I just paid to join the forum and I'm pretty disappointed with the level of activity, as I'm sure you all are. I know the $5 charge was nominal, but it did discourage me from joining the forum for a number of months, because I was skeptical of the reasons cited for the membership fee. If the 5 bucks kept me away for 7 months, I'm sure it is keeping others away for good. I think we all could tolerate a limited amount of advertising on this website for greater participation. Just a thought.

Now onto the reason I joined this website. I am a 28 year old male who has been suffering KP since the age of 2 and KPRF since early adolescence. It started out that the redness was only a problem after intense exercise, but as I entered my teen years, erythema set in. With the redness came a bit of social anxiety and to top it off I developed the early stages of rosacea, which runs in my family. at 25 I received 6 photofacial treatments from a Dr. Bitter trained practitioner. Unfortunately the only result was temporarily smoother skin, with a negligible effect on the facial redness. Since then I have religiously applied sunscreen and futilely attempted to avoid all my triggers for flushing. I am currently taking Buspar for my generalized axiety, as well as toprol XL to control my blushing/flushing episodes, with some success. Unfortunately, it seems as if the KP continues to spread, now encompassing about 90% of my body. The only areas that seem to have escaped the condition have been my hands, feet, and the pale areas of my face...

But anyway, I'm glad to be here, because it is so rare to meet anyone else with our condition. Thanks in advance for all your insight, and I look forward to trading posts with you in the future.

Dave

Did the photofacial treatments do anything for the flushing or any of the other symptoms of KPRF?

From research, I'm starting to believe that KPRF is a very close relative of rosacea if not a subtype. I will look more into this. They seem to have all the same triggers and same responses.

Unfortunately, my Photofacial treatments did not yeild any positive results. Just smoother skin. I think for KPRF a more intensive therapy may provide better results. Perhaps my practitioner should have cranked up the power? I don't know. But if you are researching rosacea as well, then I'm sure you have heard of Dr. Nase's book. He recommends getting IPL treatments from a Dr. Bitter trained physician. I did that, but I think he was just following a "recipe" that may not hold-up from patient to patient. Some people may need something more than what the handbook says. Then again, I have read on rosacea forums that some patients needed many treatments to get the results they were looking for. In my opinion, if a patient has 16 photoderm treatments done, and they ultimately see results, I believe it was the physician playing with the settings, at their expense.

Bottom line is that it works for some but doesn't for many others. It is an expensive shot in the dark, but one worth taking. Some people love the results. I unfortunately didn't.

There was a good thread about V-beam treatments. Have you read it?