[.ca] Rosacea: Your Self-Help Guide (ISBN 1572242248)

My first of this book disappeared...:
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!

This book was a Godsend!:
Rosacea had been making my life miserable for the past five years. My depression over the disease was literally ruining my life. A fellow rosacean suggested this book to me after she found it so helpful. I have been following the suggestions in the book for a little over a month now. There is no doubt that my skin has begun to dramatically improve. I hope the author reads these reviews, because I want her to know how thankful I am to her. If you have rosacea, get this book. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Quality Information:
I just received this book, and already I like it! It has a lot of information about rosacea, about treatment, and ways I can do something about it. Most of this is new information to me. Beginning with an exact description of my experience in being diagnosed (down to the two pamphlets and vagueness), I found a lot to think about and to be surprised and comforted by.

One of the better introductory rosacea texts:
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. ...

Excellent source of support for rosaceans!:
Dr. Brownstein has written a great basic book for sufferers of rosacea. She includes in her book alternative methods of healing rosacea, including ocular rosacea, that I found extremely helpful. In addition, she directs you to helpful sites and sources of support for rosacea on the internet where one can find out about great products and treatments, both alternative and traditional. I love the book and am very grateful for the help it provides. I am giving it four stars rather than five only because it does not go into all the technical medical information that most people won't be interested in, anyway. Dr. Nase's book Beating Rosacea, would be the most technical book available. But for most people, this one is excellent.