Rosacea is a long-term skin condition that mainly affects the face. It's more common in women and people with lighter skin, but symptoms can be worse in men. Treatment can help with symptoms.

Check if you have rosacea

The first signs of rosacea include

• redness (blushing) across your nose, cheeks, forehead and chin that comes and goes
• a burning or stinging feeling when using water or skincare products

The redness may be harder to see on darker skin.

Other symptoms can include:

• dry skin
• swelling, especially around the eyes
• yellow-orange patches on the skin
• sore eyelids or crusts around roots of eyelashes – this could be blepharitis
• thickened skin, mainly on the nose (usually appears after many years)

Triggers

It's not known what causes rosacea, but some triggers can make symptoms worse. Common triggers for rosacea include:

• alcohol
• spicy foods
• cheese
• caffeine
• hot drinks
• aerobic exercise like running

If you're not sure it's rosacea

Check what else it could be?

Rosacea can look a lot like other conditions, such as:

• acne
• contact dermatitis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and other types of dermatitis
• lupus
• keratosis pilaris

Rosacea cannot be cured but treatment from a GP can help control the symptoms. It can get worse if it's not treated.

A GP may suggest:

• prescriptions for creams and gels you put on your skin
• taking antibiotics for 6 to 16 weeks
• IPL (intense pulsed light) treatment – this may not be available on the NHS

The GP may refer you to a skin specialist (dermatologist) if treatments are not working.

Rosacea is not caused by poor hygiene and it's not contagious. But there are things you can try to help with symptoms.

If you know that a trigger, for example alcohol or spicy food, makes symptoms worse, try to avoid it as much as possible.