Trying to achieve the right rosacea skin care strategy to stop flare-ups is hard enough, as it is, without the added heat and humidity from the summer months to make the entire process more complicated.

When the mercury starts to rise, don’t let the color in your cheeks rise with it! Instead, use the right strategy to help you to enjoy the summer while keeping the redness, bumps, itchiness, heat, and other rosacea symptoms and discomforts at bay.

Check out the following rosacea skin care tips to keep cool, even when the weather is hot:

• Keep out of direct sunlight – Exposure to UV rays and the heat that comes with them is one of the most common triggers for flare-ups among all rosacea sufferers. For that reason, stay out of sunlight as much as possible from 10am to 2pm (when the sun is at its hottest), wear a wide brimmed hat, and work on finding a sunscreen that is at least SPF 15 but that is gentle enough not to cause a skin reaction. Sit in the shade whenever possible, and use an umbrella to create your own, when there isn’t a big tree handy.
• Exercise in the morning or evening – Exercise is important to your health, but the temperature combined with physical exertion can make it hard to stop your skin from flushing. If you need to, do several short routines, instead of one long one. Try to work out in the morning or evening, when the temperatures are cooler, or stick to an air conditioned exercise space.
• Learn your triggers – Take note of the environmental and physical factors that are triggers for your flare-ups and avoid them. This potentially includes foods and topical products, as well as stress and lack of sleep, in addition to weather factors such as sun and wind. By avoiding them, your skin may not be as reactive to heat and humidity.
• Keep cool – Wear lightweight, light colored, loose-fitting clothing, stay hydrated, chew on ice chips, or even wear a damp scarf or towel around your neck to keep your body temperature down. That way, the weather won’t have as much of an impact on you.
• Avoid alcohol – It’s true that part of the fun of summer barbecues and parties is in the great cocktails that you get to enjoy, but they are some of the most common rosacea triggers among sufferers. Instead, consider trying a tasty mocktail from the National Rosacea Society (“Beat the Red with These Summer Mocktails”) that you’ll love, that won’t trigger redness, that will keep you hydrated and cool, and that may even help to reduce the risk of flare-ups through their carefully chosen ingredients.
• Be consistent with rosacea treatments – Whether you are using a prescription medication, a natural rosacea treatment, or light therapy, keep up with what has been working for you on a very regular schedule, every day. One of the best rosacea skin care tips that you’ll ever learn is to discover what works and stick to it. That way, your skin will be less reactive and less likely to be affected by fluctuations in the weather.

Summertime can be a ton of fun, as long as you use the right rosacea skin care tips to keep the redness down. Then you can think about what truly matters: having a great time!