Rosacea and Skin Care!

There are approximately 16 million people in the United States with Rosacea, not to mention the other 194 countries. Taking care of our skin can be a burden for some. Here are some tips on helping reduce our flare-ups and keeping our skin cool and smooth.

Avoiding triggers: spicy food, red wine, extreme heat or cold, stress, and even you skin care products may trigger a flare up. Keeping a journal or mental notes to find out what may be causing your symptoms can be beneficial. Some can be avoided, others can't. If you do experience a flare up a cool shower, or gently washing face with cool rag can help. Just don't scrub.

Moisturize: keeping your face clean and moisturizing can creat a barrier that locks out irritants and can help keep symptoms at ease. Choose a moisturizer that's oil free, fragrance free, and hypoallergenic. The fewer ingredients the better.

Makeup: choosing fragrance free, mineral based makeup can help your skin not be irritated. Studies show going for pressed powder over liquid formulas can help and reduce clogging your pores that make rosacea symptoms worse.

Summer Sun: when your out in the Sun use sunscreen, stay in the shade, or wear a brimmed hat. Sunscreens with chemicals are very irritating for rosacea, choose a sunscreen with a blocker such as zinc oxide or titanium. Make sure they are also fragrance free and hypoallergenic, apply often when out in the Sun.

Flare-ups: calming down a flare up can be tricky but also easy. Try placing a ice pack on the area to calm down inflammation. Green tea extracts such as Matcha can also be soothing. AlwAys watch the temperature of things you apply to your face, anything hot will make it worse.

Food: As always follow a diet that avoids your food triggers and be cautious of what you are eating while out at a restaurant. Keeping a food journal can help, you can determine what your triggers are and create recipes around them. And always eat food at room temperature, hot soups, sandwiches, a glass of cocoa or coffee can immediately trigger a flare-up that lasts for hours. So ice your drinks, cool your food and eat right to keep your syptoms at bay.