Red Face

[RudyB]

Howdy All,
from years of drinking too much, especially over last year, my face has taken on a decidedly alcoholic red. :upset: any thoughts on this? will it go away? when? perhaps day by day it will fade into pink and then the usual pale that i miss? hmm, i used to wish i weren't so pale!
RudyB

[Rusty]

Red Face

RudyB,

The word I received from a friend of mine whose a recovered alcoholic (9 years) is once you stop drinking, the red face will lessen quite a bit, but if you have broken blood vessels, unfortunately, that might be permanent and laser surgery might be the only option. You know one thing for sure...drinking is not going to help your red face go away. If it's any consolation....my flushed face immediately started fading when I quit drinking, and talk about a pale face...I am a natural redhead with pale, pale skin and boatloads of freckles. Bext of luck in your journey and check out The Tool Box Thread. Post and read as much as you can because things will get better if you just don't pick up that first drink.

[dancelot]

Red Face

Hi RudyB (and welcome!) -

I'm back to my old "pale" self. Not only am I not "red" anymore, my skin is clear and alive looking. When I was drinking it was either red or grey, and I never looked in the mirror in the morning. I looked 10 years older than my real age. The liquor store that had a senior discount on Wednesdays always gave it to me - they never asked - and I'm a still a decade years away! I no longer have to put on makeup just to look alive.

I was out the other night, and saw myself in a full length mirror - and I can honestly say I looked good - better than I have in years! Since I am sober I know I really do. I used to think "I was not that bad, I'm still pretty cute" while under the influence, when in reality I looked more like death warmed over. It might be shallow, but the looks thing was a bit of a motivator. Of course, I looked half dead because I was.

One more AF benefit!

[RudyB]

Red Face

hooray, there's hope!
thanks for your replies.
just in from a nice jog, my face is beet red. but that i don't mind. it's helping me, this running thing, gain my life back.

[Guest]

Red Face

The red face definitely fades away with plenty of AF time. I took to wearing colour corrective foundation years ago, and was under the impression it was just my acne flare ups that were causing the redness. It was only when I went into treatment for 3 weeks I realised about 14 days in that I didn't hardly need ANY make-up full stop any more. Whenever I relapse it comes back quite quickly though, also looks puffy with swollen pores. If you don't let it go too far then yes it will recover.

[gyco]

Red Face

aging

RudyB;1033459 wrote: Howdy All,
from years of drinking too much, especially over last year, my face has taken on a decidedly alcoholic red. :upset: any thoughts on this? will it go away? when? perhaps day by day it will fade into pink and then the usual pale that i miss? hmm, i used to wish i weren't so pale!
RudyB

i think uk is right stay away from the tonic and alchohol for a while and will get are beauty back,or not:upset:ruby i drank for 41 years,it is all in your genetics,i beleive that is the rt word, ive had friends tht never drank,with age the elements can plague us with ailments,:goodjob:hopeit helps,itis not always the boose,gyco

[Bruunhilde]

Red Face

Rudy, I agree with all of the other posters, less alcohol means less red, and the red veins need IPL laser surgery. Once you stop drinking enough to irritate your stomach and skin (related organs), you can get the IPL done once and see how it does. You'll need a really experienced doctor, because only the latest Quantum machine gets the larger nose veins, and on different settings they can attack brown spots AND red, and the redder you are, the more it hurts. Just warning, and no aspirin prior as propholactic, because that will cause bruising. If you are red, you may have rosacea, and in my experience, only avoidance of the irritants (hard wind, sun, alcohol, exercising, etc) will keep your skin clear even if you do the IPL, the rosacea will make the flushing come back regardless of alcohol, but it will be much less without alcohol. Don't bother with metrogel and other topicals for rosacea if you find that's what you have. They're worthless for most people I know, including me!

IPL = Intense Pulsed Laser/Light. Cost is around $250/session and you'll need several sessions if you've stopped AL but find you still have lots of redness built up. PM me if you want more info, I've been doing IPLs for fifteen years.....

Good luck!

[hillsidetime]

Red Face

Hi RudyB, I hope you are well. For me, the redness in the face has faded away since going sober. It will return when I am really hot and stressed at work for example, but this is rare. It does not last long, but I can feel it. I can feel the heat, that I used to feel in my face, and I knew it was red, and I knew (for me and my genetics) it was becasue of my drinking.

Whether they go away, or fade and lesson, either way, you will be so happy. Stick with it. I can't remember how long it took, but I think it was 2 or 3 months of sobriety and there was a significant lessoning.
All the best,
Hill

[Tiny]

Red Face

laser for veins

Hi Folks,

I have not posted in quite some time but I have a similar story to UK Blonde. I am very fair also and my veins really bothered me -- the IPL treatment is great! I am 42 and my skin did not suffer too much -- I became a real problem drinker in my 30s so did not have that much time under my belt. But, damage is damage and I believe it doesn't take much -- think about 1 bad sunburn can lead to skin cancer -- I have had more than one bad binge in my day. Good luck and continue to moisturize and wear sunscreen too -- oh and most of all remember that alcohol is the worst culprit on our skin!

[RudyB]

Red Face

thanks for your replies everyone. i am fortunate somehow that i didn't get the veins going broke in my skin. just an all-around red. i think it is rosacea too, for sure, but alcohol definitely aggrivated it. it was nice to go into work today with somewhat less red skin, and to know that the red was at least partly from my healthy habbit of running. phew. i'm on the right track, at last...
tomorrow, day four, all day!
peace to all.

[mollyka]

Red Face

Rudy, if only I had the wherewithall (spl) to post a photo of me (my work ID) when I started my job 3 yrs ago when I was at my worst drinking OMG, every single time I look at it I actually do go red in the face (with embarrasment!) A huge big fat red face, yuck - now I have a long thin pale face - literally unrecogniseable (I can't spell tonight - must have rotted my brain cells!)
Molly