Seven out of 10 people develop mild to severe symptoms of facial redness, and it’s almost universal in sun-aged skins, with 30-50 year old Caucasian women being the most susceptible. Some of the symptoms are:
Acne: Hormones that caused breakouts in your teens can cause them again in adulthood with pimples more likely to appear on your jaw line, neck, cheeks and T-zone.
Rosacea: Indicators for this chronic rash include pustules, frequent blushing or flushing, dry facial skin, and aggravation by sun exposure, and hot and spicy foods or drinks.
Photo ageing: Excessive sun exposure and free radical damage can lead to collagen loss and can thin skin over time. This can cause the underlying blood vessels to become more conspicuous, therefore producing redness.
Skin sensitivity: These skins usually have impaired natural protection and can always appear red. If you have a redness condition you would like to improve, contact our practitioners.
Facial redness is most commonly caused by photoageing and occurs in two ways:
- Over time, the skin’s dermal matrix (containing collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid) is broken down as a result of photodamage, subsequently thinning the skin and causing underlying blood vessels (capillaries) in the dermal matrix to become more visible, therefore giving an increased appearance of skin redness.
- As a natural wound healing response to photodamage, the growth factor VEGF (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) is produced in response to UV light entering the skin and creating free radicals. This growth factor stimulates the production of new blood vessels. New and existing blood vessels become contorted and enlarged and this causes an increase in surface redness (angiogenesis).