Rosacea: Symptoms

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Symptoms

Some people may notice that their skin has become very sensitive or that they blush easily before they notice other symptoms of rosacea. For example, facial products may burn their skin.

As rosacea develops, redness on the cheeks lingers, like a slight sunburn. This redness and other symptoms of rosacea come and go. The main symptoms include:

• Facial redness/flushing . Triggers, such as sun exposure or alcohol, stimulate increased blood flow, which causes blood vessels to expand and facial redness to appear. In women, the redness usually appears on the cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. The redness may appear in a "butterfly" pattern across the cheeks and nose. Facial redness in men typically appears on the nose, although symptoms can appear on other areas of the face. In some cases, redness may also occur on the neck and upper chest.
• Pimples on the face. Small pimples may occur on the red areas of skin or on the edges. These pimples—red, round bumps in the skin—are different than acne pimples, which are blackheads or whiteheads.
• Red lines on the face (telangiectasia). These small, thin, red lines are tiny blood vessels that look like spiderwebs, and they usually appear on the cheeks.
• Swollen bumps on the nose. In severe cases, mostly in men, the nose appears enlarged, bulbous, and red, a condition called rhinophyma .
• Eye irritation. Symptoms include redness, dryness, burning, crusted mucus, tearing, a gritty feeling like that of sand in the eye, pinkeye (conjunctivitis), and swelling in the eyelid. The eyes may not tolerate contact lenses, and styes may develop. In some cases, vision may be blurry, but only in severe cases is vision damaged. About half of the people with rosacea have some eye irritation or symptoms.²

Rosacea may be mistaken for some other conditions with similar symptoms, such as acne or lupus.

Some research suggests a link between rosacea and migraine headaches.¹ Blood vessels may be the connection between these two conditions.

Last updated:	July 24, 2007
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC