat stressful. It stings when applied and I’ve learnt from experience that this usually means my entire face is going to break out in a painfully itchy rash. It doesn’t look like this has happened, which is a massive relief but I personally don’t like this stinging I experience each time I apply. It’s getting less though, so maybe it’s only on broken skin when it itches?

I’ve been using Dermalex twice a day for about two weeks and I’m pretty certain that it’s having a good reaction with me. It’s working slower than antibiotics (which is totally understandable) but it has certainly lowered the flakiness and itchiness of my forehead. My cheeks are fighting it though so only time will tell.

I’ve got my own methods of dealing with my skin. I know that a lot of my appearance issues can be attributed to the itching. I also appreciate that this is somewhat my own fault but I dare anyone to experience this level of itchiness! I recently read an article by someone who has rosacea and she commented that it was like putting her face in hot water. It really is as though my skin has just been dunked in steaming water and then removed, that weird tingling that you want to rub right out. Except it doesn’t work. I’ve looked around for something to decrease the itchiness and I suppose it’s true that the simplest ideas work the best:

Face masks.

I liked face masks just fine when I was younger but now I’m a complete addict. If I know I’m going to itch unconsciously then the only thing I can do is make my face untouchable. So I slather on a face mask and leave it for as long as possible. It really works to get me stop itching and I have some great choices that are also kind of my skin and give it a chance to recover, such as Boots Tea tree and witch hazel peel off mask. I put that one on really thick and don’t remove until it’s entirely hard. My skin feels better after the process and I rarely scratch in the evenings.

As part of my skin care regime I also use Neils Yard’s rose moisturising oil and face wash. I have to send a lot of love to my mum here once again because she always gives me lovely skin stuff each birthday and christmas. She had rosacea too, in fact her cheeks are still permanently flushed from her past experiences, so she always helps me out when buying more up-market treatments. The oil is fantastic for when my skin is dry and itchy but I think the face wash isn’t cleansing enough. I’ve noticed a huge increase in the amount of blackheads I’m now sporting, so I’m left with an awkward choice between something that might be helping my rosacea or something that might actually help with my blackheads. Tough choices…

Guess I’d better get into the swing of my skin treatments now. Not sure I can face another antibiotic run just to be disappointed again.

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Kayleigh Herbertson

Kayleigh is a 20 something year old woman who is currently living with a chronic pain condition, a skin condition and a mental health condition. Juggling these three can be something of a challenge but she's always ready to take things on head first!