Everything's coming up rosacea

6 December, 2009. Tags: Rosacea

Rosacea is an uncomfortable skin disorder which starts as a mild redness of the skin caused by enlarged blood vessels under the skin. Rosacea sufferers may also develop pimples and have dry, burning and gritty eyes. A thickening of the skin caused by enlarged oil glands can even lead to the nose becoming larger and bulbous. Yikes! But there is hope...

If you suffer from rosacea, you are not alone. There are around 45 million sufferers worldwide. And the good news is that you can treat rosacea by eating the right foods, taking the right supplements and eliminating irritants from your diet and your skincare products.

What causes rosacea?

Rosacea is caused by the abnormal functioning of facial blood vessels. Rosacea blood vessels can expand wider than normal blood vessels and they can continue to dilate for much longer periods of time than normal blood vessels.

Can rosacea be cured?

It is thought that rosacea is irreversible once it gets to the chronic stage. However, it can be managed, minimised and controlled if you are committed to doing so.

Things that aggravate rosacea

Do any of the following make your facial flushing worse?

allergies
alcohol
anxiety
dairy
extremes of temperature
foods containing histamine
illness
poor diet and lifestyle
skincare products
stress
strenuous physical activity
sunlight.

Obviously, if you are seeing a correlation between any of the above and your skin worsening, you know what to do. OK, so it might be a little easier to avoid eating dairy than to avoid ever being embarrassed but you get the idea!

Histamine and rosacea

Histamine triggers facial flushing in rosacea sufferers. Histamine is released within the body when exposed to stress or allergens (leading to the familiar redness and swelling we get from insect bites and stings). Histamine is also found in some of the yummiest foods and drinks, such as wine, cheese, spicy food, beer and chocolate.

Histamine rich and histamine-releasing food and drinks

anchovies, sardines and tuna
avocado
bananas
beer, brandy, port, rum, sherry, wine (drink gin, vodka or whisky instead)
canned foods
cheese
chocolate, cocoa powder
cider and cider vinegar
cola drinks
eggplant (aubergine)
eggs
fermented food and drink (e.g. yoghurt, soy sauce)
coloured fish (not white fish)
jams and preserves
papaya
pineapple
cooked and processed meats
shellfish
strawberries
sour cream
some kinds of nuts
spinach
mushrooms
tomatoes in all forms
yeast
oranges
gherkins
olives.

Quite an extensive list, isn't it? Don't panic though, you may not need to eliminate all these foods to treat your rosacea. Try an elimination diet, where you avoid all the foods on the list for at least a fortnight, then reintroduce them one by one and watch for a reaction.

You will need to eat or drink a lot of whatever the item is you are testing. If you get a reaction, discontinue that food and move ahead to the next one on your list. If there's no reaction, you can reintroduce that food to your diet. Hassle? Yes. Totally worth it? Definitely - you could permanently lessen your rosacea symptoms.

Exercise and supplements for rosacea

Moderate, but not strenuous, regular exercise will help to reduce inflammation in the body, and hence the face. Do gentle exercise that raises your heart rate at least three times a week, daily if possible.

The following supplements will help your body to remove histamines from the blood stream:

omega 3 (take a high-dose supplement)
glycine
magnesium
B vitamins
selenium
vitamin C.

Read The Healthy Skin Diet, by Karen Fischer for excellent advice on how to manage rosacea holistically.

Topical skincare treatments for rosacea

Our top picks for rosacea are:

John Masters' Linden Blossom Creme Cleanser, one of the most soothing cleansers ever!
Botani Olive Skin Serum
Botani Soothing Facial Mist
bod Certified Organic Moroccan Face Oil

Alternatively, look for natural skin care products containing the following ingredients to soothe your skin. Click on the list item for a list of products containing that ingredient.

Emergency itch treatments!

If your skin is really itchy and driving you nuts, you can try filling a plastic bag with ice cubes and holding it next to your skin, or add 1/4 of a cup of bicarbonate of soda to lukewarm water and soak your face in it (remembering to come up for air!).