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- Jun 26, 2013
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Hello all. I never thought I'd ever be frequenting a makeup/skin care forum, but, well, maybe this signifies a new direction in my life. 
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Seriously though, I've had an odd & maddening problem for well over a decade now. It came in stages up until a few years ago, maybe 2-4 major episodes + the same number of less severe ones each year, lasting a week or so at a time. But then it seemed to go semi-permanent & it only GOES AWAY for those few weeks per year. First I'll give some background & description of the problem, then some tidbits you'll probably need or want to know. Finally, I'll give some general ideas about what I'm looking for. But just remember, I'm wide open to ALL suggestions, even if they completely differ from what I have to say. That's exactly why I'm here, because I need help & haven't been able to find it yet.
Problem is, my facial skin, especially jaw-line, behind ears, & sometimes sides of nose become VERY red, often itchy, sometimes mildly burning. That's without using anything except mild soap, shower water, & Huggies baby-wipes with Shea Butter, no alcohol. Those seem to be the gentlest I've found & I use them for cleaning up like after mowing or anything else which gets my face lightly dirty. Sometimes when it starts burning, I'll use these just for a cooling relief. Note that I don't SCRUB with them, only gently wipe. None of the above seems to ever make the problem worse, so I don't think any of that is adding to the problem.
I'm a 2-time war veteran & got involved with some nasty stuff in Iraq, lots of us did. While the VA has been more than helpful, they've never actually been able to ID a definite cause, nor a for-sure cure. But they tried & are still trying. None of the "normal" diagnoses have fit yet ... rosacia, etc., & so far none of the meds, creams, lotions, etc. have done much. Some temporarily made it even worse. I don't know the exact cause either & never will. You all saw the pictures ... smoke from burning oil wells & stuff like that. What you didn't see, but may have heard about later, is that some of that sand we tramped through almost surely had some bad stuff in it. Nerve gas, various chemical weapons, Saddam-Special poison, I have no idea, other than the sand had junk in it. Whether it was put there intentionally for us is irrelevant, it was just there & we stirred it up & walked through it. Now we're paying the price. Please note that I'm NOT asking anyone to diagnose. The only reason I included the above was to give you a general idea of the type of skin problem many of us have. All I'm wanting is my face back ... or at least for it not to hurt anymore.
The main problem is the redness. I wear a short beard now just so people won't stare at me. I would rather NOT, but it embarasses me to have a clean but red face, like the worst sunburn you've ever seen. Sometimes it feels that way too, especially in hot weather (now). I've tried prescription meds & creams from the VA, aloe vera based brand-name lotions, Vaseline for Men lotion, Cocoa Butter lotion, a little bit of everything. All of it was well respected brands, nothing cheap and/or of questionable quality. Some of this stuff backfires big time, like the aloe vera. The next day my entire jaw will be flaky dry skin, like it dried up my entire outer layer ... exactly opposite of what it SHOULD do. This doesn't actually hurt, but when they peel off they leave REALLY red spots for a few days. A couple of the lotions, even ones labeled for sensitive skin, set my face on fire & were immediately removed with the Huggies, which cooled it back down pretty good.
But what I HAVEN'T yet tried, since I'm a guy, is any of the women's skin creams .... anti-aging/spot removing/whatever you gals use to make your face pretty & blemish free. I lost my wife to a car wreck 3 years ago & haven't gotten back into the steady dating scene yet (kinda because of the red face), so don't have the luxury of stealing from her make-up bag to try things out on me. I'd probably pick the wrong thing anyway & wind up looking even worse.
So does anyone have suggestions? Know anything which is good at taking away redness, moisturizing to keep it from peeling, & cooling it down so it feels good? I don't want to spend 100 bucks on a little bottle of cream, but if it really works wonders then I will. Help please. I'll be your friend forever, unless you already have plenty of them & don't want another one.
Any other stuff you need to know to help make a suggestion, just ask. I'll try to be as informative as I can. Thanks in advance.
/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />Seriously though, I've had an odd & maddening problem for well over a decade now. It came in stages up until a few years ago, maybe 2-4 major episodes + the same number of less severe ones each year, lasting a week or so at a time. But then it seemed to go semi-permanent & it only GOES AWAY for those few weeks per year. First I'll give some background & description of the problem, then some tidbits you'll probably need or want to know. Finally, I'll give some general ideas about what I'm looking for. But just remember, I'm wide open to ALL suggestions, even if they completely differ from what I have to say. That's exactly why I'm here, because I need help & haven't been able to find it yet.
Problem is, my facial skin, especially jaw-line, behind ears, & sometimes sides of nose become VERY red, often itchy, sometimes mildly burning. That's without using anything except mild soap, shower water, & Huggies baby-wipes with Shea Butter, no alcohol. Those seem to be the gentlest I've found & I use them for cleaning up like after mowing or anything else which gets my face lightly dirty. Sometimes when it starts burning, I'll use these just for a cooling relief. Note that I don't SCRUB with them, only gently wipe. None of the above seems to ever make the problem worse, so I don't think any of that is adding to the problem.
I'm a 2-time war veteran & got involved with some nasty stuff in Iraq, lots of us did. While the VA has been more than helpful, they've never actually been able to ID a definite cause, nor a for-sure cure. But they tried & are still trying. None of the "normal" diagnoses have fit yet ... rosacia, etc., & so far none of the meds, creams, lotions, etc. have done much. Some temporarily made it even worse. I don't know the exact cause either & never will. You all saw the pictures ... smoke from burning oil wells & stuff like that. What you didn't see, but may have heard about later, is that some of that sand we tramped through almost surely had some bad stuff in it. Nerve gas, various chemical weapons, Saddam-Special poison, I have no idea, other than the sand had junk in it. Whether it was put there intentionally for us is irrelevant, it was just there & we stirred it up & walked through it. Now we're paying the price. Please note that I'm NOT asking anyone to diagnose. The only reason I included the above was to give you a general idea of the type of skin problem many of us have. All I'm wanting is my face back ... or at least for it not to hurt anymore.
The main problem is the redness. I wear a short beard now just so people won't stare at me. I would rather NOT, but it embarasses me to have a clean but red face, like the worst sunburn you've ever seen. Sometimes it feels that way too, especially in hot weather (now). I've tried prescription meds & creams from the VA, aloe vera based brand-name lotions, Vaseline for Men lotion, Cocoa Butter lotion, a little bit of everything. All of it was well respected brands, nothing cheap and/or of questionable quality. Some of this stuff backfires big time, like the aloe vera. The next day my entire jaw will be flaky dry skin, like it dried up my entire outer layer ... exactly opposite of what it SHOULD do. This doesn't actually hurt, but when they peel off they leave REALLY red spots for a few days. A couple of the lotions, even ones labeled for sensitive skin, set my face on fire & were immediately removed with the Huggies, which cooled it back down pretty good.
But what I HAVEN'T yet tried, since I'm a guy, is any of the women's skin creams .... anti-aging/spot removing/whatever you gals use to make your face pretty & blemish free. I lost my wife to a car wreck 3 years ago & haven't gotten back into the steady dating scene yet (kinda because of the red face), so don't have the luxury of stealing from her make-up bag to try things out on me. I'd probably pick the wrong thing anyway & wind up looking even worse.
So does anyone have suggestions? Know anything which is good at taking away redness, moisturizing to keep it from peeling, & cooling it down so it feels good? I don't want to spend 100 bucks on a little bottle of cream, but if it really works wonders then I will. Help please. I'll be your friend forever, unless you already have plenty of them & don't want another one.
Any other stuff you need to know to help make a suggestion, just ask. I'll try to be as informative as I can. Thanks in advance.
