I wish I would’ve learned much earlier about rosacea before it came to be such a problem in my life. To tell you the truth, I’m still holding a grudge against my Dad who dismissed my red face as just acne. I guess I should forgive him, because when you see a teenaged girl with pimples and zits, why imagine that it’s anything more than just teenage acne, a normal part of growing up? And money was tight too – there wasn’t extra money for frivolous doctor visits.
So I stopped asking if I could see a dermatologist and just dealt with it.
At 21 though I did see a doctor and was told I had a skin condition known as rosacea. It was similar to acne but the two were quite different. Then, further blurring the lines, my dermatologist prescribed a bunch of rosacea treatment medicines that she said were also used for acne but would help me with my rosacea too.
What irks me though is that she told I really should’ve gone in for rosacea treatments with this all started. If I had, I’d be in much better shape than I am now. She gave me a rosacea treatment guide that explains all this stuff and more in a little cheesy pamphlet with cartoon graphics of red faced girls like me, dealing with rosacea and trying to wrap their mind around what amounts to lifelong treatments to keep it in check. This isn’t going to be fun, but what choice did I have?
It’s now been over a year since that fateful day, and I’m pleased to say that my face is better than it’s ever been. The rosacea treatments we’ve been using are having a legitimate effect on my skin condition, clearing away some of the pastules and papules (they’re not zits!) that I hated so much having on my face growing up. Additionally, and thankfully, the urge to itch my face is gone most of the time, along with that weird burning sensation that’s present but never precisely there – it’s like a sensation hovering over some part of my face that I can’t pinpoint. (A maddening experience!).
Lifelong treatment for rosacea doesn’t sound so daunting now. Basically it’s just like checkups to make sure things are OK – and as long as things stay OK, I think I can deal with that just fine!
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