THOUGTS ON INNOVATIVE TREATMENTS FOR ROSACEA

Rosacea can be a vicious cycle. The more you worry about its dreaded appearance, the likelier the stress may cause it to come crashing in at the worst possible time, showing up in the most conspicuous and embarrassing place—the face—as a redness that won’t go away, often with unsightly bumps and pimples.

Fortunately today, rosacea sufferers have more reason than ever to be optimistic.

With advancements in clinical skin care products, medical grade lasers and alternative based treatments that focus on inner health and wellness its time to consider a holistic approach to this continual skin disorder.

Many clients at Skin Nerd Geelong seek my advice following a long term passion with redness, Couperose and Rosacea skins, mixed with continual breakout I'd like to say this is my bread and butter! I'm passionate about educating YOU about how the skin, gut health and YOU work to create the flare-ups. Understanding this is a chronic long term skin condition, that varies in severity between people - its never something we can completely cure, yet develop control to harness the flare ups. 

Some experience the large pustular and terribly sore explosions that can form complete disfigurement to the face and skin, to the mild but annoyingly flushed red cheeks 24/7.  

So WHAT should we do?

SKIN INGREDIENTS

Following a rosacea flare-up, have you turned to the backs of product bottles to determine what may have irritated your skin, and discovered an acid listed as a major component? That’s not necessarily a bad thing. While acid sounds like something that you want to keep out of contact with your face, much like alcohol, there are many harmless and potentially helpful acids that you might see listed. Here’s a brief primer on some of the most common acids used in skin care products to help you decide which to embrace.

Salicylic Acid This powerful skin ingredient is often used in back bar recipes but can be found in lower dosages within at home peels, and exfoliant. The key is within selecting the type of disolvent. You want something that will digest cells, yet leave the skin happy, intact and calm and YES Salicylic Acid is IT! Calming and Anti-Inflammatory this is a MUST have in any Rosacea skin routine.

Azelaic acid is a key component in topical treatments for both acne and rosacea. It treats acne by killing the bacteria that causes bumps and pimples to form. Azelaic acid also acts as an anti-inflammatory reducing the symptoms of rosacea.

Hyaluronic acid is produced naturally by skin cells to help them retain moisture, and it performs the same function in skin care products. Since rosacea sufferers often have impaired moisture barrier function, moisturizers containing hyaluronic acid may be especially helpful.

Zinc Oxide Protect your skin from the sun year round. The sun can worsen rosacea. This is so common that it’s actually one of the most frequent causes of a rosacea flare-up. Even people with dark skin can have a rosacea flare-up after being outdoors in the sun.

To reduce flare-ups caused by the sun, we recommend wearing sunscreen.  To protect your skin, apply a sunscreen to your face everyday before going outdoors. Even on cloudy days, it helps to apply sunscreen. But, its most important to select the correct chemical compound. Zinc Oxide is your best fan - it acts like a barrier that shield the skin from UVB rays, protecting against inflammatory responses.

I often talk to clients about their use of sunscreen - "Any sunscreen using chemical UVA barriers will often mean the ingredient penetrates the surface of the skin and encourages a reaction with the surface cells - inflammation is the result almost ensures a FLARE UP! Zinc is your friend!

YOUR TREATMENT OPTIONS

LASER GENESIS is a breakthrough laser treatment that targets the redness and capillaries in the skin. It also stimulates the skin’s natural processes to reverse the signs of aging and sun damage and promote a vibrant, healthy looking complexion.

Excel V Cutera ND:YAG Laser -  the clinical skin treatment for capillary and couperose skin. The precision laser ensures maximum results with minimal downtime. 

HEALITE LED II - The use of LED light therapy to treat inflammatory disorders has surged over the past few years. Ensuring the wavelength and energy of the machine this understated clinical treatment is a major game player for flareups and ongoing maintenance of clinically diagnosed rosacea. The ongoing skin benefits are more than just for treatment of rosacea.

If you take the time to read this and can associate with this information - please call or email michelle@skinnerd.com.au my years of clinical practice have brought me to a place where results matter ALL day ALWAYS!

Skin Nerd xx