- Welcome to Living Healthy Chicago.
We're starting today's show talking about skin health.
Taking care of your skin is key
when it comes to living a healthy life,
but it can also be important for your mental wellbeing.
So that's why this woman is sharing her experience
with rosacea, and encouraging others not to be shy
about seeking help.
- [Jane Voiceover] About three years ago,
Oriane Williams began noticing some changes to her skin.
- I was getting these flushing episodes,
and these flaring situations, I would have
pretty itchy red eyes, I felt like my face
was almost on fire.
- [Jane Voiceover] The episodes made her uncomfortable,
and hesitant to go about her daily routine.
- It was not a great feeling.
I definitely was a bit embarrassed
when I would come out of exercise classes for example,
and my face would be beet-red.
The cost of doing some of these normal behaviors,
I would not really want to be doing them anymore.
When you're dealing with those issues
that everybody can see, that everyone's asking
the questions, like, what's wrong with your face,
like, why are you so red, are you okay.
Mentally, it does something to you.
- [Jane Voiceover] Her doctors realized quickly
that she was dealing with rosacea.
(melodious music)
- Rosacea is a very common chronic skin condition
that essentially falls into the inflammatory skin
condition category.
There are four different types of rosacea.
Rosacea most commonly affects people from the age
of about 30 to 50 years old.
I think the most common complaint or concern
that we hear from patients is the redness,
flushing, and irritation of the skin.
Oftentimes, they'll report sort of a stinging,
burning sensation, and note that the redness
actually gets worse with certain triggers.
Commonly things that trigger rosacea are alcohol,
spicy foods, variations in temperature.
- If I would go and have a drink with friends,
I would be one drink deep, and then have bright red cheeks
and be full-on flushing.
- [Jane Voiceover] Oriane was also worried
about how her symptoms would impact
her upcoming wedding day.
(peaceful music)
- I didn't wanna have to look back at my wedding photos,
or on that day be worried about having
such aggressive flushing in front of all these people
that I loved and cared about.
I had tried so many other things that just weren't
working in any way, shape, or form.
- Where people notice the flushing that occurs,
doesn't respond as well to topicals in the long-run,
and here we think about using lasers that target
the blood vessels in the skin
to essentially destroy the blood vessel.
They're very superficial, and they appear over time,
and they don't actually do anything
to affect the health of your skin.
So essentially, by destroying them,
we're reducing the appearance on the top layer of the skin,
and there are plenty of functioning vessels underneath
to nourish the skin.
- I was just ready to try it,
I just figured it was worth a shot to see
if it was gonna be a successful treatment.
- [Jane Voiceover] Oriane had a series of three treatments,
and then began to notice some big changes.
(upbeat music)
- I was about 75% improved in terms of my overall appearance
with the rosacea flushing, it was so much better.
- Oriane's doing really great.
Since her initial treatment session,
we've done a few touch-up treatments to some areas
and that's worked out really well for her
to keep it at bay, and keep her skin
looking like she would like it to.
- Come on, come on!
All of the sudden I had this freedom
to not be putting on makeup, going to the gym,
I rarely have any kind of flushing or flaring now.
Maybe a little bit of rosy-ness every now and then.
- [Jane Voiceover] And that success meant
she could focus on celebrating
when it came to her wedding day.
(upbeat music)
- I had no problems at my wedding, my skin was great.
I think that my skin was the last of my concerns
on my wedding day.
The health of my skin is just so much improved.
Quality of life is impacted by something
that everyone can see.
- It is a chronic skin condition, it's very common,
and that it's very treatable.
Have your skin looked at.
There are different avenues to treat it.
A dermatologist can diagnose and come up
with a treatment plan.
- I think that rosacea for most people can be well-managed.
If it bothers you, bring it up.
There's no reason not to seek the advice
and help of a medical professional.
There's not reason that you should have to
sit there and suffer through it.
I don't have to think about not doing things anymore.
(upbeat music)
- I love the confidence!