It’s a little known fact that the skin disorder known as “rosacea” is one of the top incorrectly spelled conditions in the medical field.  It is often called rosacia, rosecea, roseacea, roscea and a number of derivatives, but the appropriate spelling of this socially disruptive skin disease is R-o-s-a-c-e-a.

You will also hear this skin disease called acne rosacea because its symptoms (e.g. pimples, pustules, whiteheads) closely resembling the universal skin disease called Acne Vulgaris, which translated is ‘common acne.’  However the reality is that roscea is quite a different animal .  This skin condition primarily is noticed on the facial skin and is usually comprised of flareups and remissions.  A primary difference from acne is that rosacea generally starts after 30 years of age and can become visible on men and women as late as the middle to late forties.  

Most Popular Misspellings of The Term Rosacea

We have found that close to ten percent of the searches performed on leading search engines by men and women looking for more information about Rosacea are mis-spelled versions of the appropriate medical nomenclature.  Compiling a list of the highest incident mis-spellings, the pronunciation of these terms seems to be phonetically spelled out:  roseca, rosacae, rosacia, rosecea. 

If you think that these incorrect spellings are a fluke, think again!  They are searched for between 33 (rosacae) and 325 (rosacia) times on an average day.   Even though mis-spellings are discouraged by Google, numerous pages can be located using these misspelled terms in an effort to connect with the rosacea patients who have tried their best to find more information about this skin disorder.

Dealing With Rosacea

Despite how you spell “Rosacea”, the symptoms and effects are generally the same over the broader population.  Even though each man or woman diagnosed with this skin disorder can have slightly different symptoms and different degrees of severity, the disorder can quite often be diagnosed easily by a certified dermatologist.  The leading symptoms are revealed as a reddening of the nose, both cheeks, the chin, and possibly forehead.  The good news is that the symptoms are transient and periods of remission generally follow exacerbations .  

It’s a sad fact that there is no documented solution for this skin disorder.  But, with proper treatment and lifestyle adjustments, it can be dealt with effectively.   So, whether we spell it rosecea, roscea, or roseca, the symptoms and social effects will need to be addressed.

Both a skin and eye disorder, acne rosacea disease is a type of acne characterized by the appearance of pustules and vascular manifestations on the affected tissues. So far, the cause that triggers acne rosacea is not fully explained although it is known that sun exposure will increase the risk of disease development. The face and the chest are the most affected body parts both by the flushing and the pustules outbreak, and the disease tends to get worse after spicy food, hot drinks and alcohol.

It appears that acne rosacea affects more women than men, with the preponderance of the condition in the middle-aged group. Thus, most of the cases have been reported on people between 30 and 60, with the mention that in the case of black complexions the identification is more difficult and often delayed. Although many assumptions have been made on the preponderance of acne rosacea with fair-skinned people, the theory is not supported by clinical evidence.

The acne blemishes characteristic to the disease are most often distributed in the nose area, on the cheeks and chin, but the central forehead doesn’t get spared either. The skin is usually very oily too, yet there are some major differences between acne rosacea and valgaris acne disease. In traditional acne forms, comedones are widely spread, whereas with rosacea they only appear in the flush areas. Moreover, acne rosacea has a hypertrophy dimension that is not found with acne vulgaris.

Unlike regular acne forms, acne rosacea is a chronic disease that evolves in time, sometimes extending over years. Most often, topical corticosteroids are applied to reduce the intensity of the symptoms and to improve the overall condition, but they are not suitable for long-term therapy due to the tissue atrophy risk or the danger to cause permanent vaso-dilation. Most doctors will therefore choose to recommend the systemic treatment instead of the topical one.

Depending on the skin changes caused by acne rosacea, surgical intervention could become necessary but only after running medical tests and at the special recommendation of a dermatologist. Electrocautery and the tunable dye laser procedure represent the two main solutions under the circumstances, but one could also choose excision, skin grafting, dermabrasion ands so on. The analysis of acne rosacea should not be ignored or postponed even if the condition shows an improvement over some periods of time.