What’s the Difference Between Acne and Rosacea?
If your skin easily breaks out into a flush with little bumps, it’s easy to assume you are just experiencing an acne breakout. But the truth is, you might actually have rosacea. Women ages 30-5o are the most likely candidates for rosacea, though anyone can get it. It’s very common to confuse acne with rosacea, in fact actress Cynthia Nixon did just that for many years and as a a result was mistreating her skin. The exact cause of rosacea is somewhat of a mystery, but there are many triggers. The most common are sun exposure, stress, alcohol consumption and exercise.
So how to tell the difference between acne and rosacea? The answer is that it’s very hard t to tell. But here are the three top points of difference:
1) Rosacea is normally only found on the nose, cheeks, chin and forehead.
2) People with rosacea do not usually get blackheads.
3) Flushing and redness is always associated with rosacea.
Dr. Schweiger advises people with acne-prone skin who think they may have rosacea to book an appointment to see their dermatologist immediately. Often times the “pimples” associated with rosacea look exactly the same as acne, but the treatments are very different.