Rosacea

• Facts
  • Rosacea facts
  • Where can people get more information about rosacea?
• Contagious
  • What is rosacea? Is rosacea contagious? What does rosacea look like?
• vs. Acne
  • Is rosacea like acne?
• Causes
  • What are causes and risk factors of rosacea?
• Symptoms/Signs
  • What are rosacea symptoms and signs?
  • How long does facial flushing from rosacea last?
  • How does rosacea affect the nose and the eyes?
  • Does rosacea get worse with age?
• How to Prevent
  • Is it possible to prevent rosacea?
• Diagnosis
  • What tests do health care professionals use to diagnose rosacea?
• Medications
  • What about using acne medicine for rosacea?
  • What topical medications treat rosacea?
  • What oral antibiotics treat rosacea?
• Doctor & Specialist
  • What types of doctors treat rosacea?
• Treatment
  • What is the treatment for rosacea?
  • What are other treatments for rosacea?
  • What natural rosacea treatments or home remedies can help?
  • What are treatment options for telangiectasias (the red lines)?
  • What are treatment options for rhinophyma (the W.C. Fields nose)?
• Diet
  • What are rosacea triggers? Is there a rosacea diet? What foods are good for rosacea?
• Prognosis
  • What is the prognosis for rosacea?
  • How should people with rosacea care for their facial skin?
  • What effect may rosacea have on a person's life?

• Rosacea is a common, chronic, incurable, adult acne-like skin condition that is easily controllable and medically manageable.
• Rosacea commonly affects the central third of the face, especially the nose, and its intensity varies over time.
• Rosacea symptoms and signs include
  • redness of the face (easy facial blushing or flushing),
  • tiny red pimples and fine red vascular lines (telangiectasias) on the facial skin,
  • rhinophyma (an enlarged, bulbous red nose, like W.C. Fields), and
  • eye problems, such as swollen, red eyelids (blepharitis), conjunctivitis, and rosacea keratitis.
• Peppermint
• Eucalyptus oil
• Clove oil
• Fragrance
• Menthol
• Salicylic acid

Foods that decrease rosacea flares include less spicy meals, nonalcoholic cool beverages, caffeine-free drinks, nondairy cheese, and thermally cooler meals.

Rosacea skin tends to be sensitive and may easily flare with self-treatment or common acne therapies. Approach any home treatment or attempts for natural remedies with some caution. As with any rosacea therapy, some people may experience sensitivity or irritation with treatment. Several possible natural remedies, including dilute vinegar cleansing and green tea applications, may be useful in rosacea.

Dilute white vinegar facial soaks or cleansing daily or weekly using approximately 1 part regular table vinegar to 6 parts water may be helpful. Vinegar helps as a natural disinfectant and can help decrease the number of yeasts and bacteria on the skin. Since vinegar may flare rosacea in some people, try a small test area before applying it to the entire face.

Green tea soaks to the face may also help decrease the redness and inflammation seen in rosacea. Green tea has anti-inflammatory properties. A few commercially available products also use green tea as the active ingredient.

Rosacea is an incurable chronic condition. While there is no cure for rosacea, it can be controlled with proper, regular treatment.

There are some forms of rosacea that may be significantly cleared for long periods using a laser, intense pulse light, photodynamic therapy, or isotretinoin (Accutane). Although still not considered a "cure," some patients experience long-lasting results and may have remissions (disease-free period of time) for months to years.

Proper skin care involves using a gentle cleanser to wash the face twice a day. Over-washing may cause irritation. A sunscreen lotion is advisable each morning. A physician may prescribe a topical antibiotic to use once or twice a day under sunscreen.

Rubbing the face tends to irritate the reddened skin. Some cosmetics and hair sprays may also aggravate redness and swelling.

Facial skin care products such as soap, moisturizers, and sunscreens should be free of alcohol or other irritating ingredients. Apply moisturizers very gently after any topical medication has dried. When going outdoors, use sunscreens with an SPF of 50.

Telangiectasias are the small blood vessels that arise on the surface of the skin, commonly around the nose, cheeks, and chin.

Patients can use simple cover-up makeup for the telangiectasias. There are some green-based moisturizers or tinted foundations that may help conceal the redness.

Doctors can treat telangiectasias with a small electric needle, a laser, intense pulsed light, or minor surgery to close off the dilated blood vessels. Usually, multiple treatments are required for the best results, and only a portion of the blood vessels improve with each treatment. Not everyone responds the same to these types of treatments, and a physician can help someone decide which treatment is best for his or her skin type, condition, and size of blood vessels.

• Electrocautery
• Laser
• Intense pulsed light therapy

Surgery frequently treats rhinophyma of the nose. A physician uses a scalpel, laser, or electro surgery to remove the excess tissue. Dermabrasion can help improve the look of the scar tissue. Follow-up treatments with laser or intense pulsed light may help lessen the redness. Medical maintenance therapy with oral and or topical antibiotics may be useful to decrease the chance of recurrence.

Rosacea may affect someone's life minimally, moderately, or severely depending on how active the condition is and one's overall tolerance of the skin symptoms and signs.

Some individuals have absolutely no symptoms, and rosacea doesn't bother them. They may enjoy perfectly healthy normal lives without any effect from this benign skin condition. Some patients really like the pink glow to their cheeks and find it gives them a pleasant color without having to use blush. They may not even know they have rosacea. They usually do not want to use any treatment.

Patients with moderate rosacea may have periodic flares that require treatment with oral antibiotics, lasers, and other therapies. They may require oral antibiotic therapy for years. Some patients complain of looking like they have been drinking alcohol when in fact they don't drink at all. Although rosacea is not a grave medical situation, severe cases may damage some patient's lives. It is important for these patients to express their concerns with their physician and to get professional help in treating their rosacea.

Overall, promptly diagnosed and properly treated, rosacea should not prevent people with the condition from enjoying long and productive lives.

For more information on rosacea, contact the National Rosacea Society (NRS) at http://www.Rosacea.org or 888-no-blush. Support information and research updates may be regularly available from NRS. NRS also sponsors research grants and studies on rosacea treatment.

Additional information is available from the American Academy of Dermatology at http://www.AAD.org. Names of U.S. board-certified dermatologists are available on this web site.

While online chat groups are available on http://www.Rosacea-Support.org, these should not replace the advice of a physician. Online public posts and comments may not be scientifically or medically accurate, and people with rosacea should evaluate these cautiously.