What is Rosacea

Rosacea is a skin disorder that is both hereditary and chronic. It affects the face, including the nose, forehead, cheeks and chin, known as the “flushing zone” It can also cause hard, red bumps called papules and pimple-like flare-ups called pustules. These skin eruptions can become chronic and can even be permanent.

At first, rosacea symptoms come and go and are confined mainly to slight redness in the middle of your face. As time goes on, your affected skin can swell up and get thicker and it might be tender to the touch and quite sensitive. Nearly half of Rosacea sufferers also get some symptoms in the eye area, called Ocular Rosacea.

When rosacea is left untreated, it extends to the nose area, causing a large ruddy nose that swells and can even move to the ears. This condition is known as Rhinophyma.

Rosacea has four stages. The first stage is Pre-Rosacea. This stage usually has no visible symptoms, but the blood vessels are beginning to change. More and more stimuli cause the blood vessels to open and remain open for longer periods of time, compared to normal blood vessels. Stimuli, or triggers, include cold weather, heat, emotions, exercise, wind, exposure to the sun and soaps and other irritants, as well as allergic reactions.
Stage Two: Mild Rosacea. The second stage of Rosacea is seen primarily a blotchy redness and is mainly seen in the middle of your face. Cold, wind and even harsh soaps can cause your skin to remain red for much longer than it would otherwise. Eventually an increased number of small blood vessels will make the redness even more noticeable. Your skin will feel like it is sunburned and everyday movements like smiling, squinting and frowning will be uncomfortable. Your skin may also become irritated and sting or burn no matter what you put on it.
Stage Three: Moderate Rosacea. Now the facial flushing, with heat and redness begins to happen more often and is more intense. Vascular damage begins to occur. Tiny, damaged blood vessels, called telangiectasia, are more likely to be noticeably visible is the areas where the flushing is the worst.
Stage Four: Severe Rosacea. In this stage, the stints of facial flushing are more intense. Facial pain, swelling, severe tenderness and swelling, and burning sensations are also present. In this stage, you may become hypersensitive to products that never bothered you before. Papules (hard, red bumps) and pustules (pus-filled pimple-like bumps) and nodules (bumps that are larger than papules) can all occur. Papules have three levels of severity: minor, moderate and severe.
A minor Rosacea papule is the size of a small measles bump. A moderate Rosacea papule is the size of a pencil eraser. A severe papule is the size of a coin and contains pustules (pus-filled bumps). Some people will eventually develop Rhinophyma, a bulb-like enlarging of the nose and possibly even the ears. At this point, you may need surgical correction to reduce your nose to its normal size and shape. Most people do not ever progress to this disfiguring stage.
You may develop other symptoms, but these are the most common ones seen in the natural progression of Rosacea.