Rosacea Information Hampshire UK

Disease concept

  • Rosacea is a form of sun-damage that causes the skin to become sensitive, make spots and grow veins.

Treatment concept

  • The sun-damage can be treated using a combination of prescription-only skin rejuvenating creams and laser treatments.
  • A temporary respite can be obtained by using antibiotic tablets, creams or gels, but they do not treat the sun-damage and so the rosacea recurs.

 

What is rosacea?

Rosacea is a skin condition that is characterised by sensitive skin, itching, a tendency to flush, repeated bouts of spots on the cheeks, nose and chin and visible veins on the face and sometimes on the neck and chest.

The flushing tends to occur in response to changes in room temperature, exercise, eating spicy foods and drinking alcohol and often causes a bout of spots to form a few days later.

 

What causes rosacea?

It is caused by sun-damage and is only seen in fair-skinned people.

Anything that makes the skin flush will temporarily make rosacea worse; tea, coffee, alcohol, dehydration and spicy foods, but they are not the cause of the problem and avoiding them does not get rid of it.

 

What is the natural course of rosacea?

It is usually intermittently persistent. 

 

How can rosacea be treated?

If you seriously want to treat all aspects of your rosacea, you must reverse the sun-damage in your skin. This is best done by:

 

  • Using high dose benzoyl peroxide gel and tretinoin cream delivered as part of the Obagi Nu-Derm system.
  • Undergoing a course of at least three laser treatments. At the Wessex Skin Clinic we use a combination of lasers to tackle all the diseased veins.
  • Then protecting your skin from the sun for the rest of your life.

 

In the UK, you will be offered antibiotics in tablet, cream or gel form, but they will only suppress the spots. You can also obtain weak forms of tretinoin and tretinoin-like creams, but they do not work as well as the skin rejuvenating creams.

How can rosacea be prevented?

  • Wearing a sunscreen wit SPF 20 everyday and learning how to put it on properly. Do not rely on a moisturiser or make-up with an SPF. They do not work.
  • You can avoid "flare-ups" by keeping well hydrated.