Rosacea: Your Self-Help Guide [Paperback]

M.S., N.D. Arlen Brownstein (Author), C.N. Donna Shoemaker (Author), Ph.D. Sean O'Laoire (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2001

Rosacea, also called adult acne or acne rosacea, is a facial skin condition marked by a recurring redness on the cheeks, nose, chin, or forehead. Left untreated, the redness becomes more permanent, and, in advanced cases, the nose may become bumpy, red, and swollen from excess tissue. In some cases the eyes also may be affected, and the condition can result in vision loss.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 170 pages
• Publisher: Harbinger Publications; 1 edition (January 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572242248
• ISBN-13: 978-1572242241
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,942 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Aging > Skin Ailments

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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Naturopathic Physician Looks at a Natural Pathology, April 13, 2001

By 

jewel wilson (Mill Valley, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosacea: Your Self-Help Guide (Paperback)

Dr. Brownstein (ably assisted by her co-authors)writes from a unique and very helpful perspective. Trained as a naturopathic physician and well acquainted with conventional and alternative medical approaches to rosacea, Dr. Brownstein herself suffers from this chronic skin condition. Writing with great depth and clarity about her own struggle with rosacea, Dr. Brownstein offers an empathetic guide to fellow sufferers, sharing with them the many insights and even "tricks" she has learned about learning to live with a condition that has afflicted everyone from W.C. Fields to Bill Clinton. Using her own skin as a laboratory of one, the author offers hope and common sense advice about coping with both the cosmetic and psychological effects of rosacea. In the last analysis, the book is triumphantly encouraging, and should not be neglected by any of the estimated 14 million Americans (and many more worldwide) who have rosacea and are looking for ways to control it medically, nutritionally and even psychologically. This is an essential book for anyone seeking guidance in the management of rosacea.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One of the better introductory rosacea texts, March 22, 2003

By 

"pascoedjamazon" (Kensington Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosacea: Your Self-Help Guide (Paperback)

This is a gentle book. It makes very gentle claims about the broad applicability of what it has to say. The book could be summarised in one sentence. "We believe that eating right, taking appropriate supplements, and optimising your digestive system can improve your rosacea, not to mention your overall health."

The book starts off talking about the author's discovery and subsequent distress at having rosacea. She went first for the traditional dermatologist directed treatment path. For a naturopath this is an honest admission - that she firstly thought that she need to consult mainstream medicine to `get rid of it'. Becoming disappointed with the results she then turned to her background.

The introduction section follows the theme of the book - lots of gently stated facts about rosacea. The treatment section mentions the regulation treatments and then talks about naturopathy and homeopathy. The much loved ZincO even gets a mention.

I'm not a fan of trying to control one's rosacea by avoiding known triggers. This comes from a desire to be rid of the disease by not giving in and changing your life dramatically. Thus, the seemingly obligatory section on triggers and stress doesn't really help. Next, is a short section on makeup and lasers.

The remainder of the book deals with nutrition for your skin. As well as dealing with supplements, the book asks us to forget the `food pyramid' and embrace the `food wheel'. The section on Fats and Oils is particularly detailed. This is the highlight of the book for me, information about for eg. borage oil and flax seed oil. These are often talked about in the Rosacea Support Group, especially in regards to ocular rosacea.

The book finishes with some discussions about the psychology of your face, asking us to remember that we are not `just our face'. This is good advice especially for us that obsess about our appearance.

Approaching the disease from the nutritional side, this book is one of the better introductory rosacea texts.

...

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My first of this book disappeared..., October 6, 2003

By 

Maria Alexander "Author and Snarkiologist" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rosacea: Your Self-Help Guide (Paperback)

I reviewed this book and gave it a poor rating a few months ago, and now I find that the review has disappeared.

Here is the problem with this book in a nutshell: WAY too much data that is also very poorly presented, especially if you are a new sufferer of this condition. Perhaps a long-time sufferer of rosacea could pick through this helter-skelter mosaic and find some grains of wisdom, but the newbie like me will probably be overwhelmed and fall into despair. Fairly disorganized in general, there is too much anecdotal information with far too many contradictions in the medical sections (particularly the parts about acid balance in the diet). You're just dropkicked into various technical sections without any handholding and then thrown to the wolves of information overload.

When I was first diagnosed with rosacea, I needed some simple guidelines. I was depressed, felt like Mother Nature had screwed me over, and needed some positive steps to move forward immediately. Do yourself a favor and visit rosacea-dot-org or some other website that offers clearer, more direct guidelines on health, medicine, and other regimens so that your skin can start to look and feel better right away. That's what I did. It's free. After three months of treatment and some dietary adjustments, my face looks much better!