I've had an issue for at least a year now with the skin on my nose looking red, and I get these weird breakouts on my nose/under my nose with small pimples that come out of nowhere and resolve within a day, but leave red/sometimes flaky/sometimes slightly weepy spots while they heal up. It flares before my period and sometimes if I have been in the sun. It sounds worse than it is. It's been a mild cosmetic issue. Probably just looks like I have a bit of a breakout situation on my nose. I finally got tired of wearing make-up on my nose all the time, didn't want to wait for my dermatologist appointment in fall, and made an appointment with regular clinic. Provider there thinks I have rosacea. She prescribed an antibiotic course (doxycycline), and also ongoing use of a topical gel (metronidazole). I haven't started anything yet b/c
1. this has been a mild cosmetic thing and I don't really want to deal with meds during busy summer & travel back and forth to lake cabin, and
2. meds cause serious sun sensitivity so I might just hold off.
I'm not sold that this is rosacea, but it could be. It's something I'd considered pre-appointment, but I ruled it out b/c I don't have any widespread flushing, cheek flushing, or any other issues beyond my nose area.
Anyone else have rosacea and what can you tell me? Anyone else have, like, a very mild or similar-sounding issue that is rosacea, and do your meds work fine?
I thought that I just started to get weird acne as I approached 40. After literally years of trying every acne treatment on earth, it turns out it was rosacea. (Side note: treatment for rosacea is generally the exact opposite of treatment for acne)
Anyway. The metronidazole helped a LOT and worked within days. I would just caution against using too much at once because it did give me headaches initially (I was really globbing it on-- I took a week off then re-started with much smaller amounts and it was fine). I have not noticed any sun sensitivity as a result. Maybe start with just the metronidazole and skip the antibiotics for now?
Rosacea presents in many weird ways. I rarely flush-- the breakouts on my cheeks were the main symptom. Alcohol and my period were the two main triggers. I do try to be more careful now about wearing a hat when I'm in the sun.
I also recommend making sure that you are using very very gentle face wash. IT cosmetics is widely recommended for makeup if you are looking for any sort of cover up.
When I was first diagnosed, I was on doxy for a month and topical Finacea (azaelic acid) cream. Cleared me right up. I use the Finacea sporadically now, but have had no serious issues since then.
If untreated, your nose can grow and turn red-purple. Look at pics of W.C Fields for an example.
Post by spinnaker5 on Jun 28, 2022 15:25:35 GMT -5
I’ve been dealing with rosacea for >10 years (yay). There are actually a few different types: one has symptoms that present more like acne, one that presents as redness/flushing, which is what I have, and the third is the WC Fields version. www.aad.org/public/diseases/rosacea/what-is
The treatments differ by type, and what works perfectly for one person might do absolutely nothing for another, even within the same type (which is miserably frustrating … can’t tell you how often I’ve heard ‘oh, just try X, it cleared up my rosacea completely in a week!’ and it’s like, yep, tried that, no dice).
Your best bet is to go to your dermatologist and talk with them about what options might work best for you. In the meantime, agree w PPs about using gentle/sensitive skin products across the board and watching sun/wind exposure. Also, any time you are trying a new skin care product, do the patch test. I stupidly didn’t last year and ended up with what turned out to be a massive eczema flare, which I’d never before had, that was accelerated because of having such sensitive skin as a baseline.