How to Treat Rosacea

Dealing with rosacea can be stressful. From uncomfortable flushing episodes to severe redness, swelling, and painful bumps it can affect your confidence, lifestyle, and pose serious skin issues if left untreated. Our skin care experts share what triggers rosacea plus must-have products and skin care tips on how to treat rosacea symptoms. 

What is Rosacea?

Rosacea is an inflammatory skin condition. It’s characterised by redness, sensitivity, and uncomfortable flushing episodes that cause skin to turn bright red and heat up. Extreme dryness and acne-like pustules and bumps are also common.

The ‘rosacea spectrum’ is very broad. The severity of symptoms can range from a prolonged blush or persistently rosy cheeks to painful stinging, burning sensations, and extreme, constant redness.

Whether you’ve been dealing with rosacea for years or it’s suddenly appeared, it usually begins with episodes of the skin flushing red and can increase to:

• Permanent redness
• Bumps
• Sensitised skin - burning / stinging sensations
• Capillaries becoming visible
• Thickening skin

If left untreated, rosacea can have long-reaching skin health implications and take a toll on your confidence.

How is rosacea diagnosed?

Your dermatologist or health practitioner will do a physical examination of your skin and usually ask questions about your medical history. The symptoms of some allergies, acne and lupus can appear similar to rosacea so your health practitioner will want to rule those out before making the diagnosis of rosacea.

What causes rosacea?

The skin redness, bumps and flushing associated with rosacea can be triggered by any number of factors. Usually, things that raise your body temperature including:

• Alcohol
• Spicy foods
• Hot, humid weather
• Hot showers
• Sun exposure
• Stress
• Vigorous exercise
• Heated rooms

Using the wrong skincare products can also lead to red flare ups. Skin with rosacea can be highly sensitive to chemicals, fragrance, and other factors.

Best Skincare for Rosacea Treatment

While there isn’t a cure, you can learn how to treat rosacea by managing symptoms through skin care and lifestyle choices.

Using the right skin care to treat rosacea can help to relieve discomfort, reduce flare-ups, and help maximise results from any prescribed oral or topical rosacea medication.

Avoid harsh products designed to clear acne

If you’re dealing with acne-like symptoms (bumps and pustules) don’t use harsh cleansers and drying products aimed at clearing breakouts. Rosacea skin is extremely sensitive and using strong formulations and those that dry out skin only increase irritation and severity of symptoms.

Always read the product label and steer clear of these ingredients:

• Fragrance
• Alcohol
• Urea
• Glycolic acid
• Lactic acid
• Sodium laurel sulfate (SLS)

The Best Skin Products for Rosacea

Build your rosacea skin care routine with gentle products containing active ingredients designed to relieve and control symptoms. The key word here is gentle!

Focus on ingredients that work to strengthen the skin barrier, hydrate, soothe and minimise redness.

A few of the best active ingredients to treat rosacea include:

Tasmannia lanceolata extract (Mountain Pepper): Cool irritation and strengthen skin

Tasmanian Mountain Pepper is native Australian botanical with incredibly potent antioxidant properties for skin barrier strengthening, promoting stronger capillaries and combating free radical damage. It’s also anti-inflammatory and antibacterial for cooling and minimising irritated, red skin and rosacea flare ups.

We recommend: The Uncomplicated Cleanser Plus Anti-Redness

A gentle cream cleanser enriched with redness-minimising and antibacterial Tasmanian Mountain Pepper extract to cool inflammation while gently removing impurities.

Hyaluronic acid: Super hydrator

Don’t let the word ‘acid’ scare you! Hyaluronic acid is a humectant ingredient (an ingredient that attracts water) and is naturally produced by your skin cells to help skin retain moisture.

If you have rosacea, your skin barrier is compromised. This means your skin can’t hold onto moisture which results in increased sensitivity and rosacea flare ups. Hyaluronic can aid in delivering much-needed hydration to thirsty skin.

We recommend: Hyaluronic Hydrating serum

Perfect for all skin types and ages, this serum hydrates from the inside out, restores, repairs and reveals healthy skin with a radiant and hydrated glow.

Niacinamide (Vitamin B3): Barrier strengthening

Niacinamide will help heal and strengthen a damaged skin barrier. Its anti inflammatory properties can aid in calming an irritated, uncomfortable complexion.

We recommend: Anti-redness Minty Green Smoothie

With an energising wild mint aroma, this serum cools and heals damaged, red skin with potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hydrating properties. Contains Niacinamide (Vitamin B3).

Aloe vera: Soothing and moisturising

Wondering how to treat rosacea naturally? Aloe Vera is an effective ingredient in plant-based skincare to help calm and soothe red, uncomfortable skin. It helps reduce inflammation and redness, impart hydration and antibacterial properties can assist in targeting the bacteria associated with pustules.

We recommend: Anti-redness Minty Green Smoothie and The Uncomplicated Cleanser Plus Anti-Redness. Both contain Aloe Vera.

Probiotics: Encourage a healthy skin environment

Using probiotics (good bacteria) in skincare to treat rosacea can help create an optimal environment for skin health to thrive and stimulate renewal to repair the barrier. In turn, this leads to a decrease in skin sensitivity and the symptoms associated with rosacea.

We recommend: Probiotic Skin Mylck plus Anti-Redness

This lightweight moisturising lotion is formulated with 100% Australian made probiotics and anti-inflammatories to help cool red flushing flare-ups and strengthen hypersensitive skin.

Your rosacea skin care routine

Here’s how to put together a daily skin care routine to treat rosacea with our esmi product recommendations:

Cleanser: The Uncomplicated Cleanser Plus Anti-Redness (Morning and evening)

Serums: Anti-redness Minty Green Smoothie and / or Hyaluronic Hydrating Serum. If you use both, you can apply the Anti-Redness Minty Green Smoothie in your morning routine and Hyaluronic Hydrating Serum in the evening.

Moisturiser: Probiotic Skin Mylck plus Anti-Redness. If you have extremely dry skin, which is very common for those with rosacea, you can follow with 24K Gold Nourishing Oil.

SPF: Skin Shield Natural Sunscreen SPF 30

How to Treat Roscaea with Lifestyle Changes

Making changes to your lifestyle, along with your skincare routine, will help get rosacea under control:

• Avoid or reduce alcohol and spicy foods in your diet
• Keep hydration levels up - with water / fluids and skin care
• Wear sunscreen daily
• Stress management
• Use products with gentle formulations
• Try different styles / durations of exercise
• Avoid drying ingredients in skincare products; like alcohol and fragrances
• Be gentle when touching your skin
• Cleanse with lukewarm or cool water
• Avoid hot, steamy showers

Paying attention to what specifically triggers rosacea for you will help you make the right lifestyle adjustments. For example, if long, intense cardio workouts always trigger a rosacea flare of red skin and pimples, try switching up your routine. Experiment with shorter workouts or different types of exercise.

Medication to treat rosacea

A severe case of rosacea may call for oral or topical antibiotics, in combination with a skin care and lifestyle plan for managing symptoms. Please consult with your health practitioner for professional medical advice if you are experiencing extreme symptoms.

Treat Your Rosacea with esmi Skin Minerals

If you need a hand creating a skin care for rosacea routine, our skin care consultants are excited to help you! Book your free skin care consultation today.

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