TREATMENT OF ROSACEA

Treating rosacea varies from patient to patient depending onseverity and subtypes. Treatment of rosacea is longterm, usually 1 - 2 yearsbefore the disorder is under control.

The treatment of rosacea including :

• Skin cleansing using non-irritating cleansers and skinprotection from the sun with use of a sunscreen of at least SPF 15 containing aphysical blocker such as zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
• Oral tetracycline antibiotics and topical antibiotics suchas metronidazole are usually the first line of defense to relieve papules,pustules, inflammation and some redness. Topical azelaic acid such as Finacea(15%) or Skinoren (20%) may help reduce inflammatory lesions, bumps andpapules. Oral tetracycline antibiotics ( tetracycline, doxycycline, minocycline) may help to relieve symptoms of ocular rosacea. Isotretinoin can beprescribed, if papules and pustules persist. Isotretinoin has many side effectsand is normally used to treat severe acne but in low dosages is proven to beeffective against papulopustular and phymatous rosacea.
• People with rosacea who develop infections of the eyelidsmust practice frequent eyelid hygiene. Daily scrubbing the eyelids gently withdiluted baby shampoo or an over-the-counter eyelid cleaner and applying warm (but not hot ) compresses several times a day is recommended.
• Dermatological vascular laser ( single wavelength ) orIntense Pulsed Light ( broad spectrum ) machines offer one of the besttreatments for rosacea, in particular the erythema ( rednes s) of the skin.They use light to penetrate the epidermis to target the capillaries in thedermis layer of the skin. The light is absorbed by oxy-hemoglobin which heat upcausing the capillary walls to heat up to 70ºC, damaging them, causing them tobe absorbed by the body's natural defense mechanism. With a sufficient numberof treatments, this method may even eliminate the redness altogether, thoughadditional periodic treatments will likely be necessary to remove newly-formedcapillaries.
• CO2 lasers can be used to remove excess tissue caused byphymatous rosacea. CO2 lasers emit a wavelength that is absorbed directly bythe skin. The laser beam can be focused into a thin beam and used as a scalpelor defocused and used to vaporise tissue. Low level light therapies have alsobeen used to treat rosacea.
• Recently sulphur has re-gained some credibility as a safealternative to steroids and coal tar.
• The treatment of flushing and blushing has been attempted bymeans of the centrally acting α-2 agonist clonidine, but there is no evidencewhatsoever that this is of any benefit. The same is true of the beta-blockersnadolol and propanolol. Recently, a clinically-trialled product range combiningplant-sourced Methylsulfonylmethane ( MSM ) and Silymarin has been used totreat rosacea, blushing and flushing.
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