WAYS TO TREAT ROSACEA
Rosacea is a common but poorly understood long term skin condition that affects the face, with some estimates suggesting up to 1 in 10 people may have it. It does occur on people of Asian and African origin yet most commonly affects people with fair skins. Rosacea isn’t sexist and will occur in both men and women, most people are first diagnosed aged 30-50.
The symptoms often begin with episodes of the face FLUSHING (when the skin turns red for a short period), but other symptoms can develop as the condition progresses such as:-
Burning sensations
Permanent redness
Spots
Small blood vessels in the skin becoming visible.
What causes Rosacea?
The exact cause is unknown, although a number of possible factors have been suggested including abnormalities in the blood vessels of the face, yet what we can state to be definite triggers of rosacea are:-
Exposure to sunlight
Stress
Strenuous exercise
Hot/cold weather
Hot drinks
Alcohol & caffeine
Spicy foods
HOW TO TREAT ROSACEA?
There is currently no known cure for rosacea, but there are treatments available to help keep the symptoms under control. Long term treatment will usually be necessary, although people with rosacea will find there are periods when your symptoms improve depending on environmental factors, diet, lifestyle, hormones and during these periods can stop treatment temporarily. For most people, they will need to involve a combination of self-help measures and medications.
Self Help Care
* Avoid things that trigger your symptoms, now we need to be realistic, there are certain things we just have no control over, you simply can not have your central heating off so you can avoid having the contrast of temperatures from inside our homes and outside. but not every element of control is out of our hands, for example :- using sunscreen and covering yourself up if direct sunlight makes your symptoms worse.
*Taking care & consideration of your skin and by that I mean avoid harsh products and stick to products designed for sensitive skins, when cleansing your skin treat with care, no severe movements, dragging and pulling, its adding more trauma to the sensitized rosacea and definitely what we need to avoid.
*Look for products with anti-inflammatory ingredients such as Fever Few found in Aveeno’s ultra Calming cream or Dermalogica BARRIER REPAIR as the name suggest this gem of a product repairs your skin’s barrier to help protect it from pollution, free radicals, environmental and internal elements that cause our skin stress.
*ladies we can cover to a degree, the depth of redness with our foundations and the green tinted foundation creams and powders which counteract the redness making rosacea less noticeable.
Medications & Treatments
*Metronidazole is a prescription antibiotic available in either a cream or gel that can be used 1-2 times a day depending on the strength.
* SWT= Selective Waveband Technology
Talking about this treatment I can’t help but get excited, so lets hope I can contain myself and not rabble on too much!!
SWT stands for Selective Waveband Technology. which uses a waveband of light, normally up to 1200nm of wavelength. The short flashes of light are timed to heat up the target to the correct temperature without damaging the surrounding tissues. SWT is applied for various aesthetics treatments such as hair removal, pigmentation reduction, thread veins, rosacea and acne. Depending on treatment required by client, settings will be changed on machine to enable the correct wavelength for specific concerns, which enables the therapist to be able to treat many skin conditions like mentioned above.
With regards to rosacea we want the light to target the redness found in the skin, which is the hemoglobin found within the blood. The light is attracted to the hemoglobin which transform the absorbed light into heat and then is and carried away as a waste product. The added bonus when treating clients with rosacea is the actual heating of the skin induces collagenesis……. COLLAGEN BOOST, resulting in the reduction of fine lines, promotes healing of the skin and improves the texture and tone of skin.
At Beauty haven its known as Skin Rejuvenation and so many of us would benefit from this treatment, whether we suffer from rosacea or not. Our weather determines that our heating is needed ON more than OFF ( ALOT MORE), our skins are finer and more prone to signs of sun damage with age spots, uneven pigmentation and redness (Rosacea), with not only dealing with sun damage but with internal and external factors for example; wind burns, hot drinks and alcohol (us Irish are definitely fond of a glass or two), not too mention the combination of a Hot Totty!!
Before undergoing any Laser/SWT treatment please ensure the clinic or salon is registered with a certified RQIA and that the therapist preforming the treatment have went through refresher training on a regular basis as techniques advance with research and it is very important that its followed up, hence how my lovely husband ended up being a dutiful model…….
Refresher training was taking place at Beauty Haven and one more model was required for Thread vein removal, having a general conversation with hubby about our day, regarding work, child care, dinners etc.. I look properly at his face and I can see redness on his cheek…. to which I ask “are you off tomorrow?” before my hubby could say anything I had him committed to being Beauty Havens Next Top Model!!
My husband’s job in the past for a long time was working in the great outdoors, and he loved it obviously a lot more than his poor skin did, and as the years passed the reddening on his cheeks became a permanent fixture. To be honest I never noticed it, yet now that it was a subject in hand, he admitted it bothered him. Delighted I informed him of the wonderful benefits he would receive from a Skin Rejuvenation treatment with Thread vein removal, optimistic he looked but nervous at what the treatment would entail………….
To be continued next week
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