Rosacea is a redness of the face that develops as certain people age. It has a tendency to affect people with fair skin. No one knows for certain whether or not they will be affected, although it does have a genetic or hereditary connection.

Rosacea treatment should be started as soon as a problem is diagnosed and so the sooner a person identifies changes the better. Prior to diagnosis and treatment by a doctor or GP, the sufferer can take various actions, these are labelled ‘precursors to treatment’.

Rosacea seems to affect more women than men and a survey of female office workers found that 15% suffered from rosacea.

What is Rosacea?

As certain people grow older, blood rushing though the tiny blood vessels near the surface of the skin, typically on the face, causes damage. This causes them to become slightly more visible, with the resulting increased redness.

Why does blood rush through these blood vessels?

There are a number of reasons for increased blood flow:-

It can help regulate temperature of the skin; in extreme cold, it may help prevent frostbite.

It can be caused by dilated blood vessels; alcohol can cause them to dilate.

It can be caused by hormonal changes, and sometimes women of a certain age have hot flushes.

Blushing can be a form of body language and sends a signal; a person may blush when they feel uncomfortable, another person may blush if they are found to be telling an untruth. A child may go bright red if it is choking and cannot shout for help.

How to identify if you are developing Rosacea.

If you can remember seeing older relatives with the distinctive reddened face or cheeks (probably un-diagnosed rosacea), then you are more likely to develop it than others who do not have a family history of it. Previous generations accepted such changes to their physical appearance as they considered they were caused by ageing and so were unavoidable.

If you think you may be susceptible to developing rosacea, then look carefully at your face to see if you can identify an increase in the number of tiny visible blood vessels on your cheeks or nose. Do not worry excessively if they are both small and few in number, as they unlikely to cause a visible change in your appearance at this stage.

If your face goes red when you drink too much alcohol, or eat a certain food (perhaps a hot spicy food), or drink a certain beverage, or when you experience a sudden temperature change, then you are more likely to develop rosacea than people who rarely blush.

What to do if you think you can see a difference.

Initially any difference you notice will be extremely small as you will be very familiar with your own face and so will be able to identify the smallest changes.

Others will tend to think that your face has not changed and you are being over critical, like a teenager obsessing about a spot that no one else really notices.

The problem is that if you ignore small changes until they are noticeable, then they are now both noticeable and more permanent and to reverse the change will probably require treatment.

If you see your doctor at a very early stage, then it is likely that the changes you talk about appear insignificant, however there is something else you can do.

If you find a rosacea specialist who gives a free consultation, they will be able to identify if you are developing rosacea and give advice about the precursors to treatment.

These may be so effective that you might even be able to avoid treatment by preventing the condition from developing from the stage where others can hardly notice it. Advice may be a change of diet, possibly supplements and identifying triggers. These actions may stop the occasional rushes of blood (blushes / flushes) and so prevent any further damage to the tiny blood vessels.

Once you have seen a rosacea specialist, then you can visit your GP and inform him what has been said to you. Your doctor can now assist in ensuring that the condition does not progress.

Beauty Therapy

It can be said that as a generalisation, women in their 40’s and 50’s are more beauty conscious than their mothers or grandmothers, and therefore do not want to the slightly reddened cheeks of rosacea as they grow older. If advice is followed and the condition does not progress, then any slight changes can easily be incorporated into any future beauty treatment. A free consultation is also available for this and typically an experienced registered nurse will compile a personal case history and inform you about Rejuvenation Intense Pulse Light (IPL technology). This is the same technology as used for rosacea treatment,

A clinic that provides a free first consultation for rosacea treatment is the Pulse Light Clinic in London