In no particular order...
I believe carr glass (all glass for that matter) screens out some band of rays but not all. Same with sunscreens, and that's why a physical block that contains zinc oxide or titanium is often better not to mention less irritating to sensitive skin than the chemicals used in your average sunscreen/sunblock.
Ina, if you saved some of the links I posted months ago from sun protection clothing sites, they sell a single left-hand "sleeve" for folks sensitive to the sun who expose their left hand. A glove as well if I remember. I believe their first customer was the fellow Harrison Ford was after in the Fugitive :)
It is both heartening and disheartening to hear it took you so long for your skin to recover first time around. Disheartening because as we both know how much of a collosul PITA this can be on so many levels including limitation of outdoor activities. More so (at least for me) than the Hep C, since it really never impacted my life all that much until I started treating. Heartening because your skin apparently did heal after time which gives me hope. And yes, it's the d*mn interferon again, based on both logic and some studies I've read. That combined with our immuno-suppresive state and we're easy pickings for the fungal and other factors that cause seb dermatitis and rosacera.
Just came back from drug store and bought some plain zinc oxide paste as well as new OTC formulation of Nizoral which is a ketoconazole (anti-fungal) 1% shampoo as opposed to the rx 2% shampoo. I had to stop using the 2% cream (indicated for seb dermatitis) because my skin started to peel. I'm surprised you're not on ketoconazone or something similar as it's usually the first line of defense against seb dermatiis along with topical steroids. Anyway, I plan to try this less potent shampoo on my scalp and face and see what happens. I believe I already mentioned the DHS line of products which many derm's use but the concept is to keep rotating a zinc, tar and syclic acid shampoo. Other OTC products are head and shoudlers, etc.
Current regimen, changing a little every day is:
MORNING:
Cool towel on face soaked in cool roobios tea.
Wash face with Cetaphil gentle cleanser
Wet shave with electric razor using Cetaphil as lather (you can skip this one :) )
Shower with one of the shampoos lathering face and other seb derm problem areas
Another cool towel with roobios
Cool and then cold water
Elidel
Blue Lizard Baby sun block which in addition to blocking sun and light (yes, light can irritate the skin as well even indoor flurescent) it seems to have a very calming effect. I guess it's either the zinc or titanium, that's why I bought some zinc oxide today.
EVENING: No shaving or Blue lizard and less time with tea soaks.
In addition to the Elidel, I apply the 1% Metrogel.
IN BETWEEN: Try some moisturizes but while the skin looks and feels dry it actually isn't, just the seb derm acting up. One moisturizer that doesn't irritate is skinCeuticals Hydrating Oil B5 gel. Expensive for the little bottle but seems to last forever since you only need a few drops. Not sure how good it is but again doesn't irritate. Also if time another roobios soak and now maybe some of this zinc oxide although it goes on so think, don't have a clue how to get it off. LOL.
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Previous skin regimen...
Splash water on my face to wake up, jump in shower with bar of regular soap, shave once every three days or so. That was it. No creams, moisturizes, sunscreens, nada. LOL.
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Back to rosacea. If you've done some research, you'll find that some believe there are a number of "triggers". Of course my trigger may not be yours. But some common triggers are sunlight, cold weather, hot weather, alcohol (I've temporarily stopped my 4-5 weekly beers), and some suggest certain foods such as wheat and dairy products, as well as spicy foods. There may also be an allergic component to all this so I'll probably see an allergist soon if things don't clear up.
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Back to the topical steriods again. Yes, they clear up the seb derm real well and also take the redness away but they can rebound and spread the rosacera making things worse. Again, some derms absoluty will not prescribe topical steroids for rosacera or even if you don't have it on the face.
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Other things prescribed and to look into if things get worse are oral antibiotics (like doxycyline), and oral fungal agents.
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Yesterday I bought some aloe Vera gel and maybe I'll mix that up with the tea tree oil which my derm suggested but it does sting a bit. Today I put three or four drops of it in half a cup of water and put it on face with a little zinc oxide.
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Here are some unedited links you might want to look at from my reading the last few days. I'm pretty new at this and not at all thrilled I have to research yet another condition. LOL.
http://medhelp.org/forums/dermatology/messages/32711.html
http://www.skincell.org/yabbse/index.php/topic,14447.0.html
http://www.rosacea.org/press/archive/20020419.html
http://www.drnase.com/stages.htm
http://rosacea.ii.net/news/2005/09/pulsed-dye-laser-and-papulopustular.html
http://www.acne-rosacea.co.uk/
http://www.ehow.com/how_6305_treat-rosacea.html
http://www.targetwoman.com/articles/rosacea-treatment.html
http://rosacea.ii.net/hl/15853.html
http://www.lindasy.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.100.exe/?E+scstore
http://www.esfbchannel.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=Rosacea&action=display&num=1099537071
http://www.spectacularskin.com/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi?noframes;read=28129
http://www.skinandaging.com/sa/displayArticle.cfm?articleID=sa_200101d4&type=A
http://www.dermadoctor.com/pages/newsletter176.asp
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0689/is_9_52/ai_107996910/pg_2
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic396.htm
Well, good luck, let me kmow how you progress, and I'm curious how your husband cardioverted on his own, although sometimes it just can happen. And, oh yeah, if all else fails there's always laser technology which seems to have some good results at an expected cost. Not sure if the Dead Sea treatment will work for rosacea, although it does work for psoriasis in most. BTW I don't think I have any sun sensitivity at all now -- just that the rosacea and perhaps seb dermatitis is sensitive to the sun.
-- Jim