I’ve had acne rosacea for a couple of decades. After a lot of experimentation, a very simple treatment plan worked for me, and has been working for years and years:
500mg of Tetracycline daily
Has your husband tried tetracycline? Its main advantages (for me, at least) is that it works without any additional treatment being needed, and it’s cheap! $5 - $10 for a 90 day supply.
J.
Laser treatments from a board certified dermatologist, not some moron who set up shop with a laser. The results will change his life.
He really shouldn’t be taking anything besides an antibiotic and using Metrogel or Metrocream.
If you are in the NYC area, this guy is the best skin doctor, hands down. He sells his own Metrocream mix called F-cream, and it’s like Metrocream on steroids. He does mail order for his products.
Lasers have work best, but are very expensive, and need to be repeated (about 4 times per year once it has gotten the red under control) to maintain the effect. Other things that worked for me were topical antibiotics and just washing the oil off of my face often (the oil somehow seems to make it worse).
I had heard that Milk of Magnesia, when applied directly to skin will reduce the acidity, which somehow helps, so I have been trying that. It sure controls the oil, and to some extent the redness, but my face still hurts. For the price, I think I like it, but it isn’t a miracle cure.
I wanted to echo the Metrogel suggestion. I was getting lesions on my nose in addition to redness and was desperately afraid of progressing to the WC Fields thing. Metrogel cleared it right up. Been using it religiously since. (About 4 years.)
I used Metrogel for a while with average results. I started using lactose-free milk which helped an awful lot, and I changed my moisturiser to Nutrogena’s dry skin formula which has kept everything nice and clear ever since.
He’s been on and off of Metrogel and monocycline for a couple of years now. It’s not clear that either one helps… thus the frustration.
I’ll pass on the other ideas. I don’t know if he’s miserable enough to consider the expense of laser treatment or not (we’re raising a family on a modest single income with crappy insurance).