Here is an article about the scin disease rosacea. We also have other resourses for use by our visitors. A complete list of the resourses is given here.

About rosacea

What is rosacea

Rosacea is a distention of small blood vessels in the skin, combined with a cronic inflammation. Often there is also an  infection. Most often the face is attacked, and espesially the convex surfaces of the face. Sometimes also the eyes or other body parts, are affected. The condition implies eruptions where the condition worsens and periods where the symptoms ammeliorate.

The symptoms of rosecea

The primary symptoms of rosacea are the following. All the symptoms may not be present allways.

Nontransient erythema: One important symptom of rosacea is redness in the skin that is there all the time. This redness can periodically worsen upon irritation or stimuli like heat, chemicals, sun rays or psycological emotions, or get periodically better, but it is there all the time. This redness is called nontransient erythema. It is caused by small vessels that are permanently relaxed or physically dilated. The temporary improvements or worsening of this symptom occur when stimuli makes these vessels constrict or relaxe more thn usual.

Transient erythema: Also skin areas that are not permanenly red can show a greater tendensy to get red or be flushing at special occations, for example upon heat, cooling, chemical substances, physical activity or emontional movements. This symptoms originates from small blood vessels relaxing excessively upon such stimuli.

Telangiectasia: This is a permanent and distinct relaxation or physical videning of blood vessels in the skin that are wide enough to be seen as individual vessels.

Inflammation:  The changes in the skin will gradually make the skin inflamed. The inflammation will give edema in the skin and make symptoms like redness and dilated vessels worse. An allergic reaction to the changes in the skin may be the cause of the inflammation.   It is also possible that the changes in the skin make it more easy for allergens from the outside to attach to and intrude skin structures and therby trigger immune reactions.

Papules:  These are small dome-shape spots filled with fluid, often assambled in groups. The papules can be caused by small infections or possibly by allergic reactions.

Infection: Skin with rosacea gets more easily infected by bacteria. The infection will cause more inflammation and thereby cause all the symptoms like edema and redness to get worse. It will also add new symptoms like papules, pimples, sores or scars.

Pustules or pimples: When the infection attacks the hair follicles, the outlet of the follicle can be clogged and the follicle be filled with pus, giving pimples as by acne.   However, if the pimples appear in a hair follicle stuffed with sebum (comedones), they are a symptom of acne, and not rosacea. Pimples form acne and rosacea may exist together.

Rosacea also implies secondary symptoms that are caused by the primary symptoms, or appear later than the primary ones.

• Burning or stinging

• Plack - elevated red areas

• Scaling, often associated with burning or stinging

• Dry skin, often occcuring before scaling

• Edema appearing in areas that allready have been red for some time

• Symptoms from the eyes like: Redness, iching, burning, corneal damage

• Thickening of the skin, or lumps in the skin

• Distended hair follicles

• Rosacea in other places than the face

How does rosacea develop and what causes rosacea

Rosacea seems to develop in several stages. Furst there are an increased tendency in blood vessels in skin areas to relax upon stimuli of various kinds. This is usually seen as a greater tendensy for flushing.

Later on the vessels get permanently relaxed, so that the skin appears permanently red and  greater vessels appear permannetly wider.

Still later the tissue in the vessels gen physically stretched out or widened. The tissue can also grow thicker an develop irregularities.

At the latest stages allaergic reactions to the changes in the skin can occur or infection can complicate the condition so that papules, sores or pimples develop.

The exact causes are not known, but some people seem to inherit the tendency to develop rosacea. People that blush very often seem to develope rosacea more easily. Therefore rosacea may be caused by blood vessels that dilate too easily upon stimulation and seldome get an opportunity to contract themselves again.

The following types of stimulation may cause worsening of the rosacea symptoms: Heat, hot baths, strenuous exercise, sunlight, wind, very cold temperatures, hot or spicy foods and drinks, alcohol consumption, menopause, emotional stress, prolonged use of topical steroides on the skin.

Some medications and topical irritants can cause rosacea or accelerate the development of the disease.  Certain modes of treating acne and wrinkles may cause cause rosacea, for example microdermabrasion, chemical peels, high dosages of isotretinoin, benzoyl peroxide and tretinoin.

Topical or nasal steroids can sometimes cause or worsen rosacea. These steroids are often prescribed for seborrheic dermatitis (eczema with higher sebum production in the skin).

Traditional treatment of rosacea
 

Traditional medicine does not have any treatment for the basic symptoms of rosacea, such as redness and extended blood vessels.

Extendid blood vessels can be treated by laser that heats up the vessels and destroys them.

When infection is a part of the disease, and papules or pustules occur, rosacea is treated with antibiotics, usually applied directly on the skin, for example metronidazole. Oral treatment may also be used by severe rosacea, for example with: Tetracycline, minocycline, erythromycin, and doxycycline

By pimple formation, you can also use rinsing skin cleansers in the same way as by acne.

On the market you can find several alternative medicines, mostly creams or balms to apply on the skin, to treat rosacea. These often contain natural oils, herbal extracts, vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that alleviate inflammation and stimulate skin healing. They may also contain skin-friendly non-irritating anti-bacterial agents to treat bacterial infection.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information is nutritional in nature and should not be construed as medical advice. This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.