“Use a hair dryer on a cool setting”: what to do if you have rosacea

Rosacea is a chronic skin disease characterized by uncontrolled episodes of facial skin flare-ups, persistent redness, and small pimples. This is a disease with a hereditary predisposition, but there are factors that can provoke and exacerbate it. What everyone who is faced with the disease needs to know, told in the social network dermatologist Ekaterina Bakiko:

“Just a few minutes of sun exposure to rosacea-prone skin can lead to uncontrollable flushing and redness. That’s why dermatologists recommend that anyone with rosacea use a gentle broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher, unscented, from the Sensitive Skin range every day. Wear a wide-brimmed cap or hat outside, avoid being outside in the heat of noon, try to be outside in the shade. If stress causes a flare-up of rosacea, management can be learned. I advise you to find a thing you like that relieves stress, and do it often. Common stress relief practices include religious, meditation, or joining a support group. Do what you like every day. In moments of stress, take a deep breath, hold it and exhale slowly; continue breathing exercises for a few minutes.

Avoid overheating, the doctor advises. To do this, take warm, not hot baths and showers, avoid saunas. Wear clothes that are easy to remove or unfasten in case of overheating. In case of overheating, wrap a cold wet cloth around your neck, drink a cold drink, keep cool with a fan or air conditioner, splash your face with cold water or thermal spray.

“Make sure the kitchen is well ventilated while cooking and also avoid getting steam on your face when you open the pot lid. Sit away from fireplaces, heaters, and other sources of heat. Use a hair dryer on a cool setting, do not consume hot drinks and food. Research suggests that heat from hot drinks sometimes leads to a flare-up of rosacea. Drink cool or warm coffee, tea, etc., let the drink cool down before drinking. Watch for reactions from drinking alcohol. If we are talking about redness from alcohol, then red wine is most likely the cause. You can reduce the reaction to alcohol under the following conditions: drink white wine instead of red, add mineral water or lemonade to white wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages to reduce the amount of alcohol, do not drink carbonated drinks, limit yourself to one or two drinks and after each use . drink a glass of cold water. Better not to drink alcohol at all.

If spicy foods make your face red, try less spicy versions.

“With the threat of exacerbation of rosacea, it is better to avoid any spicy foods, limit the use of caffeine and tobacco. - the doctor advises. - Choose your skin and hair care products carefully. If skin or hair care products burn, itch, dry, and flake when you use skin or hair products, it means that they irritate the skin and cause a flare-up of rosacea. To avoid flare-ups of rosacea, you need to see a dermatologist who will draw up a skin care plan and recommend certain beauty products. You should stop using tonic products, in particular those containing alcohol, do not scrub the skin, carefully study the ingredients of each skin and hair care product, and do not use those containing common rosacea triggers: menthol, camphor or sodium lauryl sulfate.

Doctor Ekaterina Bakiko also said that you can wash yourself with skin diseases. Especially if the skin is flaky, the disease is contagious or accompanied by fever.

See also: “Quit smoking”: the doctor explained how to deal with atopic dermatitis in adults