hopefully i will be able to upload these pics that i just took of my face using my webcam. in the past, i have seen several dermatologists and some have diagnosed me as having rosacea (including dr. harvey jay, whom some have mentioned in their own posts regarding laser treatment), while only one has mentioned kprf. i have regular kp on the back of my arms, front of thighs, and butt...where it is the worst. having read pretty much every post regarding kprf on this site, I feel like i probably have kprf and not rosacea. However, I do not have any pronounced bumps on my face which seems characteristic of kprf (although, it would be a stretch to say that my skin is perfectly smooth in the red areas). Also, it is hard to tell from the picture, but my nose is also quite red, which makes me think that it may not be kprf.

These pictures are what my face looks like most of the time except for a flushing episode which, of course, makes it much worse...exercize, anxiety, alcohol, hot foods, embarrassment, heat, cold, laughing, yawning, leaning over to tie shoes, etc. all cause flushing and blushing. Sometimes even when I am sitting in an air-conditioned room not moving...sound familiar?

Please respond with any amateur diagnosis (despite the fact that these pics aren't great), words of advice or anything else. I have had this skin condition since birth. I would say that it has stayed pretty constant and not gotten any better or worse.

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Well my face looks like yours and i too have kp on my upper arms thighs and chest. So i guess it has to be kprf that you have on your face cause all those things that causes you to flush also casues me to flush & blush too.

I had the KPRF redness on my face my whole life too, but only developed the bumps of KPRF on my face in the redness area in the past 4 years. dr. harvey jay is a nut, I been to him twice and way to expensive, he treats the rich! PDL treatments work good for the redness, and can take 2-8 treatments for possible complete clearing.

yeah, i know that you aren't supposed to get dramatic results quickly with most lasers, but i went in and had two done and did not notice a single difference...a big pain in the butt when you spend nearly $1,700 for the two sessions. do you see someone for less money in the city?

I live in Philadelphia, but traveled all the way to manhattan, and spent $1700 too on 2 treatments, he sucks, even though his website pics are great.

hey man i just seen your pics and i wouldnt worry about your face. i would trade u faces anyday. i have kp on my arms and in the past 2 years it spread to my face. unlike your face which looks like u have rosy cheeks mine is more blotchy. i have a golfball sized red & purplish patch under my ear near my jaw bone and then a patch on my cheeks and near my temples. when i wash my face or shave it get so irritated its like flamming red. i wont go out in public without putting on makeup. now i know it sounds gay but it covers it up so well and noone even knows. i dont like being a guy who wears makeup but if u could see the differece it makes u would agree. to me u look fine lookes like u have rosy cheeks myself i look like i have all these red/purple patches on my face. if anyone knows how to treat this let me know cause this is ruining my life. i have no self confidence.

definitely looks like KPRF in my opinion

i've got rosy cheeks like that as well. So I also have to say KP. Some ppl have mentioned that they've used laser hair removal. Anyone had any luck besides christopher?

yes, me

when people post pics like this it just makes me even more insecure

my face looks so much worse than that =( you should just be happy that yours looks the way it does

Totally agree. The pictures don't highlight anything abnormal at all, you look completely fine.

The redness you have is 100% the same as mine. The triggering factors included. People who say "that doesn't look too bad" don't take into account that this picture is probably taken when he's not experiencing a flush. So I have to say that I can completely can relate to OP (I think I'm in the same age range too).
Currently my plan is as follows:
Somewhere later this year I will (try to) get an ETS operation (for which I'll get a total refund). I'm lucky that the guy performing it is an expert in this matter and has been in the media of couple of times (blusing or sweating related). I hope that this will decrease emotion blushing and (hopefully) heat flushing.
Then, next year (or perhaps later, since I know they're still working on improving), I will try the PDL treatment. For some reason the couperose treatment is quite cheap here, approx. 110 dollar/90 euro per treatment. I tried to ask them what kind of laser they used, but they suggested I came for a free consultation.
I know that blood vessels will eventually grow back, so I can only hope that the ETS will be permanent. I heard from someone who has had the operation, that he expiriences no more redness. So that's something too look forward to.
Currently I'm using the Eucerin (green) lotion and I must say it's pretty good. Of course you can still see the redness, but it's not really red-red anymore.

So, this is my plan. I hope I gave you enough information about the possibilities.
I want to ask you 1 thing: does your father/mother expirience the same redness?

Thanks

KPRF improves/disappears with age. Ask yourself (apart from me) how many on this KPRF forum are over 30? The reason practically everyone here is in their teens or twenties is because that is when the conditon is at its very worst.

I personally would not have a permanet operation done that has several risks for a condition that will get better on its own.

My KPRF began to calm down in my late 20's along with the flushing it caused. I have had 2 PDL treatments done to reduce the underlying redness left in my face through years of constant flushing.

I would certainly try PDL first (not IPL). Once the blood vessels are normalised you will probably find the blushing will reduce.

I don't see how dilated veins will disappear with age. If you're talking about excessive sweating on your hands, that's a risk I'm willing to take, and personally I would prefer that much more than the blushing. My father's head gets extremely red at times (his whole head, not only his cheeks) and he regularly gets comments on it. I just don't want to be the same when I'm his age.

The inflamed KP bumps on your face will lessen with age however any damaged blood vessels that resulted from this constant flushing will need to be treated by PDL.

Once the bloodvessels are treated you will find your face is less red and less prone to flushing.

KPRF is a viscious cycle in that the blocked hair follicules causea redness and flushing which in turn causes more flushing and more damage to the blood vessels which in turn creates more redness .

Treating the redness with Pulse Dye Laser and if necessary taking something to stop the now instant flushing response can break this cycle. For a success story on treating bad KPRF using these two methods look at posts by Jason1901.