It sucks. I have a butterfly pattern on my forehead and two dark lines that are parallel with my eyebrows. I also have it on my cheekbones, outer cheeks, upper lip and jaw. I have one especially dark line on my left cheek that connects with the corner of my mouth. It is most pronounced in flourescent light and after I work out. The parts of my face without melasma turn pinkish when I work out… the other parts stay brownish.
I go through phases when I don’t think about it at all and other times when I feel like a freak. Anyone else have it? I haven’t even considered laser treatment… from what I hear it’s expensive and the discoloration can come right back.
Not melasma, but rosacea.. I think whistlepig was diagnosed with it too. I know what you mean about feeling like a freak. Well meaning folks can say hurtful things. (“Your face is red!!”. I know. “No, I mean really red !!!”. I *KNOW, * already. :rolleyes: )
NEway, I am thinking of getting the laser surgery. I mean, I don’t have any notions of being a raving beauty queen, but OTOH I don’t want to be scaring small children at the Kroger. So far, I try to keep up with a rosacea message board to see what else is new as far as treatments. I’m sure you probably have already looked into support groups for melasma.
Hey NinetyWt… Nope, I haven’t looked into support groups and I don’t know if they exist. I’ll check it out.
People have commented that I look like I have sun damage or birth marks… Supposedly there’s makeup to cover it up but I’m not to that point yet. The worst thing for it is sun but I’m a runner and I’m running outside, dammit.
I see the similarities between melasma and rosacea… It seems like the severity varies from person to person for both conditions. Does rosacea hurt?
I think Mom called this something like “Mask of Pregnancy”. I got a light brown patch over one eyebrow when I was on one form of the pill, but it has faded since I switched scripts.
I also have rosacea :o, but it must be a mild case cause I’ve never had anyone tell me my face was red. :eek: For me, I have reddened nose, chin, and a patch on the forehead and each cheek that are reddened, and what looks like a small blood blister on one cheek. And I get teeny pimples if I don’t use the medicine. But I could cover what I have with makeup. The only reason I even use medicine is because of what rosacea can eventually do to your nose.
BTW, I had the laser treatment done on my nose but I didn’t think it worked that well since my reddening is more general. If you have it done, be very, very, very careful with your nose for a long time - I used one of those pore strips a couple of months after my nose had “healed”, and pulled the skin off where the doctor had pointed the laser.
At least you all have a diagnosis for what you have. My boyfriend has red spots on both cheeks. You can see a pic here. (He would be the one on the right, not Pauly Shore.:D)He’s been to several doctors and dermatologists, and they said it’s just a case of rosy cheeks. There’s no treatment for it, so he’s stuck with it. I think it’s kind of cute, myself.
My best friend had the pregnancy mask, too. She had blotchy patches all over her face, which have all faded now. (Her son is going to be 3 next month.)
Does it hurt? Well …sometimes my face burns. Especially after exercise, or strangely, after I get out of the shower. I have to be careful not to rub or pull on the affected area too much.
Skerri, your gentleman friend (I have a lil’ problem referring to that magnificent hunk as a boy :p)might be interested in a book by Geoff Nase. In it he talks about other conditions which may cause “rosy cheeks”. More info at www.drnase.com
Thanks for the advice. I think by now he’s become rather accustomed to them, since they don’t have any kind of health-issues attached. But I will make sure to forward both your comment and the book info.
And I know this may sound strange, but I thought I’d drop it in anyway. I’ve seen a couple of people around school with it (or, at least, what I think is it) and I think it makes them look so unique and pretty! You may think I’m saying this just as a pick me up, but I swear I had this thought about 2 weeks ago.
I have bad skin too. My worst problem is rosacea. I’m 27; when I was about 17, I had pretty bad acne, but then in my early 20s, my face cleared up and everything was OK. Well, within the past few years I have been getting bad acne again. But it seems to be acne associated with rosacea. Just all of a sudden one day about three years ago my face started to get redder and redder…(I have very pale skin.) It looked like a constant sunburn. It was horrible. I usually never wore makeup, but now I wear it whenever I go out. The main treatment for rosacea is antibiotics and Metrogel topical gel/lotion. I have been using the Metrogel for about 2 years now, but it never really worked 100%, my skin was still really red. (I tried the antibiotics but it really upset my stomach!) But recently I got so fed up with the constant breakouts associated with the rosacea that I got on Retin-A, a popular topical acne treatment. (I had used Retin-A before with success.) This is really helping with the redness too (although for the first month or so Retin-A is very irritating and peels off several layers of your face!! But it’s worth it.)
But I do feel very exasperated with the rosacea. My doctor says (and research I have done says) that it can never really be cured, that you have to keep using the Metrogel forever or it will come back. Also, it seems to occur more with older people (40s-50s and up) so I don’t understand why I have it at 27.
And, yes, it kind of does hurt. It’s like having really really sensitive skin. It’s very tender. I found the best thing is to only use sensitive skin products and never scrub your face (Eucerin moisturizing face wash is THE BEST, if you can find it). Also, always use a light moisturizer. Harsh soaps and cleansers and over the counter acne products will only make it worse!
It’s so nice to read some input from other people with skin problems, because I feel like such a freak sometimes!! Any more thoughts??
Oh, boy, this has turned into the Roseacea Thread! Apologies to the OP for the continued digression.
I’m 36, Anglo with olive skin and moderate roseacea. It’s not fun or pretty, but I suppose it beats some other skin conditions. At least my red cheeks make me look jolly. :rolleyes:
I get this All. The. Time. One day I’m going to lose my patience and respond with "Your hair is gray / your body is fat / etc. " I guess people are just concerned.
I was glad to read about the blushing/flushing connection with roseacea (in one of the links above). When I was younger, I had a tendency to blush purple at the drop of a hat. This was severe enough to embarrass me on a regular basis; it’s not fun to have all your emotions register on your face instantly. I still blush, but much more rarely; I must be much less modest than I was.
Finally, the point of the post: I treat the roseacea with coal tar shampoo (Neutrogena, or Denorex), and coal tar lotion. It smells like I’m tarring my roof, but it seems to help me. I also apply Sea Breeze when I’m especially bumpy, which hurts like heck, but usually shows improvement the next day.
Please pardon us, GfH, for hijacking your thread !!
Um, according to research (cited in Dr. Nase’s book), rosacea sufferers should exercise caution when using some of the things ya’ll mentioned, such as Retin-A and astringents such as Sea Breeze. Ya’ll be careful with that stuff. Some people have made their conditions worse with it. I didn’t realize how much I could be hurting my condition by using the wrong stuff on my face !
Another thing to try is anti-oxidants, such as Vitamin C, and bioflavinoids, such as grape seed extract. I didn’t realize how much I could be hurting my condition by using the wrong stuff on my face !
How informative! I have recently been diagnosed with roseacea. I’m 31 and have had it all my life like blushing at all things, after workouts, when I’m hot, etc. but it has gotten worse in the last few years leading up to it being diagnosed. My medicine didn’t work and was too harsh on my skin. I didn’t realize I had choices. Thanks guys.
BTW, Gazelle, have you tried makeup? They make really good foundations for things like this. I know they even make some for burn victims to help even out their skin tone. It’s probably expensive but wouldn’t hurt to look into.
Hey Copper_moon, nope, I haven’t tried makeup. It’s probably the second-to-last resort. I’ve never been much of a makeup person, especially foundation.
