Rosacea Support Group
Rosacea is a common but often misunderstood condition that is estimated to affect over 45 million people worldwide. It begins as flushing and redness on the central face and across the cheeks, nose, or forehead but can also affect the neck, chest, scalp or ears.
Hi. I am new to this group. I am just trying to find the reason for my red face. During the past few months, my face will turn bright red, is burning, and the skin gets tight like if you had a sunburn. It is not a hot flash-I am used to those from my cancer treatment and am on a medicine to control them. When I get this, it is only my face-and I can feel the heat radiating from my cheeks. It is very strange, because it usually happens late at night-sometimes when I am up late reading, or even after I have gone to sleep-around 12am-4am. Maybe it happens during the day, but I don't notice it so much. It will last a few hours-most times it will be gone by the time I get up in the morning. The doctor tells me this is not the malar rash from the lupus, and I do not have a fever at the time. Does anyone know if this sounds like it might be rosacea? I will be making an appt. with my doctor, but was just wondering what you might think. Thanks for your help, and God Bless! Kathy
I will try best to answer with what I know. It is hard to say....you need to discuss with your doctor any medications or chemo treatments that you may have had or are currently taking. Certain medications can make you flush. Rosacea is different for everyone...some people get the flushing, some people's face swell, some people get acne...pustule and papules. I would like to give you a definitive answer, but I don't have all the pieces to the puzzle. Sit down with the dermatologist and talk about your medications, symptoms, allergies, etc. See if you can pinpoint if a flare arises from a certain food you may eat during the day, or if it is in r/t weather, caffeine, alcohol etc. I have found that most derms do not have the patience to deal with rosaceans....they usually give you a cream that offers little help and send you on your way. Sometimes, diet changes and avoidance of triggers can help. Stay away from direct sunlight and use sunscreen. Try avoiding caffeine, alcohol and arginine rich foods...(spinach, certain nuts, ...you can do some research on line about foods to avoid, but you may not need to be so extreme. I don't know if this helped you any. If it's not too personal, I was wondering if you would share with me your cancer story. I was just diagnosed with cervical cancer and had a hyterectomy two days before Thanksgiving. You can email off line if you'd like or reply to my mailbox. God bless....Ginger