Anyone know a good rosacea Dr?

February 11, 2011 5:22 PM

I'm 32 and in the past year have developed pretty serious rosacea. Can anyone recommend a good dermatologist in the NYC area?
posted by gbentz to Health & Fitness (2 answers total)

Best answer: My wife has rosacea, has had for the past 5 years. According to her, many dermatologists in NYC don't really treat it that well OR misdiagnosis it. I think she saw three different ones who were all equally useless. We lived in Scandinavia later on where many, many more people have it, so it was only there that it got better, after meeting a good doctor and getting proper treatment. So, finding someone with Northern European/Celtic/Scandinavian/fair/sensitive skin experience might help, since many people of that bg seem to get it. Female derms were far more sympathetic than males, unfortunately.

Here is what she tried:
- tetracycline - no difference
- laser treatments - no difference and painful
- tertralysal/lymecycline - finally helped, but had to take it for 100+ days to really clear it up
- rozex - some difference, once it gets under control with the above
- random "redness relief" drugstore creams - useless, often made it worse
- any "miracle" cure on the internet - waste of time

She finally has accepted that for her it will never go away and the best she can do is manage it. Now she has it under control, it is still red but easily controllable and if it really flares up, she can cover it with makeup (heck, even men can do this). For her, it is also important to minimize alcohol (huge trigger) and emotional stress. Once she accepted that it could probably not be "cured" permanently, she stopped getting so stressed about it and her skin got better. Your case may be different, but that is her experience. I think it took her about 4 years to learn that she can live with it (with makeup/antibiotics when needed), although it is a pain from time to time.

Also, IGNORE all the stupid people who make comments: "Are you drunk?" "Are you tan?" "Have you ever thought about seeing a dermatologist?" "Why are you so red" etc. They are just dumb.
posted by Doggiebreath at 6:40 PM on February 11, 2011

Your wife's rosacea sounds like it's quite a burden-- I really hope she's able to find a treatment that helps.

I haven't been treated for rosecea, but I go to Tribeca Park Dermatology and I cannot recommend them enough. I've seen Drs. Geyer and Granite and they've never been anything but amazingly helpful, compassionate, and smart. They're not just the best dermatologists I've ever been treated by, I think they're the best doctors I've ever seen, period. It seems that most people have a great experience with them.
posted by Sifleandollie at 6:57 PM on February 11, 2011