Dealing with chronic redness on your face

While emotions can cause redness on your face, including the cheeks, the ears and the nose, facial redness is often the symptom of an underlying medical condition.

Many people experience facial redness from time to time, however, redness on face that occurs for prolonged periods of time, or that never disappears, is cause for concern, and a medical specialist should be seen to determine the exact cause and to figure out how to get rid of it.

Redness on face can be expressed in a number of ways:

• Blushing
• Flushing
• Rash
• Red pus-filled bumps
• Blotchy skin

A large number of problems and conditions can be responsible for causing facial redness.

One culprit could be a common skin condition known as rosacea.

• Rosacea causes redness of the cheeks, nose, chin or forehead, small blood vessels on the face, as well as bumps and pimples on the face.
• Rosacea symptoms can be mild, however, without proper medical treatment, rosacea can quickly worsen.

While other causes of redness on face, such as drinking alcohol, sunburn, hot beverages, hot and spicy foods or exercise, could be to blame, facial redness may be the sign of something much more serious such as:

• High fever
• Rapid change in temperatures
• High blood pressure
• Menopause
• Reaction to a medication
• CarcinoidSyndrome
• Allergies
• Acne
• Skin infection
• Hyperthyroidism
• Panic disorder
• Lupus
• Circulatory problems

These are just a few of the large number of diseases and disorders that could be the cause of redness on face. It is highly advisable that one seeks prompt medical attention for any type of sudden or persistent facial redness, particularly if you have other symptoms such as:

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Swollen tongue or face
• Hives
• Itching
• Confusion
• Shortness of breath
• Rapid breathing

For those who suffer from facial redness, there are some ways to help prevent and/or minimize a recurrence of this skin condition (in conjunction with proper medical treatment):

• Use relaxation techniques and maintain a healthy lifestyle
• Avoid any known triggers
• Seek treatment for underlying medical condition
• Dress appropriately for extreme weather conditions
• Wash your face with mild, scent-free cleansers and gently pat skin dry
• Stay out of direct sunlight

Depending upon the exact cause of facial redness, there are a number of ways a medical specialist can treat facial redness:

• Anti-inflammatory cream (for conditions such as rosacea)
• Avoiding triggers (rapid temperature change/certain foods and beverages, allergens, etc.)
• Antibiotics
• Cold compress on the affected area
• Drinking cool fluids

Redness on your face can be extremely distressing, annoying and uncomfortable for anyone who suffers from this skin condition.

Proper medical treatment is key to getting the condition under control, and hopefully, completely healed.