antibiotic treatment

[julie.robletbridger]

Hi i suffer from rosacea and I have enough with red nose and cheeks. I look much older than I should. GP gave me a mild antibiotic to take everyday as long as I want. Not sure I want to take antibiotic all my life...is it efficient anyway ?

[Dr Anjali Mahto]

Dear Julie,

Many thanks for your question. Antibiotic treatments can usually be quite helpful in cases of rosacea, particularly when there is a combination of redness and bumps on the skin. These are often combined with cream treatments applied to the skin.

There are other things, however, that may also help your rosacea control. It is important that you wear a daily sunscreen (SPF 50, broad spectrum with UVA and UVB cover). UV radiation is a common trigger for many people that suffer with rosacea. Regular sunscreen will also slow down the ageing process in the skin, something else you mentioned you were worried about. Other common rosacea triggers include: alcohol, stress, changes in temperature, physical exertion - if you find that this is the case for you, then it may help to limit these as much as possible.

If redness is your main concern, then laser treatments are the best way to reduce this. Unfortunately, this is not available on the NHS. Make-up that has a green tint may also help disguise the areas of redness.

These links may be helpful to you:
http://www.bad.org.uk/shared/get-file.a ... e=document
www.rosacea.org

I hope that answers some of your questions.

Best wishes,

Anjali

[Dr Anton Alexandroff]

Dear Julie,

Thank you for you question, in general I agree with my Dr Mahto. Rosacea can be quite embarrassing.

It is helpful to minimise exposure to triggers including sun protection.
Antibiotic creams and oral antibiotics are generally well tolerated and can be helpful for pustules and bumps of rosacea and can be used for this particular condition for prolonged periods of time if required.

If oral antibiotics cause a stomach upset or thrush or sun sensitivity there is a new antibiotic now available - Efracea. Efface also does not cause resistance of microbes to antibiotics, because it is used in so called sub microbial slow release dose/preparation.
Also there is a new non-antibiotic cream called soolantra which is just been licensed in the UK -it is faster and less irritant than old fashioned antibiotic cream.

if the problem is flushing / red face - there is a new gel available called Mirvaso. It is helpful to the majority of patients with flushing rosacea but it can take about a month to see maximum effect.

If it is of any use, you can see more information about rosacea, efracea, mirvaso
on my website www.alexandroff.org.uk

I hope this is helpful.
With best wishes,

Dr Anton Alexandroff MCP(UK) CCT(Dermatology) FAAD FRSM
Consultant Dermatologist in Leicester Spire and Nuffield Health Hospitals and University Hospitals of Leicester
Member of the British Association of Dermatologists
www.alexandroff.org.uk
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