Rosacea

Rosacea is a common skin condition that lasts a long time and mainly affects the face. It can make your cheeks, forehead, nose, chest and neck look red, as if you were blushing, and it can cause other symptoms too.

Rosacea causes a number of symptoms, though not everyone will have all of them.

The condition can bring redness (blushing) to the face, chin and chest. These areas may also feel hot, warm or painful. The redness usually comes and goes, and each spell lasts a few minutes. If rosacea gets worse, the skin on your cheeks, nose and forehead may stay red all the time.

Other symptoms include:

• a burning or stinging feeling when you use skincare products
• dry skin
• swelling, especially around the eyes
• yellow-orange patches on the skin
• visible blood vessels
• sore eyelids or crusts around your eyelashes
• pink or red bumps on your face, which may be filled with pus
• thickened skin, usually on the nose, which occurs after several years

There will be times when your symptoms get better and times when they get worse.

If you have rosacea and any of these happen, see a doctor urgently or call the 16263 health line:

• your eye is painful
• your vision is blurred
• you're sensitive to light
• you have a red eye
• your eye feels gritty

These could be signs of keratitis, which can be serious if it's not treated urgently.

• you have symptoms of rosacea

There's no specific test for rosacea. To help diagnose it, your doctor will:

• look at your skin
• ask about your symptoms
• ask if there's anything that triggers your symptoms

Your doctor may also arrange other tests to find out if there's any other reason for your symptoms.

There's no cure for rosacea at the moment, but treatment can help keep the symptoms under control. Left untreated, it may get worse.

To treat rosacea, your doctor may suggest:

• prescription creams and gels that you put on the skin
• taking antibiotics

If these treatments don't work, your doctor may refer you to a skin specialist, known as a dermatologist.

No one knows the exact cause of rosacea, but some things can make the symptoms worse. These include:

• alcohol
• spicy foods
• hot drinks
• sunlight
• hot or cold weather
• stress
• aerobic exercise like running

• wear a sunscreen of at least SPF 30 every day
• try to avoid heat, sunlight or humid conditions if possible
• cover your face and nose with a scarf to help protect your skin from cold weather and wind
• use gentle skincare products for sensitive skin
• clean your eyelids at least once a day if you have blepharitis, which causes swollen, itchy eyes
• take steps to manage stress

It may also help to stay away from things you know trigger your symptoms, like alcohol, hot drinks or spicy food.

If you have rosacea, you may notice other people looking at you. Some may comment on how you look or ask questions about it. This can affect your self-confidence and your mental health.

Get support with your mental wellbeing

If you have rosacea, you may be able to disguise patches of red skin that don't go away by using special creams or powders. This is called skin camouflage. A charity called Changing Faces offers a skin camouflage service, so you can find out more about skin camouflage there.