Do you know the name of one of the most common skin problems widespread throughout the globe? If this question were posed to fifty different people, it’d be surprising if a dozen of them got it right. The answer is rosacea.

So common throughout the globe, and effecting something in the order of 40 to 50 million individuals, rosacea is a common but relatively unknown skin condition. It creates a sort of “blushed” appearance in the face, creating a redness to the skin tone. It also causes bumps and pimples similar but different from acne. Blood vessels can also manifest on the persons face. All of this is centered around inflammation of the face for the patient.

Rosacea predominately manifests in white women whose ancestry is traced back to Europe. However, it can be found in both men and women, both black and white people, and people of all ages, not just the bigger demographic of women ages 30 to 50. Scientists do not know what causes rosacea but there is evidence of a genetic disorder involved.

Sadly, there is not a known cure yet for rosacea. Instead, there is a set of treatments that patients go through to find what works for them. For people with only mild symptoms, some choose to only mask the redness with over the counter make up and go on with life. Others need to use treatments all of types, including antibiotics, over the counter medicine, and natural herbal remedies.

Antibiotics, natural medicines, and over the counter drugs can do a lot to target the inflammation created by rosacea. However, if more treatment is needed, or a different type of treatment is needed, laser treatment has been shown to be very effective in treating rosacea. While you should expect to get half a dozen or more laser treatments done, many patients report instant relief after just a single laser treatment session!

The good news is that there are a lot of treatments out there, and it takes trying them out to find out what works for a patient. The bad news is that rosacea patients tends to work these treatments for their whole life, dancing a game of going back and forth where inflammation leaves for awhile, and then comes back. However, once a patient understands their personal triggers and what treatments work for them, rosacea can be treated and then take a back seat, while life goes on for the patient!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 at 6:47 am and is filed under Acne. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.