Rosacea - a brief explaination

Rosacea. It’s an inflammatory skin condition that causes a permanent flushing of the skin. The redness is typically isolated to the cheeks and nose but can also include enlarged capillaries and yellowish pimples on the nose, cheeks and chin and instances can range from mild to quite severe.

The symptoms can start early on in life but often is the case that they develop between the ages of 30 - 50. Typically its more prevalent in women especially those of European or Celtic decent but men can get it as well. And of those men that cop a severe case of it can develop the reddening as well as enlarging their nose. Aside from the permanent redness, enlarged capillaries and pimples other symptoms include that swelling of the cheeks and nose, non-tender lumps, frequent flushing and a burning or stinging sensation and a general rash confined to the face. And these symptoms can worsen with general ageing.

Sounds great huh! To add insult to injury there’s no known cure, nor is there a real definitive answer as to what causes it. Though a lot of recent study into gut health seems to point to some correlation. Another popular theory is its from a sensitivity to a microscopic mite that lives in the pores of your skin (niiiiiice).

So what can you do? Well firstly it’s important to try and avoid the triggers that cause the flushing. Things like alcohol, hot drinks, spicy food, coffee or tea, sunlight and general over-heating as well as emotional stressors like anxiety and stress. Not the easiest things to avoid.

But in my NON-medical opinion… you aren’t completely helpless. Skincare, skincare, skincare! Good quality products that are going to nourish your skin from the outside and soothe the redness, burning or stinging as well as targeting the inflammation can help manage the symptoms. And that link to gut health I mentioned earlier… nourish from within as well, there are a whole host of other benefits to a good diet than just influencing skin health. You can also look at treatments such as IPL, diathermy or laser to reduce some of the redness and enlarged capillaries.

Management of a skin condition like rosacea is truly a multifaceted approach; chat to your GP, maybe see a nutritionist or naturopath as well if you are interested in trying the dietry approach but whatever you do. Don’t disregard the power of high quality skincare.

If this is a condition that you are currently experiencing, come see us at Soul Studio Beauty and Wellbeing for a chat about what options might be available to you to improve your overall skin health.

Sources include; betterhealth.vic.gov.au & racgp.org.au