As a teen, I was pretty blessed with an acne clear face. It seems all the girls in my family were lucky in this way. It wasn’t until my late 20′s that I started a bad case of acne. Or so I thought…..

The back story:
A couple of years ago, I was having really dry eyes. Dry to the point where I couldn’t wear my contacts anymore and I swore that when I woke up in the morning, I could actually hear my eyelids opening and closing. I’m not even exaggerating. I eventually went to the eye doctor and was prescribed a low dose antibiotic.
About the same time my eye issues were going on, my face was breaking out like no other. I was mad and embarrassed. I mean, I was 28 years old. Why was I breaking out like a 16 year old? It wasn’t like they were tiny pimples. They felt huge and they hurt. I even got to the point where I would try and pop them and I couldn’t. After about a few months of what of being embarrassed to be in public, painful bumps and an array of different skin products, I made an appointment with a dermatologist. I had to get this problem under control.
Within just a couple of minutes of looking at me, she diagnosed me with rosacea. After talking about treatment options, we discussed what other medicines I was on. I told her that I was on a low dose of antibiotics for my dry eye. Come to find out, my extremely dry eyes were associated with my rosacea. Who knew? I then put two and two together. Shortly after starting the medicine, my eyes were getting better AND my face was clearing up. It all made sense.
I just couldn’t believe I didn’t see the signs. Looking back, I’ve had constant redness on my face for quite some time but just thought it was because I’m fair skinned.

Could you have rosacea? Tomorrow, I will share some signs of rosacea, how I felt before I was diagnosed and a special online PSA from Cynthia Nixon (best known for her role as Miranda Hobbes in HBO’s series, Sex and the City) in honor of Rosacea Awareness Month and sharing her personal experience with rosacea for the first time. Want information now? You can visit the Rosacea Facts website.

Disclosure:This post enters me into the running to be a RosaceaFacts Ambassador, sponsored by Galderma Laboratories, L.P.