Rosacea (cont.)
What should be avoided?
While not all rosacea patients are exactly the same, there are some common rosacea triggers. Avoiding these potential triggers may also help relieve symptoms and disease flares.
Smoking, spicy foods, hot drinks, and alcohol may cause flushing and should be avoided. Exposure to sunlight and to extreme hot and cold temperatures should be limited as much as possible.
Potent cortisone medications on the face should be avoided because they can promote widening of the tiny blood vessels of the face. Some patients experience severe rosacea flares after prolonged use of topical steroids.
How should I care for the skin of my face?
Proper skin care involves using a gentle cleanser to wash the face twice a day. Over-washing may cause irritation. A sunscreen lotion is advisable each morning. Your physician may prescribe a topical antibiotic to use once or twice a day under your sunscreen.
Rubbing the face tends to irritate the reddened skin. Some
cosmetics and hair sprays may also aggravate redness and swelling.
Facial products such as soap, moisturizers, and sunscreens should
be free of alcohol or other irritating ingredients. Moisturizers
should be applied very gently after any topical medication has dried.
When going outdoors, sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher are
needed.
How are the telangiectasias (the red lines) treated?
Telangiectasias are the small blood vessels that arise on the surface of the skin, commonly on around the nose, cheeks, and chin.
Simple cover-up makeup can be used for the telangiectasias. There are some green-based moisturizers or tinted foundations that may help conceal the redness.
Telangiectasias can also be medically treated in your physician's office with a small electric needle, a laser, intense pulse light, or minor surgery to close off the dilated blood vessels. Usually, multiple treatments are required for best results and only a portion of the blood vessels may be improved with each treatment. Not everyone responds the same to these types of treatments, and your physician can help you decide which treatment is best for your skin type, condition, and size of blood vessels.
Next: How is a rhinophyma (the W.C. Fields nose) treated? »
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