Rosacea & Facial Redness
What Is Rosacea?
Rosacea is an inflammatory condition that affects the face. It tends to be more common in patients with fair skin. It causes facial redness and is sometimes associated with red spots and pustules, and as it progresses it causes small blood vessels to develop that cause persistent redness. It is associated with flushing and the redness can be worse after drinking alcohol, eating spicy foods and sudden changes in temperature. In some individuals it can result in a red, swollen nose (rhinophyma).
Treatments for Rosacea and Facial Redness
Rosacea treatments that are available include sun blocks (as rosacea tends to be made worse in the long term by sun damage), prescription creams, short courses of antibiotics and sometimes Roaccutane®.  Additional treatments that can help rosacea include blue and red light emitting diodes and vascular lasers (including Excel V KTP and long pulse Nd:YAG laser/Laser Genesis and Cynergy pulsed dye laser/long pulse Nd:YAG multiplex) and Intense Pulsed Light (Lumecca). All these rosacea treatments are available from our dermatologist and can be combined and tailor-made according to the individual’s problem.
Excel V™ by Cutera®
Excel V is a laser that uses a combination of two wavelengths of light (532nm KTP and 1064nm long pulse Nd:YAG) to provide versatile precision treatment of small to large thread veins. The treatment can be customised to suit the needs of each patient.
Laser Genesis
Laser genesis is a type of treatment performed using very short, low-energy pulses of the Nd:YAG laser on the Excel V laser platform. Laser Genesis uses a milder, low-energy burst of light to correct blood vessels, stimulate collagen production, reduce acne, and fade scars. It reaches deeper blood vessels than the KTP laser and is very useful for fading deeper blood vessels. There is usually no recovery time.
Cynergy Pulsed Dye Laser/Long Pulse Nd:YAG Multiplex
The Cynergy Multiplex Laser contains two lasers the pulsed dye laser and long pulse Nd:YAG laser. These two lasers can be used alone or together with the long pulse Nd:YAG laser being fired milliseconds after the pulsed dye laser (when it is called the multiplex setting). Both the pulsed dye laser and long pulse Nd:YAG laser are very effective for redness and thread veins when used alone, but when used as Multiplex they are theoretically even more effective.
Lumecca Intense Pulsed Light
Lumecca Intense Pulsed Light is a modern efficient intense pulsed light system where a filter is placed in front of a powerful light. The filter selects wavelengths of light that target both redness and brown pigmentation. As the treatment tip of the Lumecca is relatively large, it means a larger area of diffuse redness can be treated and brown tones can be improved at the same time.
Causes of Facial Redness
In addition to rosacea, other causes of facial redness include seborrhoeic dermatitis (usually red scaly patches over the eyebrows and around the sides of the nose which can be associated with a tendency to dandruff), or an allergic contact dermatitis (usually an itchy, red, and sometimes weeping rash) caused by allergy to a product coming into contact with the skin. If an allergic contact dermatitis is suspected, then allergy testing using patch tests can be helpful.
Before-and-After Photos of Rosacea Treatment
Rosacea can be very upsetting, but help is available. Below are some examples of patients who have been treated for rosacea. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation to discuss your concerns.
