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Hot flushes, persistent blushing, red face. Help please.

Posted , 4 users are following.

dayvancowboy
dayvancowboy

Hi everyone. I’ve come to seek advice on here as I’m travelling away from home for a year so I’m unable to visit my local doctor. I’m a 25 year old white male and I am having problems with persistent hot flushing/blushing. I’ve had it since adolescence and it’s the kind of thing I thought would go away with age but it’s actually getting worse. I’ve never seen a doctor about it.

While it used to only affect my cheeks, it now often appears on my neck, upper chest and even sometimes as far as my upper back and shoulders. It’s got to the point where it happens at least once a day and can last for 1-2 hours every time. The main things that seem to cause it are: stress, embarrassment, general social situations, consuming hot food/drinks, alcohol, taking hot showers. But it can also happen for no apparent reason. I can be calmly reading a book in bed or watching TV for example and it can happen. Basically my face feels very hot particularly the cheeks, and it looks very red. As mentioned, it often appears on the front of my neck and upper chest too. This is a fairly recent development and it’s this that makes me realise it’s getting worse with age, rather than better.

There is no pain, itch, lumps or roughness to the skin where it occurs.

I occasionally use an ‘anti-redness’ cream but this only masks the redness very slightly (in the same way make-up would) and makes the skin feel slightly cooler for a while. Apart from this I have found nothing that seems to help in any way. I’ve made the decision to try to do something about it because ignoring it in hope that it’ll go away hasn’t worked and it’s got to the point where it’s affecting me mentally, making me depressed, shun social situations, withdraw into myself and become almost reclusive at times.

Apart from this I am completely healthy, normal BMI, no other known health conditions, no medical history.

Any advice at all would be really appreciated. Except advising me to ‘avoid triggers’ as I’m afraid that would involve avoiding human interaction, eating, drinking, showering, etc which isn’t very practical. I can answer any questions and even post photos if necessary. Thanks in advance.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • louiselost
    louiselost dayvancowboy

    Posted

    I don't know if you have this but my cousin also had a red face and had no idea what was causing it.  He went to the doctor who diagnosed it as rosacea.  This was about 5 years ago and my cousin was prescribed the medication minocyclne - it completely cleared it up, but since this is chronic, you have to continue this drug on a regular basis.
  • ptolemy
    ptolemy dayvancowboy

    Posted

    Hot flushes can be caused by testosterone deficiency. If you are going away for a year I would go to a doctor for a general medical check as well as asking them to sort out the hot flushes problem. 
  • Marina_Dee
    Marina_Dee dayvancowboy

    Posted

    Get your testosterone levels checked. This is usually the reason for blushing in males.      Dont think its rosacea.         Now you know what women go through at the menopause!
  • dayvancowboy
    dayvancowboy

    Posted

    I'd never thought about testosterone levels before but that sounds like it could be right. It nearly always hits me at the same time of day, usually late afternoon or in the evening. I read that testosterone levels are highest in the morning and I hardly ever get the flushes in the few hours after waking up so that could be why.

    Is it easy to get treatment for this?

  • Marina_Dee
    Marina_Dee dayvancowboy

    Posted

    Dont know if you are in UK,??     Your doctor would first test your testosterone levels by blood test and if low then there are several ways to treat. By injection,tablets,patches, implants or chewing gum.        

    If you started on a course of hormone therapy you would probably have to have regular blood tests to check on levels.     There are of course risks to taking any sort of hormone and this would be explained to you. Dont go buying junk on the internet. At worst it could be dangerous and at best you have wasted your money. 

    Your doctor may,of course have their own ideas about what is causing your blushing.....especially if you dont have any other signs of low testosterone eg low sex drive and very little beard growth.

     

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