Just found this site and very glad I did!

My story-

I have had redness on the cheeks since I was about 4 or 5 y/o. It only got really noticeable after intense exercise at that time. Around the age of 14 the permanent redness got alot worse and the flushing more frequent and intense. Around the age of 15 I started to do some research and came to the conclusion that I had rosacea because ALL my syptoms seemed to match. About 6 months ago I went to a Derm and he said that he was 100% sure that I had KP and KPRF. After learning this I was pretty happy becuse he said that it would most likley go away with age and that it's not progressive like rosacea. The derm suggested that I try Rosacur or Rosaleic.


My Kp on the other parts of my body is VERY minor and I didn't even realize that I had some small bumps on my thighs and arms untill the derm said somthing so this is not my concern at all.

I would say that I have moderate permanent redness and it can go very dark red and almost purple during a flush. There is no bumps or pimples on my skin it is just like a red blotch. The only areas affected on my face are my cheeks.

Flush triggers inlcude almost everything
-warm rooms(for some reason I can tolerate alot more heat outside then inside)
-stress
-eating allot of food at once or spicy food
-being put on the spot in a social setting or doing presentations in school
-intense exercise or heavy lifting
-cold wind

The worst thing is how badly it effects my social life and even jobs. I prob think about it over 50 times/day. I hate going to school because the average classroom temp is too warm and guarantees a flushing episode unless I'm having A very good day. Also my two favorite things to do in life are skiing and weightlifting and these both bring on very bad flushes. I have seriously considered quiting both of these in fear of making the condition worse.

Questions-

I'm confused about this condition, if all it is is pulgged hair follicles then why does anything that increases blood flow make it worse? To me this indicates a vascular problem!


What is the best thing I can do right now?


Do flushing episodes damage the skin? Should I be worried about my activities?

What are the chances that it will clear up as I get older?




It would be really nice if I could get some answers. Any help is greatly apreciated!!!!

Bump

Help please!!

Hey James, I know this skin disorder sucks, but there isnt much we can do about it. I too like to lift weights and Im a huge outdoor person and Im familiar with flushing episodes. Going to the gym makes me a tomato for about an hour. The flushing episodes have no damaging effect on the skin, but they do effect your social life. Flushing will not make the actual skin disorder worse though, that means more hair follicles will not be blocked by flushing episodes. The best thing you can do is buy Eucerin Redness Relief Daily Perfecting Lotion, this will help cover up some of the redness in social settings. As far as it disappearing with age...... I wouldnt count on it, there are numerous older people on this site with Kprf. And keep up with the activities, I know there is nothing thats stopping me from hunting, fishing, lifting weights, and hiking. Peace out man.

Hey there James. Maybe you could take a look at your diet and vitamins etc. I have read about, but not tried yet because I am pregnant, that carrot juice can really help. Do a search on this site for carrot and see if this information helps. My KPRF gets worse when I am pregnant etc. but I did feel that tanning helped alot before my wedding. I think it may be a nutritional and hormonal thing for me and plan on being more proactive after things settle down on that end.

Remember to give any new approach some time to work. Just because the effect is not immediate, it may slowly work over time. Also, the way you describe your symptoms, I do not think all the AHA and acid lotions etc. will help. I do not have the bumps either, just what you experience and all those lotions really inflamed my skin. Try an internal approach first and the lotion that was mentioned above may help cover the redness.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Thanks for the help, I think I'm going to try and start drinking carrot juice 2x day. I didn't think of it befor but this is a bad place to ask if it's going to go away with age because if it had you would be on this site in the first place so the opinion is going to be biased.

FlushedFace- I have heard many times that tanning helps with regular KP(bumps) but did it actually help with your KPRF??

Thanks!

Yes! I pulled out all the pics from the month before and during my wedding when I was going tanning and you cannot tell that I have KPRF at all. I do not recall if it went away, or if the tanning just deepened and evened my skin tone. Either way, it is one of the only times in my life that my skin was flawless and I experienced exactly what you described above. Also- my skin is very sensitive so I did the tanning thing very gradually.

I do think it can decrease as you get older. I know when I was your age I suffered with it more (even though I had no idea what it was) than I do now and I am currently experiencing a bad flareup because of pregnancy.

Welcome to the site!

Don't stop skiing (unless the ski hill goes into receivership, forcing a 2 hour drive to another one, *sigh*) !!!

Update- I just got back from a vacation and the sun did seem to help with the KPRF although not much... it might have also had somthing to do with the fact that I was in the water for 3-4 hours/day. Do you think this might have helped? I would think that it would because the water might unploged your pores a bit?? I was suprised because even though it was extremly hot I only flushed once the whole week.

Thanks for the help!