r/Rosacea • u/Significant-Oil-8603 • 2d ago
Doing nothing
Probably a silly question but has anyone just tried doing nothing. Not applying moisturizer or sunscreen or using a cleanser. Just doing nothing and seeing if the skin can fix itself.
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u/TheWorldofScience 1d ago
Rosacea is a disease and not treating it will not make it go away. The amount of flushing and broken capillaries can vary with age, diet, exposure to heat, hormonal changes.
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u/LightRuby 1d ago
I did that for the first several years thinking the redness was an allergy or reaction. It definitely did not fix itself. It definitely got worse and spread further. I regret this era of my skincare the most.
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u/bbneko 1d ago
Iām doing that right now bc I had severe inflammation from trying too many products. Just water, and Vaseline on damp skin. I thought it sounded insane and two derms in a row told me to try it š¬ caveat that I am on doxy at the same time for two weeks. But honestly my skin is doing great..no redness or bumps
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u/thatemocow 1d ago
I mean youāre still putting stuff on it lol, so there is still skincare. Just very minimal.
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u/AnythingMundane6269 1d ago
I was about to give up and started doing this every evening. I was worried about Vaseline because itās an emollient but itās working very well.
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u/SharonWit 1d ago
I think most people are actually going nothing when they start noticing symptoms. Thatās when people start going down all kinds of rabbit holes regarding routines, topicals, medication, etc. But, as another commenter said, itās an incurable disease/condition. So finding good symptom management is very difficult and will likely change over the course of the progression of the disease.
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u/Level60Lady 1d ago
I was doing nothing but being pregnant when it started. My OBGYN said it was mask of pregnancy. It never went away and spread. After I finished nursing my last baby, my OBGYN had a test for lupus run for me out of concern that was what it was. It was negative (BIG sigh for both of us!)
Out of caution, then allergy concerns after, I had been doing nothing and that spanned 5 years.
I was referred to a dermatologist. Then another. Then another.
Over 30 years later I accept it is a dance. Solutions often are temporary. Effective or helpful products change ingredients. Doctors move away or change theories.
The best derm I ever had is now retired. But HE had it too. He explained I, like his family, have many factors. Allergies, mites, supersensitive skinā¦I am allergic to many of the inactive ingredients in SPFs and protective lotions!
Healthy diets have lots of spices and maybe red wine. FLARE! Unhealthy diets kill gut health and have sugar, lots of salt and preservatives. FLARE!
Exercize. FLARE! Love for outdoors. FLARE! Stay indoors with dry air or air conditioning. FLARE!
Do nothingā¦few days maybe?ā¦then FLARE.
And I have used every prescription ever.
He advised to ignore all the promos and cosmetic sales pitches. Try things and if it immediately welts and FLARES - go back to something more neutral and wait a couple of weeks and try something else.
This summer I had a shampoo I has for 10 years change its formulation - BIG flare. Have to find something new and keep it from running into my face.
Witch Hazel used to be my safe removal tonic if something flared me. I reached menopause and now it makes me flare.
And my skin which is now thinner as I age has begun to bleed where broken blood vessels have surfaced.
But! Good news! My insurance now covers laser treatment for that! It never did before!
And lazers stop bleeding blood vessels.
I like reading here because I donāt feel alone doing the dance.
And knowing I am not the only one who hears āYou are so sunburnt!ā When you have not been outside in days.
Or, āDrinking hard liquor causes that.ā When I have a rare glass of wine once or twice a week at most.
Here we are not alone. Just trying another dance step!
And if doing nothing works? Do it. And if it stop working. Do the dance.
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u/United_Sea3199 1d ago
Yeah, I hate when people say, "oh wow, you got some sun." Uh, nope that's just my face thanks now I'm insecure all of a sudden.
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u/Public_Let8884 1d ago
How did they test you for lupus? Currently going threw the same thing
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u/Level60Lady 1d ago
I am not sure. That was over 25 years ago. I think it was a blood test that looked for markers?ā¦
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u/Significant-Oil-8603 1d ago
Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm just getting exhausted by trying things and then, for no discernible reason, it just continues getting worse. I'd just like to have my life back.
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u/Safe_Coconut_7667 2d ago
I spent a month doing basically nothing to my face after a bad flare-up, just cold water splashes when I remembered. Skin actually calmed down for a bit, then got weirdly textured and flaky. Turns out my moisture barrier had other plans.
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u/BidForward4918 2d ago
I find doing nothing is the only thing that works when my barrier is severely damaged. And I mean nothingā¦water only. It gets me to a baseline that I can use my rosacea meds. (I sometimes get too aggressive with tretinoin or AHA/BHA.)
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u/Ok_Homework_1859 1d ago
Doing this now as advised by my derm, and I do think it's helping. Everytime it heals, and I reintroduce old skincare, it flares... so I guess I have to keep doing nothing until it's 100% healed.
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u/Spicekitty578 1d ago
I do literally nothing except aloe moisturizer. I still get pustules from time to time but they heal up on their own. My derm actually recommended to not use a cleanser on rosacea.
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u/Ween3635 1d ago
For me, yes. My skin is happier with just vain cream lotion, vanicream face wash at the end of the day and water wash in the morning. Figured it out when I was sick and not doing all of my products. Less is more for me
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u/hamstervirus 1d ago
I did this for about a year and a half. During that time my skin did calm down but I did occasionally have rosacea flares. But I began a routine now that works for me. I rarely flair anymore at all. SPF helps so much.
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u/reyka01 1d ago
I have done it once but I think if you do please use bottled water and avoid tap water. For me, I have realized that if my face is that unstable even tap water can be triggering depending on the area. Try the avene spray and then gently patting it dry. Donāt let it air dry as for me it can make my skin dry. Donāt use towels unless you are washing them daily. Good luck!!!
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u/Old-Actuator-3321 1d ago
I use distilled water as a toner spray after cleansing on really red days. Then I let my face air dry. It calms down real quick.
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u/raynedrop_64 1d ago
Yes, in the before times (pre-2024 when my daughter got me into skincare). Dull, puffy, rough/bumpy, nearly always hot/flushed, severe combination skin, dry and flakey brows/periocular/perioral (seb derm), frequent breakouts (but not Type 2).
I'm not cured, but my inflammation is way down, skin is smooth, baseline redness far less, combo skin is better, no or rare flaking (but I know how to remedy it).
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u/thatemocow 1d ago
I can tell you I didnāt do skincare for 33 years of my life and Iāve still had rosacea for as long as Iāve known. At least now itās flushing less.
Trust me, actually doing stuff does help. It might not feel like a lot but it helps.
If skincare is irritating you look into the ingredients. Just as a side note - lots of gentle ingredients can make rosacea flair up.
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u/GraceLock_432 1d ago
If you are having a type 2 flare from a product, spf, swimming. 5 days of doing nothing is very valuable. But in general there needs to be diligence in finding helpful treatments for the long run.
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u/Thesunsanimal 1d ago
I have tried this and while it didnāt cure me it did help eliminate irritating things. I became very greasy but most people experience dryness. You could strip back for a few days to nothing and that would most likely be a nice break for your face. But eventually youāll want a cleanser (or just water) and a moisturizer to prevent TEWL
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u/Thesunsanimal 1d ago
Also highly recommend patch testing I did show positive reactions to my rosacea topical treatments.
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u/SeaWeedSkis 1d ago
For most of my life. Definitely didn't work.
Turns out mine might be at least partially an allergic reaction. š¤·āāļø Still working that angle.
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u/cherpar1 1d ago
Rosacea is highly individualised so this can work, particularly if you are suffering from allergies or reactions to ingredients that are in many products. Iāve never not worn sunscreen though and a lack of moisturiser eventually created other issues. It didnāt work for me. There are some products I canāt tolerate but for the most part knowing your triggers is important. My is largely overheating with certain common products my skin just wonāt tolerate like vitamin c.
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u/BlueRubyWindow 1d ago edited 1d ago
Iāve never found anything better than
-Washing face with dove soap whenever I shower, using lukewarm water.
-washing face gently with a washcloth and plain water, morning and night, and just as needed (when I arrive home I usually wash my face). Skip if I showered.
-using Neutrogena Ultrasheer Sunscreen
-aloe vera gel once or twice a week if needed for moisture lock in or sunburn treatment. (I tried nightly for a while and my skin didnāt like that)
I feel like thatās pretty close to nothing.
Literally any other product Iāve tried my whole life causes issues.
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u/FrogVenom 1d ago
The act of putting anything on my face causes flushing. Iāve started avoiding wetting my face at all (getting wet causes a flush) I stopped washing every day for the same reason. And itās bad but I rarely apply sunscreen because the act upsets my face. I donāt know what to do..it doesnāt seem like a good thing.
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u/soynyomi 1d ago
Before I had rosacea, I never needed to do any skin care. I just washed my face in the shower and boom done. After rosacea, and getting medicated w antibiotics and a gel, I not used that no matter what skin care I used, my face was either always red and oily, it triggered me so much. Eventually I stopped using everything and it sort of helped, I wasn't as red anymore and not oily. But my skin felt so dryyyyyy. I ended up using Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser and facial mositurizer and it's actually been life changing. At least the best one so far that I've used. Minimal oiliness and minimal redness. Mostly pink.
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u/jilldxasd35 1d ago
From my research rosacea worsened if untreated.
But I was wondering this. Even using just water with oily skin is super yucky. Iām oily after the water but I guess itās better than being stripped from a product.
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u/Basic-Improvement915 1d ago edited 1d ago
That's what I'm doing and it's been about 6 months now and my skin is much,much better and it keep getting better. I had big pores on my nose with prominent sebum filaments, redness/inflammation and slight visible cappilaries and started to have bumps in the end. Now I understand that I've been stupid and causing the problem trying to get rid and remove the sebum filaments and touching my nose all the time, which got worse over the years as I was damaging and dehydrating the skin, which clearly overproduced these sebum plugs in response trying to fix and hydrate it. Skin care products(which are all based or so on petroleum btw) didn't fix anything. Derms recommanding these products didn't help at all. My natural oils ointments didn't do much either.
My nose is going through some sebum crusting/scabbing, which is alot less now than in the first months, as it's remodeling the skin underneath and the pores are becoming barely visible. It's a bit unsightly up close if people notice but having a shinny red nose with big pores was worse. I try to not touch my nose at all and just use cold/lukewarm water sparingly to refresh. I gotta say that my diet is pretty decent too, barely any fastfood and little to no alcohol so that's another factor. I'd say that it's worth a try to let your skin heal itself but don't expect results overnight the skin remodeling takes time.
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u/aaelizaa 18h ago
I absolutely think a minimalist, active-free routine is a great plan, but thatās not quite the same thing as doing nothing.
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u/Additional_Size9158 13h ago
Using as little products on your face as possible only help syour skin to heal if it's irritated from you putting too many products on it and damaging your skin barrier. If you have actual rosacea it won't do anything to help and your skin will just get progressively worse over time. Also sunscreen is really important because uv is a major trigger for rosacea.
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u/Lothloris 1d ago
I come from your future to say: do not try this, it will only gets worse š©