Acne rosacea skin attack is a disease with dermal and ophthalmic manifestations that combines the symptoms specific to rosacea with the pustules of acne. So far, the cause that triggers acne rosacea is not fully explained although it is known that sun exposure will increase the risk of disease development. The face and the chest are the most affected body parts both by the flushing and the pustules outbreak, and the disease tends to get worse after spicy food, hot drinks and alcohol.

It appears that acne rosacea has been reported in more women than men, with a higher occurrence of the disease in the middle-aged group. Thus, most of the cases have been reported on people between 30 and 60, but here we ought to add that black skin is more difficult to diagnose. Yet, there is not enough clinical evidence to support the idea that acne rosacea affects fair-skinned people most of the times.

The acne blemishes specific to the disease are most often distributed in the nose area, on the cheeks and chin, but the central forehead doesn’t get spared either. The skin is usually very oily too, yet there are some major differences between acne rosacea and vulgaris acne condition. In traditional acne forms, comedones are widely spread, whereas with rosacea they only appear in the flush areas. Moreover, acne rosacea has a hypertrophy dimension that is not found with acne vulgaris.

Since acne rosacea is a chronic disease its evolution usually expands over several years marked by critical episodes characterized by inflammation. Corticosteroids are commonly prescribed for the alleviation of the symptoms, but they are not suitable for long-term therapy because of the risk to cause an atrophy or permanent vaso-dilation of the tissues. Most dermatologists will therefore choose to recommend the systemic treatment instead of the topical one.

Depending on the skin changes caused by acne rosacea, surgical intervention could become necessary but only after running medical tests and at the special recommendation of a dermatologist. Electrocautery and the tunable dye laser procedure represent the two main options under the circumstances, but one could also choose excision, skin grafting, dermabrasion ands so on. The doctoring of acne rosacea should not be ignored or postponed even if the condition shows an improvement over some periods of time.

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