A New (Less Red) You In The New Year: Eliminating Facial Redness

By Geeta M. Shah, MD
Washington’s Finest – Spring 2007
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Remember back to those days of youth, when having rosy glow in your cheeks was a sign of good health? As we get older, having those permanently red cheeks is not so desirable anymore. Maybe the redness has now even spread to the chin and even to the nose. You may even notice little red lines on your face, which are actually enlarged blood vessels. Now your friends may make remarks like, “You look really flushed, what happened to you?” or “Have you just finished exercising?” Even worse, using that green concealer that is supposed to make the redness on your face look less apparent is just too time-consuming and is not even working anymore! Can anything be done to get rid of this redness? Luckily, there is a solution!

Facial redness can be due to various causes. Some people have a genetic tendency to having redness, flushing and enlarged blood vessels and may have a component of rosacea. In some cases, rosacea patients may have associated acne; however a group of people with rosacea have a tendency towards just having a “red face” and broken blood vessels.

Another cause of redness and broken blood vessels is long-term sun exposure. If you fall into this category, you can see that the redness may extend down to the sides of your neck and even the upper part of your chest. Often times, there will be scattered brown spots intermixed with the red.

Despite the cause of the problem, redness and vessels can be successfully treated with lasers. You may have had your facial vessels treated with various “devices” in the past, but these days we have newer lasers that allow for more effective, less painful treatments with virtually no downtime. With each treatment, the vessels will shrink and become less noticeable. The usual number of treatments is about three, generally spaced about 1 month apart, but you may require greater or fewer treatments depending on how much redness you have. For some people who are very severe (or looking for faster improvement), a topical solution can be used that makes you more sensitive to the laser light, however there is some downtime with this procedure.

Will the effect of these lasers last?

With a proper skin-care regimen and occasional maintenance treatments from time-to-time in the future, the results are long-lasting. Wearing a good daily sunscreen is especially important, and if you are planning to be out in the sun for long periods of time, reapply every 90 minutes.

Thanks to advances in laser technology, treating facial vessels is extremely effective and involves no downtime. You won’t believe how easy it is to get rid of of that problematic redness on your face. Here’s to a “New You” this year! Now you can kiss the green concealer goodbye!