Bonfire night last night seen many people wrapped up to enjoy the fireworks. Lots of photos on Faecbook this morning have people with plenty of cold noses and rosy red cheeks. It’s a common sight to see at this time of year. There are people though who suffer from redness of the skin, especially the face, all year round.
Those who do are suffering from a condition known as rosacea. Some see if as an embarrassing thing to have because it can make someone look embarrassed. Symptoms are generally a flushed appearance around the nose and cheeks and possibly the forehead. It a massively misunderstood condition and is also quite common. It is estimated by the NHS that 1 in 10 people have some form of it.
So what happens if you suffer from rosacea?
Apart from having a flushed look, a rosacea sufferer can find their skin to feel tingly or have a burning sensation, they could possibly have spots appear (very common for those who get it around the nose) and they might have vessels appear more visible on the face. It is a condition which can come and go and changes in the weather can have a big effect.
How do people get rosacea?
There are a number of different known causes. The most common are sun exposure, exercising too much (causing people to put stress on facial muscles), caffeine and some food types like spicy foods.
How can it be treated?
In the clinic our most common treatment for improving the condition is a laser treatment. We can use lasers to alleviate and remove the notable elements of rosacea and improve overall skin tone. For example, if you rosacea around the nose we can use a laser treatment to try and make the skin tone match that of surrounding skin in a very tricky area. We also have peels and prescribed products which can help.
How long does it take to go away?
After treatment the skin takes a little while to calm down and after that the signs of rosacea are gone. No more blotches or spotty areas. The way the laser smoothes the skin helps to bring about a level appearance across the formerly red area.
You can find out more about how we treat skin redness here.
And you can also download our brochure for treating rosacea right here.