What is Rosacea?
Rosacea is a chronic (long term) skin condition. It is not contagious and is charactarised by facial redness and inflammation caused by dilated blood vessels. It usually starts with easy facial flushing and blushing.
Rosacea usually affects the central panel of the face, especially the cheeks, forehead, chin and nose. Apart from easy blushing the skin develops a rash which may look similar to acne. It is seen as small red bumps and pus filled spots on a reddened background.
If you suffer with rosacea you may experience periodic flare ups followed by remissions when the condition seems to have cleared up. A flare up is usually caused by a trigger factor.
Although each person is different some common trigger factors for rosacea include:
- stress
- sunlight
- alcohol
- exercise
- change in temperature
- hot drinks
- spicy food
Smoking is another factor which exacerbates rosacea. If you are diagnosed with rosacea smoking cessation may improve the condition.
Who does Rosacea Affect?
Rosacea most commonly occurs in middle aged people aged between 40 - 60 years. Fair skinned people are more likely to be affected and rosacea is more common in women than in men.
Treatment of Rosacea
Rosacea would normally be diagnosed by your doctor who may prescribe either a topical preparation or an oral antibiotic for use during flare ups.
Although rosacea is not curable it can be controlled. It is important to have an understanding of the things which trigger your rosasea so that these can be avoided. It may be helpful to keep a ‘flare up diary’ to help with this.
As rosacea sufferers have sensitive skin which tends to react to chemicals in regular skin care products it is important to take great care in your selection of all cleansers, moisturisers etc. At Lucan Village Pharmacy we stock products specially formulated for rosacea and facial redness.
It is also important to use a good sun barrier with an SPF of 15 or more as exposure to sunlight can cause a flare up of rosacea.