Rosacea – Causes and Treatment

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Skin condition  Rosacea

Rosacea is very predominant with adults who are above 30 years old. It produces an embarrassing redness that is visibly seen on the cheeks, nose, forehead or chin. That is not all it comes with, for some individuals there are also pimples or bumps filled with pus. The good news here is that with the right prescription and administration of medication, the condition is curbed.

Overview

Rosacea is a skin disorder that makes the blood vessels to become visible in the exterior of the skin. It produces an embarrassing redness that is visibly seen on the cheeks, nose, forehead or chin. That is not all it comes with, for some individuals there are also pimples or bumps filled with pus. It has that blushing effect on someone’s face, with little balls filled with pus, resembling acne too. Rosacea predominantly affects people more than 30years old, with more emphasis on females.

It is a skin disease that goes on for an extended period of time, causing pimples, redness, inflammations, and enlargement of blood vessels. When the condition becomes very serious it can lead to a broadening of the nose. Rosacea cannot be cured, but the symptoms highlighted above are eradicated through the use of special medications. Those affected are already predisposed to it genetically and conditions can be exacerbated by other factors like exercise, heat, cold, sunlight and many others.

Causes

Those predisposed to Rosacea have already been genetically inclined. In other words, apart from being genetically influenced by the disease there is no other main cause. There is however the interplay of other secondary factors like extreme temperature, severe sunburn, excessive exercise, stress and some others like it. Poor personal sanitation cannot be a cause of the ailment. However, if a parent was prone to this condition, then the child will also be prone to it as well. Here are their causes in details:

  • Genetics – the factor of inheritance is the major player when it comes to the cause of rosacea of people.
  • Problems with Blood Vessel – when there is a problem with the functioning of the blood vessels, then it can lead to the skin condition.
  • Mites – too many Demodex folliculorum (very small insects) on the skin can cause an irritation that would present this skin disorder.
  • Bacteria – when gastrin (a digestive hormone) level in the body is increased through the damaging activity of the bacteria H. pylori which is present in the gut, this will produce a red-faced appearance.


Types of Rosacea

There are basically four distinct types of rosacea that can occur on people. There are times when a patient displays a combination of more than one type of this skin disorder at once. Here are the four types:

  • Erythematotelangiectatic rosacea – this is the type that the flushed appearance on the face is permanent. There might be a dilated blood vessel closely seen on the skin’s exterior. Symptoms of extreme burning and itching exist too.
  • Papulopustular rosacea – there are acne-like appearance of balls filled with pus that can extend till four days. These appear in combination with a long-lasting redness of the face too.
  • Phymatous rosacea – the type leads to rhinophyma, which is the unusual expansion of the nose, coupled with some skin congealing at a spot. This type can also be found not only on the nose, but on the forehead, chin, ears, cheeks and eyelids.
  • Ocular rosacea – this is the type that affects the eyelids and eyes making them redness in appearance with swellings. This is also coupled with burning sensations, stinging and itching. From the name given to this type, it can be easily discovered that this is the location of the disease condition in the eyes.

Treatment of Rosacea

Rosacea does not have a permanent cure, but medications are given to patients to control and completely remove the occurrence of it symptoms from the face. Here are some of the procedures and medications that can be prescribed by a medical practitioner to control this skin disorder:

These medical procedures can be recommended:

  • Laser treatment – when the appearance of problematic blood vessels is so enlarged and visible to the sight. The laser procedure that utilizes very strong lights will be used to remove the blood vessels from the skin.
  • Electrocautery – in this medical procedure, dilated blood vessels that are now problematic are completely eradicated from the skin through the use of electric current.
  • Dermabrasion – this medical procedure is used to scrap out the top layer of the skin as a way of removing the visible symptoms.

Medications that can be prescribed by your physician to tackle this skin disorder are:

  • Brimonidine – the use of this mediation makes the loosed blood vessels to become constricted going back to its original size before the problem occurred. This will in turn eliminate all symptoms from the skin. It is a gel that is tropically applied.
  • Azelaic acid – this medication is a cream that is used to remove all inflammations, the pus filled bumps and the flushed appearance from the face. This is tropically applied to the skin of affected area.
  • Antibiotics – Metronidazole and other range of antibiotics are ingested to destroy all the bacteria causing the problem on the skin. When these bacterial activities are arrested and eliminated the symptoms of inflammations and reddish appearance is removed completely.

Image source :Flickr