Executive Summary

• An area that tends to be overlooked is Ivermectin’s approval for treating rosacea Soolantra — which is the Ivermectin that is used for rosacea.
• This article explains why Ivermectin works against rosacea.

Introduction

The only other use for which Ivermectin is approved aside as an anti-parasitical is the skin condition of rosacea. Curiously, it is very rarely discussed that Ivermectin is approved for this usage. Soolantra, a cream with 1% Ivermectin, is approved for this purpose. In this article, I will cover the multiple ways that Soolantra works against rosacea.

Soolantra Versus Other Ivermectin

Most Ivermectin is sold in a pill form, although it can also be purchased as a lotion or creme.

The Approval of Ivermectin for Rosacea Soolantra

These quotes are from the article Pityriasis Rosea on the Johns Hopkins website.

The cause of pityriasis rosea is not known, but it is commonly believed to be caused by a virus or bacteria.

This statement contradicts a common point by entities like WebMD that undermine Ivermectin by saying that it is only approved as an anti-parasitical. This is because many anti-parasitics are also anti-virals and anti-bacterial.

Therefore, Ivermectin would be effective regardless of whether a virus or a bacteria causes rosacea.

• Ivermectin was approved for rosacea before the medical establishment opened up an offensive against the drug.
• Today, it is unlikely that Ivermectin would obtain approval for treating rosacea because of precisely what approving it for this purpose admits about the drug.

How Ivermectin Works Against Rosacea

The following quotation is from the article Ivermectin Ream Will Contribute Much To The Treatment of Patients.

The pathogenesis of rosacea is multifactorial: one component is believed to be infestation with microorganisms, the skin mites Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis. Rosacea is a condition in which a mite, Demodex, lives on the face of the patient. This skin mite causes challenges to patients with rosacea. Their faces turn red on the nose and cheeks, and they get small inflammatory papules and pustules that are itchy, uncomfortable, and unsightly. These facial lesions can sometimes progress to cause overgrowth and enlargement of the nose, a condition called rhinophyma. What ivermectin does is it reduces inflammation and kills the Demodex.

This is curious because this explanation is different than the previous one. If this cause is correct, it is a skin mite, a parasite, not a virus or bacteria.

Although the following quote from the article Novel Rosacea Compound-Ivermectin Cream Offers Unique Mechanism Of Action provides a more complicated explanation involving bacteria.

The exact role of Demodex in causing rosacea is not well understood, but it is believed that the mites—or the Bacillus oleronius bacteria that they harbor—trigger inflammatory or immune reactions that result in the symptoms of rosacea.

Ivermectin 1% cream has a unique mechanism of action among current treatments for rosacea; unlike available treatments, this unique mechanism addresses the inflammatory process involved in rosacea and the key organism, Demodex.

Current standard-of-care agents are believed to work by inhibiting the reactive oxygen species caused by neutrophils, by combating bacteria in the skin, and by generally reducing inflammation, but they do nothing to eradicate Demodex.

However, the great thing about Ivermectin is that it works against all three and is an anti-inflammatory.