Rosacea treatment: reduce redness of your face
Rosacea is a long-term skin condition that mainly affects the face. It causes redness, flushing, and pimples, which can be rather unpleasant and embarrassing. Often the most noticeable signs of rosacea are recurring episodes of blushing of the cheeks and a flushed face. However small red bumps, pustules or blood vessels close to the skin’s surface may appear.
Not only can it be embarrassing, but left untreated, rosacea can lead to permanent damage to the blood vessels in the face. In this blog post, we’ll explore what causes rosacea and flare ups, how to reduce skin redness and what treatments are available for rosacea.
What is rosacea?
Typically affecting the face, rosacea is identified by chronic redness, flushing and acne-like bumps on the skin. It can also cause swelling and lesions or in long-term conditions may lead to eye problems, such as dry eyes or inflammation of the eyelids.
At a biological level, rosacea is caused by the dilation of unstable blood vessels, which leads to more blood flowing to those areas, resulting in blushing and flushing – particularly of the cheeks and face.
Whilst there’s no known cure for rosacea, the great news is there are treatments that can help control its symptoms and reduce the effect rosacea has on your daily life. These include professionally developed skin-care products, medicines, and professionally administered therapies, which all help to reduce the inflammation contributing to a rosacea flare up.
Causes of rosacea
Rosacea affects anywhere between 1–20% of the population, primarily in women over 30. However because it often goes misdiagnosed this figure could actually be higher than we know.
The cause of rosacea is still unknown, but a number of factors are thought to contribute to its development. These include a genetic predisposition to the condition, environmental triggers and an individual’s immune system health.
Some people find that certain foods and beverages, such as caffeine, alcohol, spicy foods or dairy products increase the occurrence of rosacea. Others also report that sun exposure, or extreme temperatures such as saunas and hot baths lead to a worsening of symptoms.
When we exercise, more blood flows through our bodies, causing blood vessels to expand. In the case of rosacea, these blood vessels are already considered unstable, so increased blood flow to your face and cheeks can exacerbate the flushing, redness on your face!
Exercise isn’t all bad though – it can be an effective way of reducing stress, which often leads to increased flare ups from rosacea. The benefits of exercise are great for your skin. Yes, even for those of you who are dealing with rosacea! Not only does it release endorphins, which help reduce stress, it pumps fresh oxygenated blood around your body, providing nutrients to give you a healthy looking glowing complexion. Just be warned that upping your exercise may result in a short-term increase of flushing, so you may wish to avoid strenuous activities before you’re heading to a party or public event.
If you have been diagnosed with rosacea, it’s a good idea to keep a food and activity diary, to help you determine what causes flare-ups for you individually. You can then attempt to avoid or reduce these.
Rosacea symptoms and signs
In general, rosacea is categorised by:
Skin discolouration which looks similar to constant sunburn or blushing, due to blood vessels being close to the skin's surface.
Skin thickening where excess tissue builds up, generally on the nose and more commonly occurring in males.
Flushing of the face, and sometimes the neck and chest, where skin temporarily darkens and feels hot.
Skin bumps where small red acne-like bumps or pus-containing-pimples develop on the skin.
Increased blood vessel visibility, often referred to as spider veins, appearing on the cheeks, nose and central parts of the face.
Irritation of the eyes, where eyes become watery or bloodshot and may develop with swollen, red eyelids.
Stinging and redness may occur when using some skincare products or makeup, therefore it’s important to ensure you’re working with a qualified skincare professional, to select the right products and opt for natural, mineral makeup to help reduce skin irritation.
Skin treatments for rosacea
Here in our Sydney skin clinic, we’ve seen fantastic results with our non-invasive, pain-free therapies when it comes to treating rosacea and reducing the embarrassment that often comes with constant red, blushing skin and acne. Our favourite treatments to help reduce rosacea symptoms are skin peels and LED Light Therapy, which we’ll explore below.
Skin peel treatments for rosacea
A skin peel is a treatment that removes the top layer of skin. Our medical-grade skin peels are used to treat a variety of skin conditions, including rosacea, acne and post-acne scarring. The innovative mix of healing minerals and botanical extracts work to regenerate, resurface and repair damage caused to the skin as a result of rosacea.
Our Herbal Aktiv Peel® contains soothing and replenishing properties, entirely derived from plant materials – delivering all the benefits of nature, directly absorbed through your skin. These peels help reduce redness, swelling and acne symptoms of rosacea, as well as support overall skin health.
We believe in taking a healing approach to your skin treatments, so all our peels nourish and improve your skin texture with zero pain and no recovery time required.
LED light therapy for rosacea
LED light therapy is a safe and effective way to help relieve the symptoms of rosacea. Unlike laser treatments, which can be painful or cause damage to the top skin layers, LED light therapy is a pain-free, non-invasive treatment for rosacea.
Through a process of using different wavelengths of infrared, red, blue, green, or yellow light waves, which penetrate deep into your layers of skin, LED light therapy stimulates your skin’s innate healing mechanisms to promote a natural healing response.
Rosacea is a common skin condition that affects more people than you might think. If you are suffering from rosacea, don’t worry - there are many treatment options available to you. At our Sydney-based skin clinic, we offer an advanced skin analysis to help determine the best method of treatment for your individual case of rosacea.
So don’t wait any longer - book an appointment today and start feeling more confident in your own skin!