If you have seen your skin turn very red this summer, an obvious reason might have been sunburn in the hot June weather. But if you have been putting on plenty of suncream and it is still red in soggy July, it may be that there is a very different explanation.
Should you be suffering from persistently red skin there is a good chance it will have been there before the summer weather anyway, although some conditions can be made worse by hot sunshine.
At our Brighton skin care centre we can treat various conditions, but what we will do and the extent that this will help will depend on the actual condition. Therefore a correct diagnosis is needed.
Among the various chronic conditions causing skin redness are rosacea, eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis, while more sudden (and temporary) conditions include sunburn, infections, or insect bites.
If it is a chronic condition such as rosacea, symptoms include feeling hot on the skin, dryness and soreness. However, it can be treated, using various creams and gels. An expert dermatologist can be invaluable in tackling the condition if it persists, although sufferers can help themselves by reducing triggers such as sunlight exposure, alcohol and spicy food.
A good reason to get an accurate diagnosis is that different conditions can have similar conditions. For instance, psoriasis and rosacea are often conflated, but they are not the same thing.
For example, while rosacea mainly affects the face and causes acne, psoriasis causes red scaly plaques and is found all over the body. Both can be caused by factors like alcohol and stress, but while rosacea is often triggered by hot and sunny weather, psoriasis is most likely to occur when it is cold.
Having red skin is no fun, but with the right treatment for a correctly diagnosed condition, you can find a lot of relief and look a lot better as well.