So My Grandmother, My Mother and I all suffer from Rosacea. Rosacea is a painful and ugly. “Rosacea (pronounced “roh-ZAY-sha”) is a chronic and potentially life-disruptive disorder primarily of the facial skin, often characterized by flare-ups and remissions.”- http://www.rosacea.org normally treated with a cream, either SigmaCort or Rozex (prescription medicine). While being cranky during my last flare up I started looking into using oil to fight the Rosacea Demon. I put in an YLEO order but while I was waiting I purchased some Pure Jojoba Oil from the chemist and crossed between using it and an old tube of Rozex I nicked from my mum (because I couldn’t be bothered going to the doctor to get a script) – Anyway it did the trick and I found the Jojoba Oil instantly soothing.
I started of researching Rosacea and its causes, then natural essential oil remedy’s and that turned into looking at acne remedies as well. I found that generally speaking Rosacea occurs mainly in women over thirty (hmmm I got my first attack at 16). And apparently it gets worse with age (that’ll piss my mum off when I tell her). There are topical antibiotic medications and even oral treatments for really bad cases. I think my mum has a flare up about once a year and I generally only tend to get it when I’m stressed out and emotionally spent. Apparently mild Rosacea is actually really common, but most people confuse it with ache or eczema. I think for the most part (non-doctor opinion) that eczema medicated creams won’t do any harm. I have a cousin who had bad eczema when she was younger, she was given SigmaCort to treat it, my son was given SigmaCort to treat his skin when he was a newborn and I’ve been given SigmaCort for Rosacea, so same/same. But when I got my first attack at 16 I thought it was ache and put a Clean & Clear tonic on it and burned the f**k out of my face making it ten times worse. Moral of the story; you don’t want to treat Rosacea as Ache and you’ll bloody well know it if you do, but if you think it’s eczema and treat it so you’ll probably be fine :-P.
My plan for my next flare up:
Rosacea: I’ll try a two part pure Geranium Essential Oil, ten part pure Jojoba Essential Oil mix applied to area regularly /as necessary. And also swap out my morning and night moisturiser for Pure Rosehip Essential Oil during the flare up.
Ache: I’ll try a two part Tea Tree oil, ten part Jojoba Oil mix applied to area regularly /as necessary (and if it is Rosacea not Ache the Tea Tree oil won’t cause super burn problems).
I gave some of the oils to my mum to try as well, but obviously I can’t give you any results /thoughts until my mum or a have a flare up.
My reasoning behind the oils I picked >>
Geranium Oil: The anti-bacterial properties of the oil! And the aroma of the oil has a calming effect (like I said stress tends to bring it on in me, so the calming effect would be welcome) Apparently Geranium oil helps to stimulate the lymphatic system (I don’t really know much about this), but it boosts the skins natural ability to fight inflammatory skin conditions (that part sounds good eh).
Rosehip Oil: It is Liquid Magic! It’s packed full of nutrients, it’s naturally an anti-inflammatory and has some “retinol” thing in it that promotes the growth of healthy skin cells (Woop Woop). Rosehip oil is fantastical for treating numerous skin problems.
Jojoba Oil: Also Liquid Magic! So apparently skin suffering from rosacea can’t produce enough sebum (had to look up what that was). Sebum helps to hydrate the skin and act as a natural barrier to nastiness. Jojoba oil with its magical sebum-like properties of will help to counteract that. AND the anti-inflammatory properties of the oil will help to reduce the swelling of the skin (can I get a ‘Hell Yeah’).
Tea Tree Oil: Tea tree oil is a powerful antimicrobial agent, BAM! it Naturally Kills Bacteria! Kill them greasy puss ball pimples.
I hope that made sense and maybe some one finds it helpful, or at least maybe interesting LOL :-).
RIOT’S REDEMPTION 
I don’t think I’ve ever suffered from Rosacea, but I remember from the ages between 13 – 15, I had horrible acne. Nothing over the counter helped, but it wasn’t the normal teen acne, but more like rash type pimples and it ended up leaving me really withdrawn and I hated my skin. I ended up on medication for it, taking 2 tablets a day and while it improved it, I tried natural remedies as well, and the tea tree made it so much more redder and angry looking. Now I rarely get any pimples at all, but if you look closely, I’ve got a two or three very small scars on my face to remind me how horrible that time was.
I always thought Rosacea was severe blushing of the cheeks, I didn’t realise it was an actual skin condition. Can you get it anywhere else on your body? Sounds like the best course of treatment is to make sure you’re looking after yourself and keeping down stress levels, easier said than done though. I hope it clears up soon hun ❤
I’m sorry to hear you had such a hard time 😦 😦 It is a horrible thing. I know a man who had severe acne from his teens into his early twenties and he now in his late thirties has severely scared skin that probably isn’t going to change. I think knowledge and treatments have at least improved these days, well I hope they have for the sake of the next generation’s mental as well as physical wellbeing.
There are a few breeds of Rosacea that I know of; a severe redness to the skin, a nasty bumpy pimply pus filled rash that kind of goes scabby towards the end, and an extreme Harding of the skin (like corns on your foot or that super hard dry heal type thing). I’ve only ever had the rash in small areas at a time on my face, thank goodness, but I’ve seen some poor people with it all over their face and I wanted to cry for them. I think it is contained to the face, which is why all the above are considered Rosacea? Maybe? But acne can pop up any bloody where on the body, so who knows. I find once the bumpy painful rash part has cleared up I have some scaring (very red skin) for a few months until the skin has regenerated past the damaged layer.
I’d never have used Tree Tea again, if it wasn’t for the reading I did, as in the past I used a commercial product with it in it and I had problems. I get clusters of pimples under my arms (have since puberty) generally they pop up whenever my health is waning or I’m stressing out. I’m willing to try anything (at least once) to kill them (friggin’ bra rubs on them), so I’ve been putting the tea tree /jojoba mix on them and so far so good they seem to be drying up – It’s hot, but not painful. The skin under my arm is probably nowhere near as sensitive as my facial skin and the Tea Tree mix I’m using is very weak, everything I read warned of using pure tea tree straight to the skin as it would burn.