Types of Rosacea

The risk factors for rosacea include age, genetics, environmental factors and gender. Rosacea is a progressive skin condition, meaning its symptoms tend to get progressively worse over time. Rosacea progresses in four distinct stages, with the signs and symptoms of the condition varying at each stage. Due to this, researchers have classified rosacea into four subcategories. These subcategories are:

1. Erythematotelangiectatic Rosacea: Erythematotelangiectatic, or vascular rosacea, is essentially early-stage rosacea, meaning it is a mild condition. The signs and symptoms of erythematotelangiectatic rosacea include chronic skin redness, flushing of the skin and in some cases, telangiectasia (visible capillaries).
2. Inflammatory Rosacea or Papulopustular: This is the second stage of the condition. At this stage, pustules and papules appear on the face, causing you to experience persistent facial redness and flushing.
3. Phymatous Rosacea: At the third sage (phymatous rosacea), the symptoms include all the symptoms for stages one and two, as well as the growth of new skin tissue on the affected areas. This causes your skin of the nose to become thick and develops a bumpy texture.
4. Ocular Rosacea: The signs and symptoms associated with this type of rosacea include a burning sensation of the eyes, blurred vision, recurrent styes, swollen eyelids, tearing and dry eye. A person with this stage of rosacea may have something that looks like a sty on their eye.

Treatment Options

Treatment options for rosacea may vary depending on the stage and symptoms of rosacea.  Below are a combination of in-office and at-home treatments for rosacea:

In-Office:

• Lasers and other light treatments – Pulsed Dye Lasers can help treat the facial redness, flushing and broken blood vessels

At-Home:

• Antibiotics- Applied to the skin and taken in pill
• Sunscreen- Wearing sunscreen outside can help prevent flare-ups