Rosacea Treatment

Diet, Gut Healing, Naturopath and IPL for Rosacea

There are five approaches to rosacea treatment: diet and eliminating triggers for rosacea, gut-healing protocols, laser and IPL for rosacea, and medical treatment approaches.  The Rosacea subtype also influences the treatment plan.  At Pearl, we are excited to be one of the first cosmetic clinics in Queensland to use naturopathy and gut healing for rosacea treatment.

In the early stages of rosacea, it is best to concentrate on diet and eliminate rosacea triggers and naturopathy for gut healing and settle inflammation. However, once the redness is fixed, treatment approaches include IPL for rosacea and prescription medical treatments. With ocular rosacea, treatment with an ophthalmologist is necessary, and rhinophyma requires resurfacing laser treatment.

Gut Healing and Naturopathy for Rosacea

Though not fully understood, we know an association between rosacea, gut dysbiosis and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Correcting this dysbiosis with gut-healing works to reduce the underlying inflammation without the need for antibiotics or prescriptions. It helps minimise transient redness,  acne rosacea, inflammation and swelling of the skin and early phyma. Because it addresses the underlying inflammation, this should slow the progression of Rosacea. The naturopathic approach to rosacea includes a diet that eliminates triggers and focuses on an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean diet.

Call us on 3350 5447 or Book Online to see our Naturopath Courtney White

IPL for Rosacea.

IPL treatment for rosacea works by reducing the appearance of superficial non-transient capillaries. It can have some small effect on reducing inflammation but has no impact on the condition’s progression.  IPL for rosacea is the most effective treatment to reduce chronically dilated facial capillaries or the ‘red face’ appearance.  IPL should be combined with diet, elimination of rosacea triggers and naturopath or medical treatments.

Call us on 3350 5447 to book a free assessment to find out about IPL for Rosacea.

Rosacea Triggers and How To Avoid Them.

It is understood that certain foods and other factors are triggers for flushing.  These vary between individuals.  Identifying and minimising exposure to these, though not a cure, can help slow the progression. The clue is to find your triggers and avoid them. Our naturopath will go through the process with you to help identify and eliminate these triggers.

Rosacea triggers vary among individuals, but there a broad groups that are the most common. These triggers include heat,  sun,  food and alcohol and experience of emotion. 

1. Sun exposure is one of the most commonly identified triggers.
2. Stress, feelings of anger or embarrassment
3. Exposure to other environmental factors, usually related to heat, such as saunas
4. Skincare products that can irritate rosacea.
5. Dietary Triggers are broken down into four groups.

Diet Trigger for Rosacea

• Heat-related: drinking hot coffee or tea
• Alcohol-related: most commonly wine or spirits
• Capsaicin-related: triggered by spices, sauces or foods
• Cinnamaldehyde-related: contained in a range of unrelated foods, including citrus, chocolate, tomatoes and cinnamon.

Skincare products that irritate rosacea

• Vitamin A
• Alpha hydroxy acids (AHA)
• Facial scrubs
• Chemical sunscreens ( instead use physical sunscreens containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide)

The Rosacea Diet

Though not clearly understood,  there is growing evidence of a link between gut bacteria and rosacea. This has led to the development of the rosacea diet, which considers the role of a fibre-rich prebiotic food in gut microbiome health and settling systemic inflammation and skin conditions.  The diet is based on eliminating triggers and adopting an anti-inflammatory diet. Our Naturopath has a specific interest in nutrition, diet and treatment of inflammatory skin conditions.

Medical Treatment of Rosacea.

Medical treatment of rosacea focuses on prescription topical creams, prescription oral antibiotics and medicines that impact vessel reaction. We are an integrative cosmetic medicine clinic, so we advocate adopting a naturopathic and gut healing approach to all aesthetic skin conditions as the first port of call.

Prescription Creams and Medications to settle Rosacea.

• Recommended Creams for Rosacea Treatment
• Creams to reduce inflammation and flare-ups: Use gentle cleansers such as Cetaphil.
• Rozex, BHA or Azelaic acid.

Recommended Prescription Medications :

• Antibiotics can help reduce the inflammation of rosacea.
• Topical metronidazole.
• In the case of ocular rosacea, referral to an ophthalmologist is essential.

What is Rosacea?

Rosacea is caused by chronic skin inflammation and results in an overactive vascular response to specific triggers.  Though the cause is not understood,  the gene variations that underlie a predisposition to rosacea have been identified.  These gene variations are responsible for disrupting the innate immune system in people with rosacea, leading to an abnormal release of inflammatory cytokines in response to various triggers. It is also understood that diet and gut microbiome impacts their presentation. 

• It affects mainly fair-skinned people – occurring in up to 15% of some European populations. 
• It affects the central face region, specifically the cheeks, chin and prominent forehead.
• In the early stages, it appears with recurrent flare-ups that trigger factors can precipitate.
• Left untreated, rosacea progresses with chronic dilation of capillaries,  increased surface capillaries, development of sterile papules and pustules (acne rosacea) and swelling of skin tissue (phyma).

The main symptoms are facial redness with tiny visible capillaries,  easily flushed and sensitive skin. Other variations include acne rosacea, which presents with papules and pustules; rhinophyma causes enlarging of the nose and ocular rosacea, presenting with redness and swelling eyelids eyes.

The  4 Subtypes of Rosacea:

• Subtype 1.  Presents with facial redness, flushing and visible facial capillaries.
• Subtype 2. Called acne rosacea because it presents with papules and pustules that look like acne. Acne rosacea affects women more commonly.
• Subtype 3.  Rosacea of the nose, known as Rhinophyma, presents with thickening of the nose skin. This is rare and affects men more commonly.
• Subtype 4.  Ocular rosacea, where the symptoms occur in the eye area.

A Multi-Pronged Approach to Rosacea Treatment.

Rosacea treatment involves a multi-pronged approach to reduce skin inflammation, treat facial redness, and eliminate rosacea triggers that cause flushing. It is vital to reduce underlying skin inflammation to slow the progression of rosacea.

1. Reducing rosacea inflammation can be achieved with LED light therapy,  naturopath and dietary intervention, lifestyle intervention to reduce rosacea triggers. Topical and oral antibiotics also principally act via a decrease in inflammation (not through anti-bacterial action)
2. Treating facial redness: Laser and IPL for rosacea is well established to improve cosmetic appearance by reducing superficial capillaries.

Once there are fixed dilated surface vessels, laser or IPL treatment is the only option. However, early intervention to eliminate rosacea triggers and skin inflammation may prove invaluable to prevent the condition’s progression.