Rosacea damages self esteem

As any one who has rosacea knows – the condition not only affects your looks but it can severely damage your confidence.

Typically occuring on the face and with symptons including blemishes, facial redness, and thickened skin, it’s not surprising that rosacea causes considerable distress to those who suffer from it.

In a survey by the National Rosacea Society, 75% of those polled said they felt rosacea had severely damaged their self-esteem and 60% reported that it had removed their pleasure and enjoyment from life.

Over fourteen million people in the United States alone have rosacea with a larger proportion of sufferers in several areas of Norther Europe – particularly those whose inhabitants have pale “celtic” type skins.

The majority of sufferers are women between the ages of thirty and sixty and the real danger age for developing the condition is around the 40’s and 50’s.   Many wome find the condition worsens after the menopause.

Despite its widespread nature, rosacea is little known or understood – only one in five Americans have ever heard of it and an amazing number of sufferers are not aware they have the condition until diagnosed.  More sadly, many believe there is nothing they can do about it and continue to suffer in silence.

“Rosacea can have devastating effects on self-esteem. Because it strikes adults who are in their prime, sufferers often feel it affects their work and social life”

Dermatologist treating Rosacea

While doctors have been puzzled as to the exact cause of rosacea, more recently studies by specialist dermatologists have reclassified the disease as a vascular condition, linked to and caused by excessive flushing of the skin over a prolonged period of time.  The repeated dilation of the blood vessels causing the intense redness of the skin.

Undoubtedly there does also seem to be a heredity link.  Those that have close relatives with rosacea tend to be more prone to developing it as well.

Some controversy has surrounded the diagnosis and treatment of rosacea in recent years with the medical profession influenced by drug companies routinely prescribing antibiotics.

Whilst the antibiotics helped to treat the facial acne-like blemishes that can be a symptom of the disease, the medicine and ointments had no effect on the facial flushing which for so many people was the worse part of it.

One of the symptoms of rosacea that causes the most distress to sufferers is the appearance of fierce redness – almost like a severe burn to the skin.  Facial redness can be masked to a degree by thick camouflage make up which is often green-tinted.  Nonetheless, where the condition is severe, the underlying redness is often clearly visible and a cause of intense self-consciousness and embarrassment.

Accompanying the redness, sufferers experience highly uncomfortable flushing, stinging, burning and tingling sensations which can feel almost unbearable.  Anything applied to the face can make the sensation much worse.

Some people also suffer from acne-like break outs in the face caused by the effects of the excessive flushing on the pores.  Skin can thicken and appear much more coarse.  All symtpoms which make the condition even more difficult to bear.

Like spider veins on the legs, facial redness from rosacea can be treated  extemely effectively nowadays with laser light therapy and particularly effective are new generation pulsed light technologies including photoderm, vasculight and epilight.

There are also highly effective skin care brands  like Zenmed which have been developed specifically for rosacea sufferers helping them to manage the condition without recourse to clinical treatment.