Hi, my name is Adam. I've had KPRF along with thinning eyebrows and KP on my body since i was around 9 or 10 years old, Am 21 now. I have severe facial redness and blushing which is usually burning F**K'N hot!! . It has caused me to try and avoid any type of social situations, and is quite depressing at times because I know i would be a totally different person without this. I've had only a handful of friends in my life and never a girlfriend, it holds me back from living life. I think I've also developed social anxiety, I become very uncomfortable, tense, nervous and can sometimes feel my heart racing in some social situations. It's held me back from doing well through school and now I've just turned down some really good career opportunities. Just thinking of a situation coming up where I know I'll have to be around and talking to people causes me anxiety and flushing. Some other things that cause it are being in a warm room, alcohol, a hot shower, sun, cold , wind, spicy food and probally some others I can't think of right now.
I've been to doctors, a lot of dermatologists and tried dozens of creams, lotions and shampoos such as cetaphil, lac-hydrin, eucerin, nizoral, hydrocortizone, head and shoulders, urea, coal tar shampoo with very little success. Also I've had 3 or 4 laser treatments done about 2 years ago with the last dermatologist I went to see as a part of a test study she was doing, haven't had results with that either. Over the last few years I've spent alot of time researching and looking for a possible cure or anything to improve this with not much luck. I found this site about a year ago and was surprised to have actually found other people with the same problems as me. I've never discussed this with anyone so i decided to make a post since I've been feeling shi**y lately. I've been trying to make some connections between this F**KED UP this skin problem and what might be causing it. I know anxiety is one of the major triggers for the blushing. I've always had people commenting on how red my face is, makes me turn 10 shades redder and a whole lot more anxious and uncomfortable. On this site I've found alot of information. It seems it occours mostly in people of Celtic backgrounds, I come from a Scottish/Irish ancestors. I read that paxil helps with the blushing , I'm thinking of trying this since it is prescribed for social anxiety, which I have anyway.Also I seen some people have had results with cutting out wheat and milk from their diet, I found this interesting because my mother and sister have an allergy to dairy, also there is asthma on my mother's side of the family. I've been trying nizoral shampoo on my eyebrows but haven't seen any regrowth yet, but I've read it is supposedly as effective as rogaine for hair regrowth and slows down the build up of yeast on the skin. One doctor told me it's like a yeast infection(my eyebrow loss from the inflammation, with red, flakey, bumpy skin underneath). I'm also going to try sea buckthorn for the demodex mite which seems to have some kind of connection with this. Also I'm going to try tanning which is supposed to kill this bacteria and maybe darken up my skin a little so the redness is not as noticeable. So, anyways that bout' all i have to say for now , if anyone wants to talk my email is ****. I can post some pics if anyone wants...Later

Pretty much my story is exactly the same as yours

Try PDL treatments and Evening Primrose Oil

My life has done a 360 in a week

I am totally different my face doesnt get red like burning feeling unless I run around the block in the sun

I don't get the burning feeling just hanging around

I mean of course I do get hot just being in the sun but it doesnt burn like it usually would

I go to the gym and I feel fine no burning its weird

DumbOut. What did you do to get this kind of improvement?

read this : Flushing and Blushing treated with Paxil (paroxetine)

also buy aquaphor healing ointment by eucerin and use for ur eyebrows, and buy aveeno moisturizing bar to wash face with, and aveeno positively smooth facial moisturzer for ur cheeks. shave with aveeno ultra calming shave gel, and mach 3 blades.

www.aveeno.com
www.eucerin.com
www.ebay.com (for mach 3 blades) cheaper then in stores.

KPRF is nothing to do with allergies or diet, beleive me.
stop using nizoral shampoo in ur eyebrows, it TOTALLY dries out ur skin, which will cause major flaking. its one of the main and common side effects of nizoral 1% or 2%

If you have a good deal of permanent redness, definitely get PDL.

My only other advise is to stop caring about the redness so much and giving it power over you (I know this is way easier said than done). Only when you arent afraid to flush will you not flush ... kinda screwed up isnt it?

As twid392 said, if you can relax and take your mind of it you flush alot less. Thats how i do it in school, i relax in class and just think about other stuff and i havent flushed in school for a couple of months now. A couple of little ones but nothing major. I still blush though ;(

Just in case you weren't aware the thinning eyebrows is known as ulerythema ophryogenes (UO) and is a distinct condition on its own. It can occur with or without KPRF (refer separate forum for more info on this). UO is reasonably rare

Another rare keratinization disorder that can occur with or without UO and KPRF is KPAF (Keratosis Pilars Atrophicans Faciei). When it affects the cheeks it is often referred to as Atrophoderma vermiculata. This is also a keritinization disorder and affects the top part of the cheeks. The condition causes pitting (roughness) on the top part of the cheeks and causes the area to become really inflamed and stays red for ages. This condition is very very rare and often un/misdiagnosed.

I have UO, KPAF and KPRF and picked up that your redness and burning seem quite severe so I thought it worth mentioning about KPAF. If you want to do a search on it yourself look under:
Atrophoderma vermiculata
Atrophoderma Vermiculatum
Atrophodermia vermiculata
Honeycomb atrophy
Atrophoderma reticulata
NB: UO also comes under the umbrella of KPAF - because these conditions are rare the terms often get interchanged!


I believe that VBeam pulse dye laser treatment would be your best bet to deal with the redness in a real and permanent way. Can you remember what laser was used for your treatment and if the treatment resulted in any brusing/redness of your skin.

Ones on this forum have had good success with PDL treatment for KPRF. I have had success with it in connection with atrophoderma vermiculata and UO.

I just want to encourage you that there are treatments out there that have worked for others and helped reduced the redness and assoicated problems it creates.

Here's a pic from a couple of days of the laser treatment, not sure what the name of the laser was.

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meant to say ''a couple of days after the laser treatment''

ur derm's setting were way to high, but it will fade away give it about 13-15 days!
7-7.5 joules is a high and effective setting with no bruising.

I had the laser treatment done 2 years ago, so it faded a long time ago lol... they had tried the lower settings too.

the thing is not to stop after only 1 PDL treatment, and keep getting them done once a month, for anywhere between 3 to 6 months.

and with lower settings u will not bruise!

it does not improve much with only 1 or 2 treatments!

Adam have the derms you've seen given you any kind of diagnosis??? From what I can see of the picture it looks like you have ulerythema ophryogenes on brows - has any derm ever told you that?

The reason I ask is that not all derms are familiar with KPRF, UO etc (took me six derms and over 30 years to get a correct diagnosis).

Thanks for the picture of laser treatment. It is always hard to tell from a picture but you don't seem to have the telltale red circles that PDL leaves. I am wondering what sort of laser was used. What was the derm who did this trying to treat just 'redness' or did she say you had KPRF etc???

I have a question for those that have tried paxil, I was wondering if it takes away the blushing/flushing from anxiety, being in a hot room, sun, wind, cold, alcohol, hot shower, exercise and so on or just in certain situations. Does it stop the blushing/flushing completely? Does it change your mood? Anyone have bad side effects?