Still trying to find what's best

[Guest guest]

I usually don't get to the posts for a week or so and it's always

interesting to see what's happening here. When I read about all the

different products out there I get so excited that I want to try them

all. But alas as you know what works for one rosacean does not work

for the other. I am still trying to recover from trying three new

products at once. What a fool. i just can't seem to stick with what

I know will work, always want to improve more. My disks are still

waiting for me to try again after I get the rosacea Care cleanser

which was not an irritant for me. I want to give them a good shot so

will try to refrain from buying anything else at this point. I am

hoping that the irritant that caused this last flare was the Cetaphil

Soap and not the disks because the disks are expensive and the soap

was not. Am still only using the Sy soap at this time and

nothing else. My inflammations are down and the itchiness is

subsiding. Just rinsing in the morning and applying Cetaphil

moisturizer with suncreen and always wearing a hat outside. If the

disks fail to smooth out my skin at least I know that I can just go

back to something as simple as washing with The rosacea care

cleanser. I just have a really hard time with the concept of just

washing. But it is amazing to me that after all these years and

dermotologists and prescriptions, that what works best is the

simplest. Continued success and good luck to you all. Cindy

[Guest guest]

> When I read about all the different products out there I get so

> excited that I want to try them all...I am still trying to recover

> from trying three new products at once. What a fool.

Been there, done that, Cindy.

> I just have a really hard time with the concept of just

> washing. But it is amazing to me that after all these years and

> dermotologists and prescriptions, that what works best is the

> simplest.

I think of it this way: rosacean skin is often prone to developing

sensitivities and clogged pores and irritative contact dermatitis,

subtle and profound, with *any* topical medicine or skin care

product. These are easy to confuse with worsening rosacea, but it's

not the same thing at all.

So the goal is to first find one's skin's baseline, without the

negative effects of any topical products. That's where just washing

comes in -- it makes sense to me that we have to get rid of the

sunblock and sebum and natural dirt that accumulates on our skin, it

doesn't come off with just water, which is a mild irritant anyway --

note that the most gentle (though not necessarily the best) cleansers

are applied to dry skin, massaged in, then tissued off without any

water. Virtually all cleansers are a potential irritant (like you I

find cea Care's cleanser the least irritating for cleaning my

skin) so I can't expect any cleanser to be 100% irritant free to my

sensitive skin). But even with the ideal cleanser, I don't see why

cleansing needs to be done more than daily.

There's also a need for some kind of skin protectant after cleansing,

since acutely or chronically inflammed skin has an impaired natural

barrier that, if not compensated for with some oil or moisturizer,

will allow water loss from the skin and expose the skin to

environmental and local irritants. Skin will appear drier, flaker,

and feel tighter than it should, just from the water loss through the

impaired barrier. Oil or moisture needs to be applied once a day, but

again, all these are potential irritants as well.

So our first goal is to find something that clean and protect without

causing new problems such as sensitivities, breakouts, or irritation.

Then, once our skin is at baseline, we can get a sense of what the

underlying rosacea is about -- especially, whether there's truly a

coexisting condition or two that needs to also be managed. Then we

can look for medications and products that will improve our skin's

baseline and/or make it easier to manage our condition.

More and more , I'm thinking that's the real magic behind Less is

More. It's not that topicals and medications don't help, but that

it's really easy to confuse what's going on with skin care conditions

like rosacea, where one of the symptoms may be irritation to

products, so one begins treating the symptoms of product sensitivity

with products designed to treat rosacea, which create more

sensitivities and so on.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

[Guest guest]

> When I read about all the different products out there I get so

> excited that I want to try them all...I am still trying to recover

> from trying three new products at once. What a fool.

Been there, done that, Cindy.

> I just have a really hard time with the concept of just

> washing. But it is amazing to me that after all these years and

> dermotologists and prescriptions, that what works best is the

> simplest.

I think of it this way: rosacean skin is often prone to developing

sensitivities and clogged pores and irritative contact dermatitis,

subtle and profound, with *any* topical medicine or skin care

product. These are easy to confuse with worsening rosacea, but it's

not the same thing at all.

So the goal is to first find one's skin's baseline, without the

negative effects of any topical products. That's where just washing

comes in -- it makes sense to me that we have to get rid of the

sunblock and sebum and natural dirt that accumulates on our skin, it

doesn't come off with just water, which is a mild irritant anyway --

note that the most gentle (though not necessarily the best) cleansers

are applied to dry skin, massaged in, then tissued off without any

water. Virtually all cleansers are a potential irritant (like you I

find cea Care's cleanser the least irritating for cleaning my

skin) so I can't expect any cleanser to be 100% irritant free to my

sensitive skin). But even with the ideal cleanser, I don't see why

cleansing needs to be done more than daily.

There's also a need for some kind of skin protectant after cleansing,

since acutely or chronically inflammed skin has an impaired natural

barrier that, if not compensated for with some oil or moisturizer,

will allow water loss from the skin and expose the skin to

environmental and local irritants. Skin will appear drier, flaker,

and feel tighter than it should, just from the water loss through the

impaired barrier. Oil or moisture needs to be applied once a day, but

again, all these are potential irritants as well.

So our first goal is to find something that clean and protect without

causing new problems such as sensitivities, breakouts, or irritation.

Then, once our skin is at baseline, we can get a sense of what the

underlying rosacea is about -- especially, whether there's truly a

coexisting condition or two that needs to also be managed. Then we

can look for medications and products that will improve our skin's

baseline and/or make it easier to manage our condition.

More and more , I'm thinking that's the real magic behind Less is

More. It's not that topicals and medications don't help, but that

it's really easy to confuse what's going on with skin care conditions

like rosacea, where one of the symptoms may be irritation to

products, so one begins treating the symptoms of product sensitivity

with products designed to treat rosacea, which create more

sensitivities and so on.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD

[Guest guest]

> When I read about all the different products out there I get so

> excited that I want to try them all...I am still trying to recover

> from trying three new products at once. What a fool.

Been there, done that, Cindy.

> I just have a really hard time with the concept of just

> washing. But it is amazing to me that after all these years and

> dermotologists and prescriptions, that what works best is the

> simplest.

I think of it this way: rosacean skin is often prone to developing

sensitivities and clogged pores and irritative contact dermatitis,

subtle and profound, with *any* topical medicine or skin care

product. These are easy to confuse with worsening rosacea, but it's

not the same thing at all.

So the goal is to first find one's skin's baseline, without the

negative effects of any topical products. That's where just washing

comes in -- it makes sense to me that we have to get rid of the

sunblock and sebum and natural dirt that accumulates on our skin, it

doesn't come off with just water, which is a mild irritant anyway --

note that the most gentle (though not necessarily the best) cleansers

are applied to dry skin, massaged in, then tissued off without any

water. Virtually all cleansers are a potential irritant (like you I

find cea Care's cleanser the least irritating for cleaning my

skin) so I can't expect any cleanser to be 100% irritant free to my

sensitive skin). But even with the ideal cleanser, I don't see why

cleansing needs to be done more than daily.

There's also a need for some kind of skin protectant after cleansing,

since acutely or chronically inflammed skin has an impaired natural

barrier that, if not compensated for with some oil or moisturizer,

will allow water loss from the skin and expose the skin to

environmental and local irritants. Skin will appear drier, flaker,

and feel tighter than it should, just from the water loss through the

impaired barrier. Oil or moisture needs to be applied once a day, but

again, all these are potential irritants as well.

So our first goal is to find something that clean and protect without

causing new problems such as sensitivities, breakouts, or irritation.

Then, once our skin is at baseline, we can get a sense of what the

underlying rosacea is about -- especially, whether there's truly a

coexisting condition or two that needs to also be managed. Then we

can look for medications and products that will improve our skin's

baseline and/or make it easier to manage our condition.

More and more , I'm thinking that's the real magic behind Less is

More. It's not that topicals and medications don't help, but that

it's really easy to confuse what's going on with skin care conditions

like rosacea, where one of the symptoms may be irritation to

products, so one begins treating the symptoms of product sensitivity

with products designed to treat rosacea, which create more

sensitivities and so on.

Marjorie

Marjorie Lazoff, MD