Rosacea

Rosacea is a very common skin condition, affecting over 18% of the population worldwide. Rosacea is most often seen in fair-skinned individuals between 30 to 50 years of age. There are three main types of rosacea:

1. Papulopustular – This type of rosacea looks very similar to acne with red spots and small pustules.
2. Erythrotelangiectatic – This form presents with diffuse redness, flushing and broken blood vessels.
3. Ocular – This type of rosacea can accompany papulopustular or erythrotelangiectatic rosacea, and manifests as a feeling of grittiness or sand in eyes and a bloodshot appearance. Many people with ocular rosacea may think that they simply have dry eye. However, this form of rosacea is treatable and without the appropriate care may cause long-term eye damage.

If you think you may have rosacea, please contact us at Juniper Dermatology to make sure you get the right diagnosis and appropriate care to control the symptoms of rosacea. Excellent control is attainable with appropriate skin care regimens, trigger avoidance, topical or oral medications, and sometimes laser therapy with pulsed dye laser being used both cosmetically and to prevent rosacea flares or to maintain disease control. Controlling symptoms of rosacea is extremely important as a lack of treatment will result in increasing facial redness, telangiectasias (broken blood vessels), eye disease, and sometimes disfiguration of the nose (rhinophyma).