hey guys welcome back to the Friday Q&A
with dr. Dre as you can probably tell
already from the title of this video
today I'm going to be addressing the
most frequently asked questions here on
my channel with regards to what causes
rosacea and how to get rid of it if
you're new here hi my name is Andrea
welcome I'm a dermatologist I post day
in the life of the dermatologist vlogs
as well as skin care related sit-down
content so if you like this video I
encourage you to give it a thumbs up and
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alright with that let's get started so
what exactly is rosacea well it's a
chronic inflammatory skin condition with
symptoms that can include any of the
following flushing persistent redness of
the face bumpiness and uneven texture of
the skin and also dilate the blood
vessels it predominantly affects facial
skin but rarely can affect other sites
as well symptoms might also include
burning stinging a dull dry appearance
to the skin
easy facial flushing and sometimes
facial swelling importantly it's a
medical condition and as a dermatologist
I take it very seriously because I know
how this medical condition can impact
your daily life self-confidence and
overall well-being so question number
one what causes rosacea now while the
exact cause of rosacea has yet to be
completely clarified there are several
factors that play an important role
first of all blood vessels in the skin
of people with rosacea are very
sensitive and dilate very easily leading
to the symptoms of redness flushing and
blushing various lifestyle and
environmental factors which otherwise
are innocuous can trigger a flare of
rosacea
other factors include irritation around
our pores sun exposure sun damage hyper
responsive immune or inflammatory
response and psychological factors like
being embarrassed being under a lot of
stress or poor sleep what may be
triggering my rosacea there are a
variety of lifestyle and environmental
things that may be triggering your
rosacea so
the best things that you can do is to
keep a diary of your rosacea symptoms in
order to potentially identify what could
be triggering your symptoms and once and
once identified avoidance of the trigger
is a real key component of managing your
rosacea some of the most common triggers
however includes sun exposure emotional
stress changing from a hot or cold
environment wind drinking alcoholic
beverages applying alcohol to the skin
by seafoods heavy exercise taking a hot
bath drinking a heated beverage harsh
skincare products another question that
is often repeated here is is my rosacea
due to something that I'm allergic to
while allergies are unlikely to be at
the main causative factor of rosacea
it's important to underscore that if you
are sensitized to an allergen and become
exposed to it this can trigger a flare
of rosacea by virtue of precipitating
dilation of the blood vessels in your
skin leading to a flush and once the
flush starts a flare of rosacea will be
kicked off another question that I get
from a lot of viewers is I'm trying to
live a healthy lifestyle and be active
but every time I work out my face gets
red and I'm really worried that it's
going to make my rosacea even worse and
even more persistent what should I do so
work out early in the morning or late
evening when temperatures are cool and
mild and is working out indoors keep a
fan going nearby and keep a damn cool
cloth around your neck also drinking
cold liquids can combat the increased
heat rising to your face and help Quelch
a potential rosacea flare
likewise chewing ice chips is another
tip that might be helpful so the next
set of questions I'm going to address is
well how do I get rid of my rosacea and
is there a cure for rosacea while there
is no cure for rosacea there are a
variety of medical treatments as well as
lifestyle modifications that can help
control rosacea and even potentially
eliminate the symptoms of your rosacea
how is rosacea treated well the signs
and symptoms of rosacea vary from
individual to individual some people
have more redness some people have more
uneven texture some people have more
skin thickening so it's individualized
as always I want to emphasize and
urge you to seek evaluation in
management either by a dermatologist or
your primary health care provider now
for the bumpiness and uneven texture and
pimple like lesions of rosacea are often
treated with oral antibiotics
alternatively or in addition to
antibiotics there are a variety of other
treatments that may be helpful such as
azelaic acid containing prescription
creams apply to the face known as
Phoenicia which is anti-inflammatory as
well as sulfur based washes as far as
the persistent redness of rosacea there
are two medications that can be
prescribed that will not cure the
redness but will transiently take it
away there the brand names in the United
States ro fade and myrrh vaso these will
take away the redness only transiently
and they do have the potential for
something called rebound redness and
which after you stop using these
ingredients the redness becomes more
noticeable the next question that I get
here a fair amount is I've started using
a cream or a medication for my rosacea
and the redness is much better however
now I've got broken blood vessels all
over my face what is that caused by well
here's the deal the broken blood vessels
were there from the beginning however as
the medications begin to work to improve
some of the redness unfortunately they
cannot take away the dilated blood
vessels and those actually can become
more noticeable as a background redness
starts to fade so what can be done for
the dilated blood vessels if a cream or
systemic medicine won't treat them the
best and most well-studied treatment for
these dilated blood vessels is a laser
therapy called a pulsed dye laser that
targets these abnormal blood vessels and
potentially seals them off and
eventually they will involute and go
away this is a cosmetic procedure and
it's not and it's best performed by a
licensed practicing healthcare
professional with experience using a
vascular laser and treating the
types of lesion and they as they are the
most well-versed and experienced in the
appropriate and safe settings for
specifically targeting these enlarged
blood vessels
another question that comes up
frequently and I think is inherently
confusing is that why are antibiotics
prescribed is rosacea due to an
infection or it is thought and widely
accepted that it's not the anti
microbial or anti bacterial mechanism of
these drugs but rather an anti
inflammatory component that is helping
to improve the rosacea initially these
antibiotics are used for many many
inflammatory skin diseases and
dermatology whose cause is not infection
so in other words these drugs have
widely been observed to have profound
anti-inflammatory effects another
question that comes up frequently and
I've addressed it in previous potpourri
style Q&A is is is there a risk of
bacterial resistance after I've been on
antibiotics either systemic antibiotics
or topical antibiotics for a long time
with regards to topical antibiotics
antibiotics applied to the skin result
in such minimal systemic absorption of
the of the drug that that there's
virtually no risk of developing
bacterial resistance at sites other than
where the topical antibiotic was applied
however there is concern that being on a
systemic antibiotic long term does offer
the potential for bacterial resistance
and so it is generally the goal of the
treating physician to limit the amount
of time that an individual is on these
medications in addition to concerns of
antibacterial resistance there are other
potential side effects with taking oral
antibiotics like upset stomach they can
make you even more sensitive to the Sun
another question that I get is well do
to do the creams lose effect over time
and the answer is no the most popular
set of questions that I get is well what
skin care routine and skin care products
would you recommend for somebody with
rosacea it's actually a very very
important part of controlling your
zatia is taking into account your
skincare routine as I said at the
beginning of this video probably the one
of the most pervasive triggers of a
rosacea flare is sun exposure protecting
your skin from the Sun and wearing a
broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher
sunscreen is really really an important
part of your everyday skin care routine
I cannot emphasize that enough I
strongly caution you against buffing the
face exfoliating the face derma rolling
the face is all of these things will
precipitate a pretty pronounced flare of
your rosacea that could potentially be
more persistent so rosacea skin care
should start with gentle lukewarm water
washing the face with a gentle soap I'll
give you some recommendations in the
description box below of well tolerated
soaps use a soft pad a washcloth or
ideally your finger pads not a harsh
scrubbing brush as this will precipitate
a flare try and avoid pulling or tugging
at your skin as well apply a gentle non
pore clogging moisturizer to the wet
face and then allow it to dry then wait
then wait a few minutes and allow it to
dry before applying any prescription
medications that your provider may have
asked you to put on your face let let
any prescription medications sit on the
face for about 10 minutes to
appropriately soak into the skin and
then dawn a broad-spectrum sunscreen
people with rosacea however tend to be
very sensitive to many sunscreens and
they can cause stinging burning and
sometimes accidentally worsening of the
rosacea symptoms I recommend a physical
sunscreen containing zinc and/or
titanium dioxide exclusively many of
which I will link down below so that you
have some names another tip is to look
for sunscreens marketed for babies as if
it's gentle enough for a baby's skin
it's probably okay for rosacea prone
skin chemicals sunscreen ingredients
like Ava benzene however can be very
irritating to rosacea prone individuals
so I suggest avoiding those the next and
then I also get a lot of questions about
what skincare ingredients should I avoid
it's a question that I get
over and over again here the skin of
people suffering from rosacea is very
sensitive and easily irritated by
otherwise innocuous stimuli so there are
some ingredients that you should avoid
using any skin care product that when
applied to the skin burns or stings if
you have rosacea and you buy a skincare
product make sure you keep your receipt
so that you can take it back to the
store should you identify it as
offensive no need to waste your money on
a useless skincare routine individuals
with rosacea commonly report the
following ingredients as being
irritating and/or offensive to their
rosacea alcohol witch hazel
fragrance menthol peppermint eucalyptus
oil clove oil salicylic acid and
anything really marketed as an
astringent or a toner or an exfoliant so
I will do my best to link down below
sunscreens washes and moisturizers that
are well tolerated in individuals with
rosacea special creams for the eyes are
not necessary the moisturizers that I
recommend are generally well tolerated
around the eyes alright guys so I really
hope that this video was helpful and
addressing your questions about rosacea
if you have more questions please ask
them down in the comments section of
this video and I'll do my very best to
respond I encourage you to subscribe for
more content like this if you like this
video give it a thumbs up share it with
your friends and as always don't forget
sunscreen and subscribe I'll talk to you
guys in my next skincare video bye
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