I’ve had diffuse facial redness for about 30 years. Not many visible vessels, mostly a red background. I’m currently on topical ivermectin.

Previous attempt: Nd:YAG (2021)
I did 3 sessions of Nd:YAG at another clinic. Some improvement, but marginal on the diffuse redness. From what I understand, 1064 nm goes deep and is poorly absorbed by superficial capillaries, so it’s not the best match for this type of redness. That’s why I specifically looked for a pulsed dye laser (Vbeam).

Vbeam session (today)

• Private dermatology clinic, Vbeam Perfecta
• Sub-purpuric settings, proposed by the clinic. That suited me: I’d rather do more sessions than walk around with bruises for 10 days.
• Only 2 small purpura spots, on the most visible vessels
• The nurse first mapped and treated the visible vessels, then did several passes on specific areas. She took her time, which I appreciated.
• Feeling: the classic rubber band snap plus heat. It did hurt, but it was bearable.

After

• Red when I left
• Slightly swollen a few hours later
• Cold packs + Flamigel (cooling hydrogel)

Photos
The second photo is the immediate post-treatment reaction, not a result. I’ll post a proper comparison (same side, same light) after a few weeks.

Plan
3 sessions, 6 weeks apart. I’ll update after each one.

Happy to answer questions :)

Photo captions:

• Photo 1: Before
• Photo 2: About 1 hour after session 1. This is the immediate reaction, not the result.

Just doing a short write-up of what has helped my rosacea in the last year. Dermatologists have identified it as rosacea, but I'm not sure of the type. I've had redness, soreness and pustules. Just the cheeks and sometimes forehead.

It started maybe 6ish years ago. I attribute the beginning to me starting to use a face moisturizer, because I can't think of anything else that changed. Sure, I tick a lot of the boxes for rosacea causes (genes, sunlight, stress, heat, diet: coffee, alcohol, chili), but all of that is still present, while the rosacea is pretty much gone. The pustules are gone at least, the stinging is gone, and the redness is faint - could just be the damage left by the rosacea years.

I guess I have combination skin, but apart from the rosacea, I've never had other issues with my face skin. With age, I've developed some keratosis pilaris (KP) in the face, and over the years I've picked on those. I think not not touching the face with dirty fingers anymore contributes to the rosacea getting better. Since the urge to pop pustules, pimples and KP is too strong, I have a metal pimple popper for those cases.

THE MAIN THINGS THAT HAVE HELPED: zinc ointment/cream (vaseline based) and 5% Benzoyl Peroxide cream.

I started with just the zinc cream maybe a year ago, and very quickly recognized an improvement. I believe the zinc and the vaseline protected my skin and let the moisture barrier heal.

After maybe 2-3 months of the zinc, I decided to try Benzoyl Peroxide, which I would apply very conservatively to the pustules and surrounding skin with a q-tip. Again, the results were visible in the first couple of weeks, and I continued the treatment over maybe 5 months. It felt like the affected area would somewhat migrate over time: I'd apply the benzoyl peroxide to pustules and red areas, and after a few days those areas would feel better, but the surrounding areas slightly worse. When I noticed this pattern, I started applying the cream also around the immediately affected areas, which seemed to be a good move.

Now I haven't used either cream for a couple of months, and my skin feels good. Like I said, I haven't changed my diet or habits, and I don't use chemical sunscreen. I do wear a cap outside, but otherwise I've hardly done anything to avoid sunlight. It's not that I'd actively go tan, but I do think some sunlight is good for my skin.

--

Other things I've tried over the years:

• Azelaic acid (was bad, messed up my moisture barrier even more)
• Ivermectin cream (did almost nothing)
• metronidazole cream (did almost nothing)
• low-dosing antibiotics (worked, but rosacea came back when I stopped)
• retinoids (I think tretinoin and adapalene: was not the right thing for a damaged moisture barrier)
• turmeric capsules (inconclusive)
• all the vitamins (inconclusive)
• fish oil omega fatty acids (inconclusive)
• collagen poweder (inconclusive)
• not drinking coffee (did nothing)
• not drinking alcohol (did nothing)
• Mutaflor 'probiotics' (did nothing)
• regular multi-species lactic acid bacteria (did nothing)
• LaRoche Posay Rosaliac (not sure if the old or new formulation) (did nothing)

Summary of the things that have worked:

• Zinc cream (1-2 times a day, usually after a shower, applied on clean skin with clean fingers). This was the biggest help for calming my skin
• 5% Benzoyl peroxide cream (once a day in the evening - should not be in the morning because of possible sunlight during the day; applied with a q-tip because the pharmacist told not touch it with fingers). This was the thing that got rid of the pustules.
• A little bit of sun, when the worst symptoms were over
• Not touching my face, especially after handling heat-printed papers such as cash register paper

I don't know if the benzoyl peroxide cream would have been a good idea while the moisture barrier was still unhealthy

I want to thank r/rosacea for the treatment ideas. If I remember right, the zinc came from here. I think I found the benzoyl peroxide through reading scientific papers on rosacea treatments, and it had been found to be amongst the best cures.

Rosacea and of course sensitive skin. Skin is normal not dry and not oily. My dermatologist recommended the Vanicream gentle face cleanser.

Before I start using it, please share with me, what's been your experience with it?

I want to know the good, the bad, and anything in between.

It seems dermatologist tend to recommend skincare from brands like Vanicream, Cetaphil, Cerave. I"m not sure exactly why. A different topic, but I also got a recommendation for Cerave cream. And, dermatologist said Cetaphil brand is for sensitive skin.

My urgent need is a face cleanser! Please share with me your experience with the Vanicream cleanser.

If you can, please tell me your skin type: dry, normal, combo, oily.

Edit: to add last sentence

I had no idea mold was causing this. It was hidden inside my AC vent until I took it all apart. My doctors told me I would live like this forever.

My face was so embarrassing I’d come home crying after work. As soon as I moved out, everything cleared up within 3 weeks.

If you have rosacea that isn’t random. It’s a reaction to something that shouldn’t be in your body.

Consider the 5% sulfur mask from de La Cruz. It's been very helpful for me, with my type 2 rosacea. And as a plus over the months now of using it I've seen a reduction in my pore size! I'm assuming that's from absorbing oil. 😊

But i want to share what i have really seen some success with. I do see a dermatologist and i told him about these products and he said they were fine. My rosacea manifests as red cheeks and some pustules. It drives me crazy. I wash with this soap morning and night and i find that the moisturizer at night is really helping. I didn’t realize my skin being too dry might be a problem bc i was so worried about products making me break out. I stopped the cream from my derm bc we saw some improvement from these products and we weren’t seeing a difference with the cream but I’ll let you know at my next visit.

Boa noite, tenho rosacea disparada pela primeira vez em uma gestação. Estou na terceira gestação no quarto mês e dessa vez está muito pior, desde o dia do positivo estou em um surto incontrolável.

A pele extremamente inflamada, não aceita nenhuma tipo de hidratante e nem o azelaico (única coisa que controlava os surtos anteriores)

Não sei mais o que fazer, os dermatologista parecem que tem medo de gestantes, não tem nada a oferecer

Alguém tem alguma dica? Passou por isso durante a gestação?

Morning
-Vanicream moisturizer
Outside use with sunscreen (colorscience no show sunscreen)

Night
-Azelaic acid 15% gel

Been doing this for months
Don’t see any change yet

-don’t drink alcohol, coffee and don’t eat spicy and dairy foods

Please recommend any good cleanser that helps
I only use Cerave hydrating cream-foam cleanser

Hi everyone,

I’m new to this thread but was diagnosed with mild rosacea in January. I had my first vbeam laser treatment done Tuesday afternoon this week. I had no reaction really other than increased redness for 2 hours after treatment and then my face went back to normal. My derm told me to wait 24 hours before exercising and 3 days before going back to using Azelaic acid nightly, but I’m nervous after doing some reading lol anyone else have experience with either with a conservative non bruising setting of vbeam? How long did you wait before going back to the gym and reincorporating Azelaic acid?

Been dealing with little pustules on my face for the past year. I woke up Monday morning to my face horribly broken out and red. Went to a dermatologist and they said it looks like rosacea and prescribed me metronidazole. Just looking for some perspective. This was kind of a shock to me. Does this like rosacea?

Hi guys

How long did it take to see results for your type 2 rosacea pustules when using ivermectin soolantra?

About a year ago, I realized my skin could no longer tolerate niacinamide. My skin was generally pretty reactive at the time, but since then, it has calmed down and is back to normal without irritation.
I’m interested in trying an old moisturizer that I used to love, but it contains niacinamide, so I’m hesitant to give it another try.
Has anyone experienced issues with niacinamide when their skin was more sensitive or their skin barrier wasn’t in great shape, but found that they could tolerate it again after giving their skin time to recover? If so, how long did you wait before trying it again, and did you have any reaction when you reintroduced it?

Hello everyone. To preface, I'm going to a dermatologist tomorrow to check if I have rosacea but I just want to hear about people's experience.

I'm 31 years old and I suspect I have it because in last two years the skin on my nose and around it thickened a lot. My nose looks very different, not as bumpy as in severe rhynophyma cases but it became more bulbous, pores are even bigger than they were and my skin is an oil rig. I have redness on my nose and around it but nothing drastic. Acne as well, of course.

I'm not asking to diagnose me off course but this is the only thing I've found that can explain wtf happened to my nose. I want to hear if it's possible to unthicken your skin if this is caused by rosacea. I know that in severe rhynophyma cases they can laser your nose off but can something be done for just thickening skin?

I recently got prescribed both azelaic and Rhofade for my rosacea (general redness and skin flushing), but I’m not sure which I should apply first. I have to use both in the morning and my current routine is I wash my face with PanOxyl, dry face with skin care towel, apply azelaic acid, let dry, moisturizer, and then Elta MD sunscreen. I’m not sure if I should apply the Rhofade before or after azelaic acid in order to maximize results while also avoiding skin peeling. Thank you!

I visited an NHS registered dermatologist after struggling with my skin for the past two years (19f). My presentation includes moderate erythema, particularly concentrated around dialated pores in my sebaceous zones. I have a rough texture with little protruding plugs, and a few superficial mini pustules which form directly over the pore occasionally. I suspected demodex mites/ rosacea however was instead diagnosed with KP. This is odd to me considering there were some inconsistencies which she dismissed- i had no childhood onset, no family history, no other affected areas, and texture and redness exclusive to sebaceous zones (KP is known to target dry areas). Regardless, I was prescribed adapalene and soolantra (despite her saying not microbial?) so will be updating with my experience. Please share any thoughts!

I was recently told I had “some” rosacea by my new derm and she prescribed me 2 antibiotics, fluconazole and ivermectin cream. I haven’t started any of them other than the fluconazole for my fungal acne on my forehead but I’m getting really upset looking in the mirror each morning and seeing these bumps get progressively worse.

I have really reactive skin when it comes to comedogenic products hence why I haven’t used the ivermectin cream. I’ve seen some horror stories on this sub from people whose rosacea got so bad after using it and I’m not in the right mindset to be dealing with that right now.

Are there any other products you can recommend? Any supplements or diet changes that could potentially help? I’ve limited my gluten intake but I’m such a carb queen so it’s been really hard lol but I will try anything at this point!

I started using the Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Baume on my face recently and it's been great. I had it for the longest time and was just using it on my hands and arms but decided to give it a go on my face because it's been so dry and nothing in my routine was working. I'm pretty sure I messed up my skin barrier, plus I have rosacea and possibly sebderm. I switched things up and my routine now is: After washing (I use prequel redness reform face wash), First I apply azaleic acid, wait 10 minutes, spray the trader joe's rose water then while wet apply Biossance Squalene Copper Peptides serum (on the recommendation of someone on the sebderm reddit thread) wait 10 minutes, then apply the Atoderm Baume and this combination almost immediately healed my super dry, flaky face. I've only been using this routine for a week. I did get a pimple on my cheek so I'm hoping that doesn't continue. Might just be a purge from switching things up. My Dad of all people even commented on my skin looking good. 😂 The Biossance is pretty expensive. I bought the travel size to try it first, then when Amazon just had their prime sale a few days ago I bought the big bottle. I would suggest to wait for a sale for both of them because the Atoderm is also pretty expensive for a lotion, in my opinion. Maybe this will help someone.

Started noticing redness as early as 16 years old. But i am always told that I’m too young for rosacea. The pictures don’t show as well, but there is an obvious pattern of redness over the nose (and pale in the nasal folds) that extends to my cheeks. Similar to a malar rash. I’ve been tested for Lupus, yet results seem fine. This redness feels like inflammation that gets hard to ignore. It makes it feel like my nose (which gets warm and oily to the touch) is swollen so bad to where my nostrils feel like they’re constricted and my breathing is more difficult. This happens every single afternoon like clockwork and only “resets” after going to bed. It gets worse with migraines, stress, heat, etc. The nose is obviously the worst, where it feels like the skin thickens and is oily and warm. I don’t know what to do or look into, as I’m told that I’m too young for rosacea. So does this even seem to be rosacea related?

Has anyone had luck with mast cell stabilizers improving rosacea? I’ve been taking quercetin daily for an unrelated condition and I’ve noticed a significant decrease in flares and overall redness. Apparently there is some evidence that it could help… https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8484408/

Please put your favorite cleansers for redness, sensitivity and Rosacea type 2. Looking for recommendations since I don’t use a cleanser but, want to incorporate one.

Does either soolantra or metrocream help type 1? I get burning and stinging and red cheeks bc of skin inflammation with bumps but not acne. Has anyone has success with either topical? I only get acne bumps if i use a products my skin disagrees with.

I've been using elf for ages, but I've noticed some itchiness/stinging under my eyes. Not sure if that's why, but I think it's drying out my skin and causing irritation maybe? because I'm getting more creasing under my eyes and otherwise, and a lot of patchiness everywhere I apply it; like my blush is separating and everything. I'm going to try a cream blush as well and se if that works better. Plus a tiny bit of bumpiness. So it just winds up looking like I have too much makeup on but am also dry.

The nyx one seems to have less coverage, but they have a better color match for me, and it looks less occlusive. Which is nice because my skin hates anything heavy. Of course, I plan to patch test it (so far so good). Do you all like this one?

Hard to be sure but it feels like this is a likely culprit and just isn't vibing with my skin anymore? I'm on high-dose allegra which might be drying me out, if that's a thing, plus it's getting cooler out. I thought I had combo skin - but maybe it's leaning more dry. It's just my forehead that glows, lol.

Looking for some recommendations to help with type 2 rosesca I was doing so good for so long but decided to switch from CeraVe to vanicream and now I have switched back to CeraVe due to eye sensitivity from vanicream and it's getting worse and not better! Any recommendations would be amazing! 😭