Overview of Rosacea
Rosacea is a long-term inflammatory skin condition that causes reddened skin and a rashusually on the nose and cheeks. It may also cause eye problems. The symptoms typically come and gowith many people reporting that certain factorssuch as spending time in the sun or experiencing emotional stressbring them on.
There is no cure for rosaceabut treatment can keep it under control. The choice of treatment will depend on the symptomsand usually includes a combination of self-care measures and medications.
Who Gets Rosacea?
Anyone can get rosaceabut it is more common among these groups:
- Middle-aged and older adults.
- Womenbut when men get itit tends to be more severe.
- People with fair skinbut it may be underdiagnosed in darker skinned people because darker skin can mask facial redness.
People with a family history of rosacea may be at increased risk of the conditionbut more research is needed to understand the role played by genetics.
Symptoms of Rosacea
Most people only experience some of the symptoms of rosaceaand the pattern of symptoms varies from one person to another. While the condition is chronic (long lasting)rosacea often cycles between flare-ups (when symptoms worsen) and periods of remission (lack of symptoms).
The symptoms of rosacea include:
- Facial redness. This may start as a tendency to flush or blushbut over time redness may persist for longer periods. It is sometimes accompanied by a sense of tingling or burningand the reddened skin may turn rough and scaly.
- Rash. Areas of facial redness can develop red or pus-filled bumps and pimples that resemble acne.
- Visible blood vessels. These typically appear as thin red lines on the cheeks and nose.
- Skin thickening. The skin may thickenespecially on the nosegiving the nose an enlarged and bulbous (bulb-like) appearance. This is one of the more severe symptomsand it mostly affects men.
- Eye irritation. When ocular rosacea occursthe eyes become sorereditchywateryor dry. They may feel gritty or as if there is something in themsuch as an eyelash. The eyelids may swell and become red at the base of the eyelashes. Styes may develop. It is important to see a health care provider if you have eye symptoms because if left untreatedeye damage and loss of vision can result.
Sometimes rosacea follows a progressiongoing from temporary flushing of the nose and cheeksto longer lasting flushingthen to the appearance of a rash and small blood vessels beneath the skin. If left untreatedthe skin may thicken and enlargeleading to firmred bumpsespecially on the nose.
The condition usually affects the center of the facebut in rare cases it can extend to other parts of the bodysuch as the sides of the facethe earsneckscalpand chest.
Causes of Rosacea
Scientists do not know what causes rosaceabut there are a number of theories. They know that inflammation contributes to some of the key symptomssuch as skin redness and rashbut they do not fully understand why inflammation occurs. It may in part be due to the increased skin sensitivity in people with rosaceato environmental factorssuch as ultraviolet (UV) lightand to microbes that inhabit the skin. Both genetic and environmental (nongenetic) factors likely play a role in the development of rosacea.