Hi, it's Winter!
People often comment on my rosy cheeks, but it is more than that. I have rosacea. When my rosacea flares up my entire face becomes red, puffy, splotchy and can last for days, weeks or months.
Rosacea is when blood vessels in the face enlarge, giving the skin a red flushed appearance. Symptoms can be triggered by things from food to stress, even baths or exercise. Common food triggers include: alcohol, hot or spicy food and hot drinks. Exercise and heavy exertion can cause flare ups and so can weather hot or cold, humidity, wind and sunlight. A sudden change in emotions or stress can trigger rosacea. My rosacea flares up for all of these reasons making it embarrassing to go out without makeup sometimes and often leads to the concerned faces or friends who are wondering why my face is suddenly bright red.
"Gluten face" is characterized by puffy red cheeks with dark spots around the mouth and chin. If you are sensitive to gluten it can also cause pimples around the mouth and chin. Blemishes across the forehead and cheeks are also common.
Gluten causes an inflammatory reaction leading to red inflamed skin, bloating of the belly and face.This reaction causes an increased production of pigmentation in your skin cells. "Your Skin Does Not Lie"
Rosacea doesn't only affect appearance . It has been found it to be significantly associated with a range of co-morbidities including depression, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease, according to a review of 29 studies. Also associated with rosacea was anxiety disorder, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus and migraines. The psychological associations may be due to having similar inflammatory pathways.
"The recognition of rosacea as an inflammatory condition similar to psoriasis suggests that, as with psoriasis, rosacea may be associated with a range of systemic diseases, but data on such an association are limited, wrote Roger Haber, MD, from the department of dermatology at Saint George Hospital University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.".