It's completely out of character for me to start a thread, let alone start one in the Trophy Room. However, I am rather proud of myself for having finally taken steps to deal with my excessive blushing.

I have always blushed and always hated it and it is the reason for my sa. As I got older I began to blush not only in public, but whilst eating a meal, drinking alcohol and going from the cold to a warm room. I convinced myself I had Rosacea but everyone kept saying "oh, you are just fair skinned and sensitive", even two doctors told me this.

Ive used beta blockers for years and also had counselling which has helped somewhat. Anyway, two months ago I finally decided to visit a clinic in London for a consultation for Photofacial and after a half hour chat about all my symptoms and what I expected from the treatment, was offered my first session. I was not at all prepared for this but it would at least save me the cost of another airfare and I took the plunge and had it done. The doctor told me that, in her opinion, I had moderate Rosacea. I could feel my heart sink because she had confirmed my fears that I had it, but, in a way, was glad to finally know.

The treatment involves having an intense pulse of light flashed all over your face. I found it very painful, it was like having hot fat splashed over my skin. The light is absorbed by haemaglobin and melanin (capillaries, freckles, hyper pigmentation) which then causes an intense amount of heat which then destroys the veins/pigmentation and is eventually either absorbed by the body or flakes off the skin. There is absolutely no damage to the surface of the skin or the healthy skin surrounding the veins/pigmentation. It is nothing like laser treatment. After each session the blushing becomes less and less as more of the enlarged capillaries are destroyed. The added bonus is that your skin produces new collagen which makes your skin much smoother, pores shrink and fine lines become much less noticeable.

As my skin is hyper sensitive anyway, I did react quite badly after the treatment; my skin looked like I had the worst sunburn and later I had bands of mild swelling. However, the side effects were no worse than I had been warned of and fortunately I had no bruising or blistering which can happen in very rare cases.

Fortunately you are able to apply make up straight after treatment and before I left the clinic I went to the toilet and did as best as I could to cover the deep redness. My husband said I only looked as though I was over warm and that it wasnt too severe looking. We then had to travel on the tube back to the airport and I just held my head up and outstared anyone who was looking at me and thought to myself "stuff what anyone thinks" and just got on with it (which really isnt like me).

I have had two treatments now and I now travel there and back alone. The second treatment was no where near as bad as the first; it was very red but there was little swelling and by the time I got back to the airport the redness had practically disappeared. I still blush (which is normal for anyone), but the duration and severity has most definitely decreased and just knowing this has lead to a decrease in my anxiety about blushing and I really dont panic quite so much as I used to do.

I have been told I need at least 5 treatments to get rid of as many abnormal veins as possible and each treatment gets more and more aggressive the deeper it goes into the skin, but I am going to persevere with it because I really believe it is helping my blushing and, in turn, my anxiety about blushing and that can only be good thing. Im determined Im going to get my life back.

Its an expensive treatment, but if anyone is interested in knowing more about it, you are more than welcome to pm me.

Flib [2 edits; Last edit by flibbertygibbet at 17:39:03 Mon Jan 3 2005]