Learning to Cope with Rosacea

So there’s a reason why I always look sunburned?

Photo by Ana Martinuzzi on Unsplash

I went to my dermatologist recently, because I’m going to lose my really good health insurance plan soon.

Really. I’m not the type of person to go to the doctor for anything. I work in healthcare, and figure I can tough it out for most things. I do go to my yearly physical, because if I don’t, I don’t get refills for my migraine meds.

I was also not the type of person to go to the dermatologist when I was young, though I certainly could’ve benefited. My first visit was after I turned 30. However, I always get some good advice and care, and I’ve never regretted going.

My dermatologist is really nice. At my last visit, I mentioned some acne that I’ve been having. You’d think that at my age, that stuff would’ve stopped long ago. No matter what I did … changing my pillowcase every night, trying different soaps, using moisturizer, not using moisturizer … nothing seemed to help.

I also expected I’d be told to wear sunscreen. I could go outside for two minutes in the winter, and my face would be bright red.

To my surprise, the dermatologist diagnosed me with rosacea. I’d heard of it, but never even considered that I had that. I did have a pink-red butterfly rash sometimes, and wondered if it…