Allergies and Rosacea

Rosacea presents as red cheeks, acne like rash and sometimes itching and even pain.

Studies have shown that a major instigator for flares in Rosacea are mast cells, which play a roll in your healing and inflammatory response. In people with food allergies and sensitivities, hay-fever and other allergies, their inflammatory response is activated on a regular basis. Mast cells release histamine to help destroy the perceived threat, which causes inflammation in the body. This process can exacerbate Rosacea, Acne and other inflammatory related diseases like autoimmune disease and arthritis.

To help protect your skin from flushing or progressing into a full-blown Rosacea flare, it’s important to take an antihistamine daily. It’s also very important to avoid food, products and situations, like: food you’re allergic to, sugar, gluten, perfumes, very hot showers and saunas, so your skin won’t start the inflammatory process. Once you omit the offensive action or food, it will take your body several days to weeks to recover fully and start to calm down again.

If your Rosacea is still not calming down after omitting the offensive substance or action, you may want to make an appointment to see an allergist or immunologist to see if there is an issue with your immune system causing a chronic inflammatory response. Rosacea is an external sign of the storms stirring inside your body. Finding the reason for your Rosacea flares is helpful in keeping your whole body’s inflammation in check, which helps keep your body healthy, lessens body pain and helps your skin look prettier.

Using the proper products for your skin is even more important in Rosacea prone skin as well. Many products can irritate the skin: perfumes, strong retinols and acids as well as some botanical ingredients like oleander, lavender and tea tree oil. Even the best anti-aging and acne products are too irritating for Rosacea prone skin because they irritate the skin to plump it or use acids to exfoliate; which unfortunately activates the inflammatory response. This activation is good for plumping wrinkles and erasing acne, but bad for redness and Rosacea. A fine balance of active and non-active soothing ingredients is needed for this type of sensitive skin. Have questions? Email Shelly, our skin info guru.