Rosacea is a disease that, perhaps because it is not life threatening, does not have considerable weight behind it compared with life threatening illnesses. However sufferers of rosacea will tell you that the condition is life threatening in other, more indirect ways. It threatens a person’s normal lifestyle, it threatens their career, their social life and their self esteem. Rosacea can indeed make a person feel as if they are not living at all. Why then does rosacea continually get pushed under the rug and rarely spoken of?
It is estimated that some 14 million people in America are suffering from rosacea. Although treatment exists such as laser treatment, it is not permanent nor does it work for everyone. Because rosacea is not a uniform disease, there is no one size fits all cure. Some people will see great results from laser treatment, whilst others will find the condition worsens afterwards.
The most common age of affected people is 30-50 years old. Although it is certainly possible to be diagnosed with rosacea younger and older than this. The main symptoms of rosacea are facial redness, visible blood vessels and recurring papules and pustules. A burning sensation takes place on the face and these are usually triggered by environmental or dietary factors.
Certain foods can be a trigger for some rosacea suffers. For examples, coffee, chocolate, alcohol or tomatoes just to name a few. Almost all rosacea sufferers will avoid food and drink which are known to cause hot flushes and break outs.
Environmental factors which can trigger rosacea episodes include cold weather, hot weather, heated rooms or fire places. The sun is also a problem for every rosacea sufferers, with the most severe cases avoiding direct sunlight on the face altogether.
Severe rosacea can lead to deformity of the nose and loss of eye sight as well as highly visible spider veins. There is no test to determine whether a person has rosacea; rather doctors look at the combination of symptoms to work out whether the patient is likely to be a rosacea sufferer.
Rosacea awareness in the community is highly important as rosacea sufferers, despite their numbers, are still ‘in the closet’ when it comes to discussing their illness publicly. When they try to explain why they have facial redness they may feel as it others do not understand. It is hoped that a cure and an awareness campaign for rosacea can make the life of sufferers a little more comfortable in future. There are ways to overcome Rosacea.
