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Hello fellow members,
I am a long time reader but first time poster here, but hoping to be adding to your discussions (with my experiences) where I can.
First of all, I will start with some background information / stats about me;
....................Age: 27 (born 1984)
...............Weight: 65kg (around 145lb)
................Height: 175-180cm (around 5' 10")
Condition Started: Late 2008 (approximately)
.............Location: Australia (east coast)
......Diagnosed as: Rosacea and/or seborrheic dermatitis (by two separate dermatologists)
..........Symptoms: Red skin, dry skin, flaking and itchiness
........Antagonists: The biggest thing to make my face break out is too much water, this will almost always cause my face to go red and then turn very dry and flaky (so, basically after a shower every night).
My story;
I am an athletic, relatively young male that has always enjoyed being outdoors riding my bike, walking, doing photography and working on my car. My job (since early 2003) is computer based in an air-conditioned office doing a 38 hour week.
In late 2008 I developed a bad cold / flu and was unable to attend work for a two week period. In this time my energy was extremely low and I was unable to spend more than about an hour out of bed before I would have to rest.
Now it is only from my memory, as I've been dealing with this for a while (although not as long as some on these forums thankfully), that my problems started during or shortly after this period of illness.
I am not sure if being so badly sick had knocked my immune system down which let something take hold of my face, but something changed... It all started with a slightly red face which I didn't think much about, which then became itchy and would start to flake.
I figured it was something that would pass, and just applied moisturiser to the areas of my face which were flaking and called it a day. But it would not be this easy, rapidly it became worse and leveled out to where it has stayed (again, thankfully) for the last few years.
So, I have good days and bad days. It probably flares up to a point that I am not confident enough to go and see friends or go outside around three times per year (read: this is the most extreme state where my face becomes slightly swollen and super red), and lasts for 3-5 days.
After this time my face is usually fairly manageable with moisturiser (I use a brand called Cetaphil here in Australia) for the dryness and flaking at least. The redness never really goes away completely, but some days people comment on how 'good' my face looks.
I began seeing the doctors in 2009 because I figured it was probably something easy to fix (and we don't pay for doctor visits in Australia, so why not?), and as our good doctors do, they started to prescribe me drugs and creams.
Initially I was confident, thinking that they knew what they were talking about and that I would be fixed. Unfortunately this was not the case, I have used several creams like Hydrozole etc which would help the redness and itchiness, but I feel as though my face continued to deteriorate.
It was not until early 2011 that I told the doctor that they were not helping me and that I wanted a referral to a dermatologist, which they happily did.
After seeing the first dermatologist I was extremely frustrated, depressed, sad, etc. The consultation lasted all of ten minutes, in which he looked at my face for less than one minute and just said "It looks like rosacea or seborrheic dermatitis, there's nothing you can do about it."
I paid my ~$300 bill and was sent on my way... really helpful.
This left me feeling extremely low and I stopped seeing friends and didn't want to leave the house for a long time, I would just work and do nothing else. Slowly I regained a bit of confidence and decided to see my doctor again and get another referral.
The second dermatologist I saw was better than the first, my consultation lasted maybe 20 minutes this time, but unfortunately the results were exactly the same, "I think you have rosacea, all you can do is manage it with moisuriser and wear a sunscreen containing zinc (or similar metal sounding additives) to protect yourself."
Fast forward to today, I am at the stage where I want to share my story and get some ideas from other people on these forums, because quite frankly, specialists don't seem to be able to help or even offer advice as to what the causes are for this condition.
I have no medical expertise, I am not a doctor, but I feel level headed enough to know that when my body starts doing something strange, it's more than likely reacting to something that it knows is 'wrong'. I feel this is the case with the issues I have been experiencing with my face for the past few years.
After doing a lot of reading and research, I came across Brady Barrows and his theory on demodex mites and now they can interact with the face... boy was I surprised. I began looking more and more into this, and I feel very strongly that this could be what I am having issues with.
I have several of the symptoms, including; redness of the face, itchiness, flaking and the biggest hint for me was the dry skin at the base of the eyelashes. I get the 'crawling' feeling of an evening which causes me to scratch if I am not consciously telling myself not to.
It's definitely worse in the evening before bed, which also makes me lean towards demodex infestation.
I have attached some images showing the overview of my face and some extreme close ups (taken with my MP-E65mm macro lens on my Canon 5Dmk2 camera) to get some feedback from you and see if you think demodex mites could be my issue.
In the overview image, you can see my face is not too bad at the moment, but believe me, it can break out like an inmate in a poorly built prison on the set of a Hollywood movie. In the overview, you might notice the dry flaky skin on my eyelids and you can see the dry skin in my eyelashes.
Image 1 shows an extreme close up of the bridge of my nose between my eyebrows. Are those buildups of yellow / pussy looking gunk in my pores normal?
Image 2 shows the area of skin just below my eye and next to my nose, I've never noticed these 'bumps' before I got curious and took some close up macro photos of my face. What are these? I can also see some red veins in the image which I cannot see just looking in the mirror (thankfully!).
Image 3 shows the upper lip on the right hand side of my face, you can see some flaking and redness here.
The remaining image is the close up of my lower eyelash, you can clearly see clumps of yellow material and it appears as though I have some thinning of the eyelash here? What do you think?
2012-01-08_overview.jpg 2012-01-08_image_1.jpg 2012-01-08_image_2.jpg 2012-01-08_image_3.jpg 2012-01-08_lower_eyelash.jpg
edit: One quick addition, I also get dry flaky skin in my hair around my temples and sideburns, could this be related to my face condition?
I have ordered some ZZ Ointment, but I would like to get some feedback before it arrives and I start using it.
I am really interested to hear what you have to say about my condition and the images.
I am more than happy to be a guinea pig and continue posting images and results (as I've had no lasting effects yet with a plethora of products used over the last ~3 years from 2008-2011) if people would like that.
Do you think I should give the ZZ Ointment a shot? I am not worried about the face drying out like a lot of people say happens for the first two or so weeks of using this product, I've seen it all before on my face, hehe :-P
Sorry for the long initial post, looking forward to hearing from some of you!
Ben
I am a long time reader but first time poster here, but hoping to be adding to your discussions (with my experiences) where I can.
First of all, I will start with some background information / stats about me;
....................Age: 27 (born 1984)
...............Weight: 65kg (around 145lb)
................Height: 175-180cm (around 5' 10")
Condition Started: Late 2008 (approximately)
.............Location: Australia (east coast)
......Diagnosed as: Rosacea and/or seborrheic dermatitis (by two separate dermatologists)
..........Symptoms: Red skin, dry skin, flaking and itchiness
........Antagonists: The biggest thing to make my face break out is too much water, this will almost always cause my face to go red and then turn very dry and flaky (so, basically after a shower every night).
My story;
I am an athletic, relatively young male that has always enjoyed being outdoors riding my bike, walking, doing photography and working on my car. My job (since early 2003) is computer based in an air-conditioned office doing a 38 hour week.
In late 2008 I developed a bad cold / flu and was unable to attend work for a two week period. In this time my energy was extremely low and I was unable to spend more than about an hour out of bed before I would have to rest.
Now it is only from my memory, as I've been dealing with this for a while (although not as long as some on these forums thankfully), that my problems started during or shortly after this period of illness.
I am not sure if being so badly sick had knocked my immune system down which let something take hold of my face, but something changed... It all started with a slightly red face which I didn't think much about, which then became itchy and would start to flake.
I figured it was something that would pass, and just applied moisturiser to the areas of my face which were flaking and called it a day. But it would not be this easy, rapidly it became worse and leveled out to where it has stayed (again, thankfully) for the last few years.
So, I have good days and bad days. It probably flares up to a point that I am not confident enough to go and see friends or go outside around three times per year (read: this is the most extreme state where my face becomes slightly swollen and super red), and lasts for 3-5 days.
After this time my face is usually fairly manageable with moisturiser (I use a brand called Cetaphil here in Australia) for the dryness and flaking at least. The redness never really goes away completely, but some days people comment on how 'good' my face looks.
I began seeing the doctors in 2009 because I figured it was probably something easy to fix (and we don't pay for doctor visits in Australia, so why not?), and as our good doctors do, they started to prescribe me drugs and creams.
Initially I was confident, thinking that they knew what they were talking about and that I would be fixed. Unfortunately this was not the case, I have used several creams like Hydrozole etc which would help the redness and itchiness, but I feel as though my face continued to deteriorate.
It was not until early 2011 that I told the doctor that they were not helping me and that I wanted a referral to a dermatologist, which they happily did.
After seeing the first dermatologist I was extremely frustrated, depressed, sad, etc. The consultation lasted all of ten minutes, in which he looked at my face for less than one minute and just said "It looks like rosacea or seborrheic dermatitis, there's nothing you can do about it."
I paid my ~$300 bill and was sent on my way... really helpful.
This left me feeling extremely low and I stopped seeing friends and didn't want to leave the house for a long time, I would just work and do nothing else. Slowly I regained a bit of confidence and decided to see my doctor again and get another referral.
The second dermatologist I saw was better than the first, my consultation lasted maybe 20 minutes this time, but unfortunately the results were exactly the same, "I think you have rosacea, all you can do is manage it with moisuriser and wear a sunscreen containing zinc (or similar metal sounding additives) to protect yourself."
Fast forward to today, I am at the stage where I want to share my story and get some ideas from other people on these forums, because quite frankly, specialists don't seem to be able to help or even offer advice as to what the causes are for this condition.
I have no medical expertise, I am not a doctor, but I feel level headed enough to know that when my body starts doing something strange, it's more than likely reacting to something that it knows is 'wrong'. I feel this is the case with the issues I have been experiencing with my face for the past few years.
After doing a lot of reading and research, I came across Brady Barrows and his theory on demodex mites and now they can interact with the face... boy was I surprised. I began looking more and more into this, and I feel very strongly that this could be what I am having issues with.
I have several of the symptoms, including; redness of the face, itchiness, flaking and the biggest hint for me was the dry skin at the base of the eyelashes. I get the 'crawling' feeling of an evening which causes me to scratch if I am not consciously telling myself not to.
It's definitely worse in the evening before bed, which also makes me lean towards demodex infestation.
I have attached some images showing the overview of my face and some extreme close ups (taken with my MP-E65mm macro lens on my Canon 5Dmk2 camera) to get some feedback from you and see if you think demodex mites could be my issue.
In the overview image, you can see my face is not too bad at the moment, but believe me, it can break out like an inmate in a poorly built prison on the set of a Hollywood movie. In the overview, you might notice the dry flaky skin on my eyelids and you can see the dry skin in my eyelashes.
Image 1 shows an extreme close up of the bridge of my nose between my eyebrows. Are those buildups of yellow / pussy looking gunk in my pores normal?
Image 2 shows the area of skin just below my eye and next to my nose, I've never noticed these 'bumps' before I got curious and took some close up macro photos of my face. What are these? I can also see some red veins in the image which I cannot see just looking in the mirror (thankfully!).
Image 3 shows the upper lip on the right hand side of my face, you can see some flaking and redness here.
The remaining image is the close up of my lower eyelash, you can clearly see clumps of yellow material and it appears as though I have some thinning of the eyelash here? What do you think?
2012-01-08_overview.jpg 2012-01-08_image_1.jpg 2012-01-08_image_2.jpg 2012-01-08_image_3.jpg 2012-01-08_lower_eyelash.jpg
edit: One quick addition, I also get dry flaky skin in my hair around my temples and sideburns, could this be related to my face condition?
I have ordered some ZZ Ointment, but I would like to get some feedback before it arrives and I start using it.
I am really interested to hear what you have to say about my condition and the images.
I am more than happy to be a guinea pig and continue posting images and results (as I've had no lasting effects yet with a plethora of products used over the last ~3 years from 2008-2011) if people would like that.
Do you think I should give the ZZ Ointment a shot? I am not worried about the face drying out like a lot of people say happens for the first two or so weeks of using this product, I've seen it all before on my face, hehe :-P
Sorry for the long initial post, looking forward to hearing from some of you!
Ben
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