Q. Does drinking alcohol cause rosacea?
Rosacea (roh-ZAY-shee-uh) is a chronic skin disease that causes redness and swelling. It usually affects the face. It can also strike the scalp, neck, ears, chest and back. You can also get it in your eyes; this condition is called ocular rosacea. The disease can make the eyes look bloodshot.
Research has debunked the old tale that rosacea is caused by heavy drinking. Alcohol aggravates rosacea but does not cause it. Another myth is that rosacea is “adult acne.” The disease has little to do with the pimples and blackheads of acne.
There is no cure for rosacea and science hasn’t found a cause. However, dermatologists can attack the symptoms with medication, laser surgery and other treatments if the disease is caught early. It may take two months of treatment before skin affected by rosacea looks better.
Some believe that early treatment may reverse the disease. If ignored, rosacea often worsens and becomes difficult to treat. Rosacea may last for years. For most people it tends to get better and then flare up again.
People with fair skin tend to get rosacea. Women are afflicted more often than men, but men get more severe forms of the disease. Rosacea often runs in families.
