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Research has shown that 75% of rosacea and acne sufferers have reported psychological effects such as lowered self-esteem and self-confidence that lead to a reduced quality of life. As a former rosacea sufferer for 27 years, I deeply relate to this statistic which has led me to write this following article from personal experience.
My rosacea symptoms started at the beginning of the 1980's when I was in my late teens. It began with a light redness in the cheeks that became more intense as the day progressed. At first I thought I had contracted some sort of viral infection and tried to forget about it. However, after several weeks I continued to suffer from frequent flushing which then lead to a permanent red complexion.
At that time little was known about rosacea and the symptoms were considered to be a form of acne and were treated as such, with sulphur based remedies. My doctor even recommended hot baths to relieve the symptoms; little did they know, that these remedies actually made the condition worse, After a while I became very self-conscious of my appearance and had to endure the daily jokes such as: ”Don't stand on street corners you might stop the traffic” or ”Are you sun burnt again?” Even social occasions or nights down the pub with friends became an major challenge, as I continually found myself searching for the darkest corners to hide my red face.
Back then, there was no Internet, only the local library was a source of information which I desperately searched in vain for an anti-redness and anti-flushing solution.
Years passed by and my condition did neither worsen nor did it improve, but thread like blood vessels were now visible on my cheeks - which people wrongly presumed to be a result of heavy drinking.
Then in 1999 I experienced Internet for the first time and to my delight through AltaVista, I discovered a rosacea remedy based on vitamin k. This was apparently used by plastic surgeons to quicken the healing process of plastic surgery. I eagerly applied the créme as per the instructions and the proceeded to check my face at least 20 times per day every day to see if there was any sign of improvement. After about 8 weeks my redness had not subsided, but to my delight, I did notice that some of the blood vessels had disappeared. However, my excitement turned to misery when blisters started appearing on my cheeks which was a side effect of this créme on sensitive skin, so I had to stop this treatment. I once again scoured Internet for suitable remedies and tried most of them, but none worked. My disillusionment was profound, with both self confidence and self esteem being eaten away by my rosacea condition. I could no longer hold eye contact and felt inadequate, especially at social occasions - little did I know that I was developing symptoms of social phobia. I eventually found a solution for rosacea through a skin problem forum. I applied this treatment without having much hope that it would work and after several weeks my pessimism was confirmed when I could see no difference in the mirror.
My social phobia symptoms had now reached their peak, I was suffering from deep anxiety as well as frequent panic attacks. My doctor recommended that I seek psychological treatment and cognitive therapy at my local hospital, which I did. I was prescribed an anti-depressive drug called Setroline to alleviate the psychological symptoms of anxiety. My cognitive therapist looked at me with incredulity when I described my problems, as if she was disbelieving me. My cognitive therapist then started talking about the symptoms of Anorexia, at first I could not understand what she was going on about, but finally it became clear. My long term rosacea condition had caused such deep rooted emotional scars that it prevented me from seeing that my facial redness was actually no longer very prominent. Within a few weeks after my first visit, I could finally see that she was right - my face was no longer the reddest in the crowd, this rosacea treatment had worked. My self-confidence and self-esteem soon returned whilst the social phobia symptoms quickly vanished.
I hope this has enlightened you about the emotional impact that can be suffered from rosacea and acne skin conditions as well as the psychological treatment available from medical experts. Furthermore, together with the effective rosacea and acne treatments here result in the 'Feel Good Factor.'
skin.remedycenter.co.uk
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