Rosacea

What is rosacea?

Rosacea is a skin condition that mainly affects women with light skin and eyes from the age of 30-40. It manifests as localised redness, which is harmless but can become chronic if not treated.

Rosacea is a vascular disorder characterised by redness on the cheeks, nose, forehead and chin. As the condition develops, this redness can become permanent and be accompanied by dilated blood vessels (telangiectasia) on the cheeks and sides of the nose, and inflamed red spots. It is a progressive skin condition. Such condition may progress randomly through several stages.

The different stages:

Stage 1

Sudden successive flare-ups of redness on the face and neck and a hot, flushing sensation. We talk about "skin flushes" and "vasomotor flushes".

Stage 2

More patchy, persistent redness on the nose and cheeks known as erythrose.

Stage 3

Red lines (called telangiectasia) that follow the small blood vessels on the sides of the nose and cheeks.

Stage 4

Inflamed redness (spots) known as acne rosacea.

It is difficult to predict when one stage will move to the next. Its progress is marked by flare-ups followed by periods of remission. In stage 4 (full-blown rosacea), some lesions are irreversible.