Rosacea, more so than almost any other skin condition, is linked to emotional stress.
According to the National Rosacea Society, emotional stress is the second most common trigger for rosacea flare-ups, affecting almost 80% of people with the skin condition.
Spikes in emotional stress release cortisol, which in turn increases blood flow to the skin and disrupts the body's ability to control inflammation. In people who suffer from rosacea, any systemic or localised inflammation can trigger facial blood vessels to dilate and resulting in intense redness, swelling, and burning of the facial skin, which are the classic symptoms of a rosacea flare.
The most reactive of emotional stressors are feelings of anger, anxiety and shame or humiliation.
For civil servant Rachel, a 37-year-old single mum from Glasgow in Scotland, it was the shock of finding out her partner of three years had been unfaithful and their ensuing separation that triggered her first flare of rosacea.
“People will think it’s crazy but, honestly, I’d say finding a solution for my rosacea, which was triggered by the shock of finding out my partner of three years was cheating on me, was the one of the main things that gave me the strength and courage to get over my ex,” says Rachel.
“When I found out my partner was cheating on me, my whole world collapsed. However, from the outside it might have been hard to tell the emotional turmoil I had going on inside, if it hadn’t been for my skin.
My skin said it all really. It literally erupted into a furious red lumpy mess, which I later discovered was rosacea. I’d always had really good skin my entire life but the trauma of my breakup manifested itself through my skin.
We’d been in a committed relationship when I found out my ex had betrayed me and was an accomplished, compulsive liar. As the catalogue of disturbing facts revealed themselves, I realised with shock and devastation that he was not at all the man I thought he was. By the time the truth was fully revealed I felt I no longer knew who he was and I felt deeply humiliated for putting all my trust in someone like that.
He was my first serious relationship after the separation from the father of my two children. He was a pillar of our local community and the ‘nice guy next door’. I really thought I’d found ‘the one’.
I could not have been more wrong.
I was in a total state of shock when I found out all that had been going on and I emotionally froze. I couldn’t eat or sleep. I lost over a stone almost immediately. I was crying constantly. My family got really worried about me. Eventually I had to concede that I needed some help to process my feelings, and I turned to therapy to help me try and process what I was going through.
After the initial physical shock, I settled into an almost overwhelming sense of grief and anxiety. I functioned day to day in the tasks I had to do like work, and being a mum for my kids. But I could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. And just when I didn’t think things could get any worse, my skin just kind of collapsed.
It started with lots of little red lumps and then it just erupted into a burning red agony. Even putting water on my skin stung like crazy and my face was permanently inflamed and sore.
The doctor prescribed a topical steroid cream, which is actually for eczema. When I put it on my skin, it felt like my skin was literally on fire. After going back to the doctor numerous times, I was put on several different types of steroids and lotions, all of which had pretty much the same effect.
After months of agony I lost all faith in the doctor’s ointments and begun my own experimental process of buying everything I could find on the shelves at Boots to see if anything calmed my skin. All to no avail.
I’m a keen walker and as I live in Scotland its obviously very cold but when I went out in the brisk wind, my face burned like a furnace. It had never done this before. So eventually I stopped walking. Walking was my one mental reprieve from the trauma and giving it up plunged me even further into a sense of anguish.
My skin was having a catastrophic effect on my self-confidence. I stopped socialising. I hit rock bottom when I was invited to a leaving do for a work colleague. I didn’t want to go but she was a good friend, and I felt awful saying no. I tried to muster all my courage and I went and bought tons of make-up even though I knew it was going to be agony when I put it on.
Before the night had even begun, I found myself in the pub toilet sobbing my eyes out. I was in such agony because the cosmetics burned my skin and they were literally running off my face with this furious raging bumpy skin poking through the bare patches. I felt hideous. In the end I just had to leave as I couldn’t bear to face people.
This went on for months. Eventually I only left the house when I had to; to go to work or the school run. In the house I would stare in the mirror constantly to check the state of my skin. I was terrified that it was spreading and would never clear up. I saw different doctors, but no one seemed to have any answers and everything they gave me made it worse.
I had been diagnosed with eczema and then perioral dermatitis and given medications for both conditions, which made my skin worse. Eventually I was referred to a specialist, but it was a three month wait just to get an appointment. I felt desperate.
I found myself talking about my skin all the time, I felt I had to bring it up before others did because I could see the stares. It became the main topic of conversation for me. It got to the stage where it was the main thing that dominated my life.
Most of my spare time was spent googling my symptoms and comparing my symptoms and photos to those on the internet.
It was during one of these searches that I found the Kalme products on line. They were recommended by someone on a rosacea support group website. The account was clearly written by someone who had actually tried them rather than some cynical marketing jargon because the way she described symptoms and how she self was so similar to how felt I knew she had gone through what I was currently experiencing. I’d read a lot of so-called real-life stories from people but they never hot a chord like this one did. So, on impulse, I ordered the products.
I knew the products were going to work the second I tried them as they were the first products I had put on that did not burn when I applied them, which was what the lady who’s story I read had also said. I tried one of the creams on a tiny skin patch first as I was so terrified of the burning. When it didn’t hurt I actually rang my best friend in tears as I was so excited.
When I realised they didn’t sting I used the products all over my skin twice or three times a day. I ran through so many tubes in the first few weeks it cost me a small fortune. But it was completely worth it.
I felt a huge improvement in the first month, but it took about three months for my skin to get back to what I would call ‘normal’.
I felt empowered. It changed my whole outlook. It felt like the first thing I was able to do for myself that finally gave me some feeling of control over the effects of my traumatic separation. I’d felt for ages that my skin was telling everyone what a mess I was inside, which made me feel very vulnerable and ashamed.
I started socialising again and bit by bit and things started to return to normal.
I’m now in a new relationship. It’s refreshing and exciting although I can still be cautious and guarded at times. I’m learning to trust again and not view everyone with suspicion.
I also did something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and went back to university to do a psychology degree. So, there could even be a new career in the pipeline soon too.
I know people will say it’s just skin, but your face and your skin are often the first things people see. And if inside you are not coping, and your skin gives that away, the effect is devastating to your self-esteem.
Skin conditions like rosacea are too often overlooked by doctors as something ‘cosmetic’ and not that serious, but if you listen to how people with skin conditions really feel, it’s actually a far more serious matter than people realise, particularly if its accompanied or caused by emotional turmoil. The combination of the two can be truly devastating.
My future feels positive and exciting once again. I’m so relieved to be able to get on with my life. There were several points when I never thought that would happen.”
