Blushing propensity scores are elevated in people with severe rosacea. Fear of blushing may contribute to social anxiety and avoidance in such cases. Cognitive-behavioural therapy for fear of blushing may help to reduce social anxiety in people with severe rosacea.

Rosacea is a chronic skin disorder, characterized by persistent painful facial flushing and often accompanied by papules and pustules. To investigate the mechanism of facial flushing in rosacea, acetylcholine was administered by iontophoresis to a 10-mm diameter site in the forehead of 31 patients with rosacea and in 29 controls of similar age and sex distribution. During the iontophoresis, current strengths doubled in eight steps from 2.5 to 320 μA. For each step, skin blood flow was monitored during 60 s of iontophoresis and for 2 min afterwards with laser Doppler flow probes at the site of iontophoresis and 5-8 mm away in the region of axon reflex vasodilatation. Vascular responses to acetylcholine were similar in patients and controls, but stinging sensations were greater in patients than in controls at the most intense current strength. In addition, axon reflex vasodilatation was greater in patients with severe than mild rosacea. These findings suggest that activation of nociceptive nerve fibres contributes to skin sensitivity in patients with rosacea, and that axon reflexes augment flushing in patients with the most severe symptoms.

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Objective. Rosacea is characterized by extremely sensitive skin and persistent facial flushing, perhaps initiated or exacerbated by frequent or intense blushing. To investigate this, blushing was assessed in rosacea sufferers and controls during embarrassing laboratory tasks.Methods. Changes in forehead blood flow were monitored with laser Doppler fluxmetry in 31 rosacea sufferers (12 with severe symptoms and 19 with mild symptoms) and 86 controls while singing, giving an impromptu speech, and listening to recordings of these activities.Results. Changes in forehead blood flow were similar in rosacea sufferers and controls, and were similar in subgroups with mild and severe rosacea. Even so, rosacea sufferers thought that that they blushed more intensely and were more embarrassed than controls during most of the tasks. Likewise, changes in forehead blood flow were similar in participants with mild and severe rosacea. Nevertheless, ratings of embarrassment and blushing were greater in those with severe than mild symptoms. Within the rosacea group, increases in blood flow while singing were greatest in participants with the highest blushing ratings, whereas increases in blood flow while listening to the speech were greatest in the most embarrassed participants.Conclusions. These findings do not support the hypothesis that blushing is abnormal in rosacea but, nevertheless, suggest that rosacea sufferers are more aware of and embarrassed by blushing than controls. This might contribute to social anxiety in rosacea sufferers.

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