Thursday, April 18, 2013

80/20 Rosacea Maintenance


My body has a way of telling me to knock it off if I get too far off balance.  Too much stress will usually mean a cold sore will be making an appearance, not eating enough fruits and vegetables will be told by the train slowly coming down the tracks if you know what I mean and if I reaaalllly don't pay attention to any of those signs and knock it off, my face will tell me every time I look in the mirror. 


What am I talking about? 

Rosacea.

I went to the dermatologist a couple years ago and found that I, along with 16 million other Americans, have this weird skin thing.... I look like I'm forever a little flushed and pimply on my cheeks.  I can usually hold it off by being gentle to my skin.  No harsh soaps, stay out of the sun, no weird chemical filled lotions or moisturizers, heck, I can't even use a washrag to wash my face.  It's a gentle wisp of cool water daily and a light wash in the shower with sensitive skin soap weekly.  That's it. I use witchhazel to cleanse and top with coconut oil.  It can't take any more. 

But as of late, my skin has been rebelling like a teenager... my skin is red, bumpy, dry and prickly.  It feels hot, making me want to put my cool glass to my face.  I did some research and found that your eyes can even burn a bit during a flare up.  I thought my eye makeup was making my eyes burn... nope.... it's the rosacea. 


 
 
So I surrendered and said OK, OK,  I get it..... too much pizza, coffee and sweets.  Too much worrying and working and eating very little of the veggie and fruit groups.  I GET IT.  I give! 
 
 
I started doing some research and found that folks with rosacea need to stick to a mainly alkaline diet... meaning things that don't cause your pH to go too far to acid.  By acid, I mean alllll the fun stuff.... coffee, caffeine, hot drinks, (people you know how much I love my tea!) spicy foods,  chocolate, cakes, sugar... meats, breads, grains, dairy... the list goes on.  Now, you can have these things, but you gotta keep it at a 80/20 ratio.  80% veggies and fruits 20% acidic foods.  Makes sense though.  Not fun, but hey, makes sense.  I also found that rosacea is tied in with your digestive health, so if your train is having trouble getting down the track, or does, but is a slow sluggish train... you are helping your rosacea to flare up.  Again, makes sense right? 
 
So here I am.... keeping it 80/20 y'all! 
 
Now you're probably saying "Now Kim, didn't your doctor prescribe something for you to put on your face?"  and the answer is yes.  I tried it for a little while, but it didn't help and it actually burned worse.  I also didn't feel like committing myself and face to a prescription (equals $)  for the sake of trying to have a clearer face.  I'm going the natural (equals cheap) route.  Things are going nicely so far....
 
 *whispering* and just so ya know, my train is starting to move down the track a little quicker....   

Until Next Time Friends....

No comments:

Post a Comment