Hi everyone!  In my last post, called “Halloween and Rosacea Symptoms: Very Scary, Indeed!” I talked about how all the Halloween makeup, candy and other rosacea-unfriendly things I did on that day caused my skin to experience a flare-up for the first time in a long time.

Since I’ve been using red light therapy and amber light therapy, I really haven’t been battling with rosacea flare-ups.  I’ve just been gradually reducing the remaining redness that had built up on my face over the last fifteen years.

Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled.  However, at the same time, I decided this was a great opportunity to put the light therapy rosacea treatment to the test.

My anti-flare-up rosacea light therapy strategy

Here’s what I did to beat my rosacea symptoms.  I used the lights every day and took care to treat my skin very well.  Here are the products I used:

Light Therapy

• The Pure Red LED Light Therapy Set
• Pure Amber LED Light Therapy Set

Skin Care

• Eucerin DermatoCLEAN Mild Cleansing Lotion
• Rocia Provar treatment lotion
• Anthelios Ultra-fluid Lotion SPF 60 (this is on my face for only an hour a day while I walk dogs)

Additional Efforts

• 1 tbsp of (real) apple cider vinegar daily (consumed in a banana smoothie)
• 1 tsp of ground turmeric daily (in the same smoothie)
• 1 dash black pepper (in the smoothie to boost absorption of the turmeric)
• Lots of water

I used the light therapy for a full session, one time per day before bedtime (after I washed my face but before applying the natural treatment product).

I washed my face 2 times per day.  Once after walking dogs first thing in the morning and once before bed at night.

The natural treatment product was applied after I washed my face in the morning and after my red and amber light therapy at night.

I had one banana smoothie with anti-inflammatory ingredients every day in the morning before walking the dogs.

That was the whole deal.  I don’t know if the anti-inflammatory foods played any role.  I have them nearly every day, anyway, so they weren’t added to my diet just because I was battling a flare-up.

If anyone is interested in my smoothie recipe, please let me know in the comments for this blog post and I’ll be sure to share it in a future post.It tastes yummy and everything is readily available at the average grocery store and is quite affordable. I might do a YouTube video for it, too, if anyone actually wants to see it 🙂

How did it go and how long did it take?  I documented the whole thing in YouTube videos to show you.

Day 1 – The Rosacea Symptoms Flare-Up (before treatment)

Day 2 – After 1 Red and Amber Light Therapy Treatment

Day 3 – After 2 Light Therapy Rosacea Treatments

So all in all, I think it took only 2 treatments with amber light therapy and red light therapy to completely eliminate the flare-up caused by Halloween and to return my face to where it was before all the cheap costume makeup and candy!

I am VERY pleased!  It was all cleared up well before I had to be a guest speaker at a special event held at the University of Toronto, last week.  That was something that had my anxiety going haywire and the fact that I knew I’d be able to look my best did a lot for my self-confidence that day.

I know it sounds shallow, but I am very aware of my flare-ups, especially when I need to do any public speaking. The fact that I didn’t need to worry about my looks (any more than usual haha) was just one fewer thing to make me anxious, that day.  PHEW!

I’d also like to take a moment to thank everyone who has been sharing their own stories in the comments sections of these blog posts.  I read every one of them and it means a lot to me that you’re reaching out and sharing your own stories.

The more we share what we’re going through, the more we can support each other and can learn from each other.  Rosacea symptoms are difficult to explain to people who don’t have the condition, so it means a lot to be able to speak to others who just get it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post.  Thanks again and see you next time!