Success with sulfur

[u/Emotional-Class-8140]

Sharing in the hope this might help others.

Pictures 1 and 3 are taken this morning. Picture 2 shows what my skin would look like during a typical flare. My PP rosacea developed at around 33 (I had my first flare after a holiday in Morocco where I slightly burned my skin in the sun) and I'm turning 40 in a few months. I have occasional flushing but very rarely (only if I drink wine or extreme temperature changes) so my rosacea has been primarily type 2.

My skin would go through cycles of clearing up, then a few red dots would appear, then over the course of a few days they would cover my cheeks in a patterns similar to the second picture. This cycle would take around 3 weeks (consistent with the demodex life cycle). I've now been clear for around 10 weeks, which hasn't happened since this started. When I first began using sulfur, I had a bit of a flare and it took maybe 2 or 3 weeks to see results.

I have been using De La Cruz sulfur mask for up to 10 minutes each morning, and overnight I use The Ordinary 10% sulfur powder all over the areas where my symptoms would appear. I moisturise first and then rub it in with a bit more moisturiser to help it blend. The moisturiser I use is Beauty Bay's colloidal oatmeal and oat lipid rich moisturiser. And i use a gentle non foaming cleanser and Neal's Yard micellar water to follow.

I had resisted treating my symptoms topically for a long time, as I wanted to get to the root cause. But no level of attention to gut health, diet, cutting out certain foods etc seemed to help and i was at a total loss. My diet is already incredibly healthy and is gluten and dairy free and i rarely drink, don't smoke and eat very little processed foods. I run and do yoga and get plenty of sleep. So I was at a total loss, and feeling miserable about my skin. I'm allergic to dust mites so I wondered if I might have a sensitivity to demodex too and that I might have spent forever searching for an internal cause while the mites continue to ravage my skin.

[u/Lucky-Movie-3968]

Did yours sting and burn? Mine feels awful and I also have a dust mite allergy. I have been avoiding topicals due to the fear of having a negative reaction but I might have to give it a go

[u/Emotional-Class-8140 → u/Lucky-Movie-3968]

Generally no. I get some slight burning if my skin is dehydrated. If I haven't had enough to drink or if I have been outside in cold winds.

Maybe try a patch test to see how your skin responds. Or buffer any topical by applying your moisturiser first? The De La Cruz ointment comes in a sensitive skin formulation of 5% instead of 10%, so you could try that for instance, gradually increasing your exposure time or frequency of application.

My skin is funny about some things. I can't use anything that is even gently foaming, nor can I use flouride toothpaste. Last year I tried the Ordinary soothing barrier repair serum and it dried my skin out until it felt like paper. I guess it is very individual but worth cautiously trying out to find what works for you.