The Rosacea Treatment Picture

Treatment can usually control symptoms and improve the skin's appearance. But the redness of the face often persists even when the acne-like bumps and eye irritation clear up.

Avoiding things that make the redness worse can help. Examples are alcohol, hot beverages, or spicy foods. Using a sunscreen with a high sun protection factor (SPF) and staying out of the sun can help. Exposure to excessive heat should be avoided. For example, showers or baths should not be too hot. People should not use cosmetics that irritate the skin. Scrubbing or rubbing the face can also irritate the skin.

Applying an antibiotic lotion or gel to the affected skin can help clear the acne-like bumps. Topical antibiotics that may help include metronidazole, erythromycin, clindamycin, and sulfacetamide. Ketoconazole, an antifungal drug, may also help. If topical antibiotics do not help, azelaic acid, a topical drug also used to treat acne, may be tried.

If the acne-like bumps are severe or if the eyes are affected, antibiotics are taken by mouth, usually for at least a month. Tetracycline, doxycycline, and minocycline are effective. If these drugs are ineffective or if a person cannot tolerate them, erythromycin or metronidazole may be used. Some people need to take antibiotics frequently or continuously.

Treatment with lasers (pulsed dye laser therapy) or electric current (electrocautery) may be used to destroy blood vessels that remain dilated. This treatment can be very effective BUT the vessels will re-grow. If rhinophyma develops, treatment with another type of laser may reduce the size of the nose. Certain kinds of makeup can hide redness that persists.

Rosacea is usually chronic. For some people, redness of the face is the only symptom. Often, symptoms are mild for long stretches of time, with periodic flare-ups. For a few people, symptoms worsen steadily and progressively despite treatment.