Your Guide to Mild Rosacea and It’s Symptoms
Though it can cause discomfort, mild rosacea is often able to be managed by lifestyle changes, in-clinic Aesthetics treatments and clinical grade skin care.
Having sensitive skin can be frustrating. It can seem like the slightest things cause unwanted irritation. Unlike eczema or contact dermatitis which can occur anywhere on the body, rosacea is usually limited to your face.
As with other dermatological conditions, rosacea sits on a spectrum. Some people have severe cases while others can be more mild. Depending on the severity of your case, you might require prescription medications to control your rosacea or may be able to see vast improvement with in-clinic treatments and at-home skincare instead.
Understanding the signs and symptoms of mild rosacea can help you to create a more effective plan to treat this skin sensitivity and ideally enjoy clearer skin in the future.
How do I know if I have mild rosacea?
One of the key signs that you have rosacea is that your skin irritation is almost exclusively limited to your face. In particular, rosacea flare-ups tend to concentrate around the central face, nose, chin and cheeks.
Visual symptoms can include:
redness
swollen or thickening skin around the cheeks, chin, nose, and forehead
burning and stinging when you apply skin care products
small bumps (some cases)
pus-filled spots that resemble acne (some cases)
irritation on the eyelids (mites)
Historically, rosacea symptoms were described based on how the condition presented in lighter skin tones.
However, on darker skin tones, flushing may be less evident. Instead, the bumps and acne-like pustules, as well as discoluoration in lieu of redness are more likely to be present.
On darker skin tones, other symptoms can include:
dry swollen skin with hyperpigmentation
acne that doesn’t clear even with treatment
yellowish-brown hard bumps that are around the mouth or eyes
Causes and triggers of mild rosacea
To date, the medical community still doesn’t fully understand what cases rosacea. Experts believe that both environmental and hereditary factors might be to blame.
For environmental factors, experts know that certain behaviours can trigger rosacea:
eating spicy foods
drinking alcohol
excessive sun exposure
foods that contain the cinnamaldehyde compound (cinnamon & coffee)
drinking hot liquids (especially coffee and tea)
having the intestinal bacteria Helicobacter
Demodex mites
However, some people are more genetically predisposed to experience rosacea than others. For example, the skin condition usually develops between the ages of 30 - 50 and tends to be more common in people with fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
Likewise, people with a family history of rosacea and those with Scandinavian or Celtic ancestry tend to be more likely to develop it.
While females are more likely to develop rosacea, when males do have it, the condition tends to be more severe.
Treatment options for mild rosacea
Unfortunately, there is currently no cure for rosacea. However, once you receive a formal diagnosis, you can work to help by creating a treatment plan that controls symptoms and reduces irritation.
In most cases, a dermatologist will rely on prescription medications which usually include a combination of oral and topical cream antibiotics. Meanwhile, mild rosacea tends to be something people can treat without prescription medications.
If you haven’t yet figured out your triggers, keeping a journal of the foods you eat, as well as any cosmetic products used can help you pinpoint irritants that make your symptoms worse.
at-home Skincare
For mild rosacea, many people can turn to a combination of home remedies, OTC treatments, aesthetic procedures such as specific clinical facials, and even lifestyle changes to control the symptoms and clear their skin.
At Aceso Aesthetics we can create a personalised skincare routine for your skin, containing soothing products to reduce redness and encourage healing for sensitive skin or rosacea. Following a clinically proved skincare routine with support your skin at home and will accelerate the results of your in clinic treatments.
Dietary changes can be the most straightforward and include avoiding known triggers. However, for this to be effective, you’ll need to keep a journal so you can confidently remove certain foods or increase consumption of others like fiber and probiotics to combat rosacea.
Other lifestyle changes that might help to clear your mild rosacea include avoiding extended exposure to direct sunlight, switching to clinical rosacea proven skin care products, quitting smoking, exercising regularly, and treating any other underlying health issues.
Learn more about the Clinical Skincare Rosederm Range which is scientifically proven, targeted skincare for rosacea prone skin.
Aceso Aesthetic In Clinic treatments
Aesthetic treatments such as facials that incorporate micro-needling are result and evidence based and have been proven beneficial in controlling mild rosacea symptoms, like redness and inflammation, by strengthening the skin barrier. At Aceso Aesthetics, we offer also medical skin peels designed specifically to address rosacea and redness, improving your skin's overall health and appearance.
While it shouldn’t be the first method pursued, research has also shown research has also shown laser treatments or light-based therapy can help to control the look of blood vessels in the skin and even control the thickening of the skin that often occurs.
Book a Microneedling Treatment with Aceso Aesthetics
or
Book a Customised Clincal Facial with Aceso Aesthetics
Key Takeaway
Mild rosacea is a subtype of the skin condition that can often be managed without prescription medications. Although there is currently no cure, many mild cases can improve by avoiding triggers or switching to gentler skin care products. This is often sufficient to help control symptoms.
If you suspect that you might have rosacea, you should consider speaking with your primary care provider or a dermatologist.
What if my mild rosacea gets worse?
For many people with mild rosacea, taking a proactive stance to control exposure to triggers and adjust lifestyle habits is usually effective at controlling symptoms and reducing inflammation.
But if your symptoms seem to get worse — especially if you’re actively trying to control them — you should speak with a dermal therapist Aceso Aesthetics. We recommend combining in-clinic treatments with an at home clinical skincare routine to help to alleviate and control the symptions of rosacea.
Where required, Aceso Aesthetics can also refer you to a dermatologist as may need to elevate your treatment to incorporate prescription medications.