Everyone has a love for beauty. Emily found out that she had rosacea since middle school. She once sought medical treatment from a doctor and adjusted her life and eating habits to stabilize her condition. But good times don’t last long. In recent years, affected by the epidemic, wearing a mask for a long time has made her skin deteriorate again. Some dermatologists pointed out that although there are no official statistics for the time being, in clinical observation, the number of cases of rosacea rose during the epidemic. He reminded that to avoid inducing or worsening rosacea, start with life first and stay away from high-risk factors.
Emily recalled that it was not the first time that her condition deteriorated. After traveling to Thailand in 2017, it is estimated that her condition deteriorated due to unstable weather, eating too much strong-flavored food during the trip, and working relationships and lack of time to rest. She has since stabilized by adjusting her diet and skin care habits. However, in recent years, when wearing a mask for a long time, it has spread from only the cheeks to rosacea on both sides of the cheeks. In addition, she admitted that due to the social distancing measures that have continued for a long time, she also had gatherings with friends after the relaxation earlier, which led to the relaxation of diet and the deterioration of her skin again.
Women more often have rosacea, cause unknown
Rosacea is a common chronic inflammatory disease that is more common in women than men. Dr. Chen Yong, a dermatologist, pointed out that family history, Demodex mites on the skin, overreaction of the immune system to bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, and protein antimicrobial peptides, etc. Causes of redness and swelling.
Although the etiology of rosacea is still unknown, clinically, there are many high-risk factors that can induce this skin problem. Dr. Chen pointed out that extreme weather temperature, exposure to sunlight, eating too hot or spicy food, drinking hot beverages, alcohol, caffeinated beverages, using certain cosmetics or skin care products containing stimulating ingredients, and mental stress, etc. opportunity induced.
Study: Wearing a mask exacerbates rosacea
However, during the epidemic, wearing a mask is a measure to prevent infection, but it has also become one of the factors that exacerbate rosacea. Dr. Chen cited a foreign study involving 66 patients, including 30 suffering from acne and 36 patients with rosacea. The study compared skin symptoms before and after the implementation of quarantine measures and found that the severity of rosacea had an upward trend, especially in areas covered by masks. Dr. Chen pointed out that the study was conducted using the Global Acne Grading Scale (GAGS), in which the scores of the left cheek, right cheek, mouth, nose and chin, which were covered by the mask, doubled, indicating that the condition was aggravated.
In recent years, the medical field has also found that the Demodex follicle mites that live on human skin for a long time are closely related to rosacea. Dr. Chen pointed out that Demodex folliculorum is one of the mites, which can be found on the skin of most people and usually do not cause any harm.
Although it has not been confirmed that Demodex follicles can cause rosacea, Dr. Chen pointed out that Demodex follicles are more common on the skin of patients with rosacea than ordinary people, up to 70%, compared with 31.8% of ordinary people; the medical community estimates that, Type mites play an important role in the study of the pathogenesis of rosacea. At present, studies have shown that the use of the topical drug “ivermectin” can effectively improve the problem of facial papules and pustules.
The most important thing to treat rosacea is to start with life. Dr. Chen pointed out that ultraviolet rays, harsh spices, weather changes and alcohol are all risk factors for rosacea, so the easiest way is to stay away and change your lifestyle.