Rosacea and redness: calming reactive skin

Is it rosacea, or reactive skin?

Rosacea is a long-term skin condition. It usually starts with flushing that comes and goes across the cheeks, nose, forehead and chin, often with a warm or burning feeling, and skin that stings when you use water or skincare. Over time some people develop redness that stays, tiny visible blood vessels, small red bumps or swelling. On brown and black skin the redness can be harder to see, so burning and stinging may be the clearest sign.

Not all redness is rosacea, though. Over-exfoliated skin, skin stripped by harsh products, windburn, a reaction to something new or another skin condition can all look similar. That's why it's worth knowing what's going on before you treat it as rosacea. Either way, our approach in clinic is the same: calm the skin, strengthen its barrier and avoid anything that inflames it.

A calm routine for red, reactive skin

Reactive skin does best with fewer products, used consistently. This is the routine I'd suggest to anyone whose skin flushes easily:

• Cleanse with lukewarm water and a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser, and pat your skin dry rather than rubbing.
• Skip scrubs, perfumed products and strong exfoliating acids, especially during a flare.
• Use a fragrance-free moisturiser if your skin feels dry or tight.
• Wear SPF 30 or higher every day, all year round, and cover your face with a scarf in cold, windy weather.
• Introduce one new product at a time, so you know what to stop if your skin reacts.
• Keep a simple diary of flare-ups for a few weeks. Patterns with heat, alcohol, spicy food, hot drinks, exercise or stress are much easier to spot on paper.

Treatments that calm rather than inflame

LED light therapy is often where our practitioners begin, because there are no needles, chemicals or downtime. Our Dermalux system uses red, blue and near-infrared light, and your practitioner chooses the combination for your skin, including for redness. Results build with regular sessions, usually two to three times a week for four to six weeks for a focused course, then weekly for maintenance. It's offered at all four of our clinics.

The LAYER/28™ Repair facial is made for skin that needs less, not more: skin that feels sensitised, depleted or stressed. It begins with an in-depth skin assessment and includes LED where appropriate, at Chichester, Petersfield and Bognor Regis. Our ZO Skin Health treatments include Ultra Hydration, which suits most sensitive skin, and a Rozatrol calming booster for skin prone to redness, with the ZO home range to carry on at home.

Some treatments are best avoided while your skin is flaring, including dermaplaning, stronger peels and anything that heats the skin. Visible broken blood vessels may need a different approach, which your practitioner can talk through with you.

Start with a proper look at your skin

If you're not sure what's behind your redness, or you've tried lots of products without much change, an Advanced In-Depth Skin Analysis is a good place to start. It's a 30 minute appointment where a practitioner looks at your skin with our scanner in standard, polarised and UV light, including redness, then agrees a plan for treatments and home care with you. It isn't a medical diagnosis, but it gives you a clear picture to work from, and a repeat scan later shows how your skin has changed. It's available at all four of our clinics.

When to get help quickly, and who should wait

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 if you have rosacea and develop eye pain, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, a red eye or a gritty feeling in your eyes.

Every treatment starts with a consultation. Tell us about any medicines or creams you use, because some make the skin more sensitive to light, and LED isn't suitable if you take medicines like these, have epilepsy or are pregnant. We'll also ask you to wait if you have broken skin or an infection in the area.