Got Rosacea or Eczema?
Rosacea or Eczema?
Two common skin conditions that can sometimes cause confusion. Lets take this opportunity to discuss the differences, making it easier to tell them apart.
What is Rosacea?
The first signs of rosacea include
- Redness or 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.
- As rosacea gets worse, your cheeks, nose, skin and forehead will be red all the time.
- Tiny broken blood vessels that do not go away may appear on your skin.
- You may get small pink or red bumps. Sometimes these become filled with a yellowish liquid.
- 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); plus thickened skin, mainly on the nose which only usually appears after many years.
While it is not known what causes rosacea, there are some triggers that can make symptoms worse or even cause outbreaks.
What is Eczema?
- Eczema is an inflammatory skin condition that causes itchiness, dry skin, rashes, scaly patches, blisters and skin infections.
- Itchy skin is the most common symptom of eczema.
- There are seven different types of eczema: atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema, nummular eczema, seborrheic dermatitis and stasis dermatitis.
- More than 31 million Americans have some form of eczema.
- Eczema can begin during childhood, adolescence, or adulthood – and it can range from mild to severe. Newborn babies can experience eczema within the first weeks and months after birth.
- Young children with eczema can experience patches of skin that are extremely dry; itchy skin that can lead to blisters and skin infections due to excessive scratching.
- Many people with eczema use the phrase “flare-up” to describe a phase of eczema when they are experiencing one or more acute symptoms or side effects from prolonged itchiness.
- Severe eczema may include periods of flare-ups that can last many days or even several weeks.
- Atopic dermatitis, the most common type of eczema (sometimes referred to as “atopic eczema”) is caused by an overactive immune system that causes the skin barrier to become dry and itchy.
- It is good to know that eczema is not contagious.
- Those with eczema will often also complain of symptoms of hay fever, allergic asthma and food allergies. There is a connection between all four conditions.
Proper, consistent skin care is essential in the prevention and management of eczema. It is all about moisturizing the skin.
Common triggers for rosacea include
- alcohol
- spicy foods
- cheese
- caffeine
- hot drinks
- aerobic exercise like running
Ideally, you should get a medical diagnosis when suffering from any serious skin condition so that you know what you are dealing with and can take appropriate action.
Treating eczema and rosacea symptoms
Healing Natural Oils can offer a product for both of these conditions to help with their treatment.
H-Eczema Formula
Although there is no cure as yet for eczema, it is possible to control the symptoms, naturally. Safe and gentle to use anywhere on the body and for adults and young children alike, H-Eczema Formula provides quick and soothing relief from the itching and discomfort caused by all types of eczema.
The Formula helps to reduce outbreaks while assisting in smoothing, re-texturing and moisturizing the skin.
H-Rosacea Formula
The Formula provides a natural solution for the redness and blotchy skin that is a prominent feature of rosacea. This safe, gentle and natural product (with no harmful additives) is the ideal option when treating this skin condition. Applied topically, H-Rosacea Formula is extremely gentle on the skin, helping cope with the different stages of rosacea as they occur...
- Pre-rosacea: Frequent flushing and skin sensitivity.
- Vascular rosacea: Small blood vessels on the nose and cheeks swell and become visible.
- Inflammatory rosacea: Small red bumps appear and become painful.
SOURCES:
NAMCS Factsheet for Dermatology (2010) (cdc.gov)
Tables - Eczema Skin Problems (cdc.gov)
See How to Identify Different Skin Conditions
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.