Redness, rosacea, couperose: what's the difference?

The rednessrosacea and the couperose all manifest themselves through the presence of redness on the face. Despite this similarity, there are fundamental differences:

• One is physiological, the other is pathological.

  Redness is a physiological condition in which the face, or other parts of the body, take on a more or less intense red color. This phenomenon indicates a significant blood flow, when the blood capillaries that irrigate the skin excessively dilate at the level of the dermis. They are generally observed on hypersensitive skin, due to an altered skin barrier and hyper-reactivity of sensory fibers, whereas they would not necessarily have manifested on normal skin.

  Unlike physiological redness, the rosacea is a disease chronic skin condition that can manifest in 4 different forms: vascular, ocular, papulopustular, or hypertrophic. The presence of facial redness, due to an exaggerated reaction of the blood vessels, is the common point among the 4 forms, but other symptoms may appear.

  Rosacea , specifically couperose rosacea , is the most common form of this skin condition. It is characterized by temporary (erythema) or permanent (erythrosis) redness, accompanied by the development of small, thin, red or purple blood vessels on the skin's surface. These vessels become visible to the naked eye, a condition known as telangiectasias.

  Thus, redness is a skin manifestation of physiological origin, while rosacea is a skin disease. Couperose, on the other hand, is a form of rosacea.

• Different manifestations.

  Redness appears as a red skin. For normal skin, the redness subsides within a few minutes, while for sensitive skin, it can persist for a few days to a few weeks.

  In the case of rosacea and couperose, we observe not only temporary redness but also permanent redness (erythrosis). These erythroses are also accompanied bysmall, thin blood vessels, red or purplishvisible to the naked eye. There is also a form of rosacea, papulopustular rosacea, characterized by the appearance of skin lesions, usually inflamed papules and/or pustules and sometimes painful on the skin surface in addition to the redness. These lesions are often confused with acne.

  extra-cutaneous signs associated with rosacea such as hot flashes , ocular involvement (ocular rosacea).

  Note : Ocular rosacea can sometimes precede skin involvement. It presents in the form of conjunctivitis, eye irritation, eyelid inflammation (blepharitis), watery red eye (conjunctival hyperemia), burning sensation, dryness with a feeling of a foreign body in the eyes, and light sensitivity (photophobia).

  Redness, being physiological, generally manifests as a redder skin tone. On the other hand, rosacea, being a disease, presents additional symptoms that complicate the daily lives of those affected..