I didn’t think there was anything really wrong; I just figured I had sensitive skin. So, I handled my constant ruddiness the way I always had: cover it and carry on. Then, at my last visit with Rachel Nazarian, MD, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, she described my pinkish complexion as "background redness," which refers to a rosy glow that sits between "I have sensitive skin" and "I have rosacea." A lot of women, she tells me, live in that gap for a long time before discovering that they too have background redness.
Turns out, I’d spent years managing the symptom without ever treating the cause. But with a name for what I was experiencing, so too came a solution. Nazarian did for me, how to know if you’re battling background redness, and what to realistically expect treatment-wise.
In short, it's the pinkness that never fully clears, even when your skin is calm. "'Background redness' is typically a reference to a generalized increase in small blood vessels and capillaries of the skin," Dr. "The vessels can widen or become inflamed, and many 'break,' leading to lasting redness in the form of telangiectasias [visible broken blood vessels]." Certain triggers, such as sun exposure, topical irritants, smoking, alcohol, and even certain autoimmune diseases, can make it worse she explains, and it’s very possible it will "never go back down to its original creamy skin tone." Since I know the question is already on your lips, background redness is quite different from rosacea.
The latter is caused by a chronic flushing that leads to inflammation and, over time, a weakening of vessel walls so that they lose elasticity and stay dilated or permanently enlarged. It’s also pretty common: A 2018 study in the British Journal of Dermatology estimated that rosacea affects about 5.46% of people worldwide, which works out to roughly 415 million individuals. Diagnosis comes from your history plus a dermatologist’s evaluation of the pattern and distribution of the redness.
You don't need dramatic symptoms to be diagnosed with rosacea either—Dr. Nazarian says many people show up with early forms, like chronic flushing, small acne-like bumps or a dry-eye sensation. She doesn't consider any type of rosacea "mild," because it often progresses if untreated or if the person isn't educated on triggers.
Nazarian is bullish on controlling skin inflammation even in the earlier stages to keep skin healthy and prevent progression. "The stinging and burning sensation, and different inflammatory lesions." IPL is one of the tools dermatologists use for exactly this: redness from vessels that no longer constrict. "IPL is a light treatment that uses a broad-spectrum of light to minimize blood vessels and can improve background redness," Dr.
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