Rosacea: Which treatments have been well-studied?
Skin creams containing metronidazole or azaleic acid can help reduce the symptoms of rosacea, but other treatments have not been well-enough studied.
Rosacea is a very common skin condition, affecting the faces of up to 1 in 10 people (10%). It can cause flushing and redness, papules (red pimples) and pustules, as well as enlarged blood vessels. It can affect the eyes and eyelids, and in its more severe forms it can cause swelling and bumps, especially on the nose.
A wide variety of creams, lotions and gels are offered for the relief of rosacea symptoms. For more severe forms, stronger medications are often used, and these can have adverse effects. You can learn more about rosacea and its treatments in our Fact Sheet.
In order to try to find out what the most effective treatments for rosacea are, researchers analysed trials that tested the various options.
Researchers found 29 trials, and were able to draw to main conclusions. The first is that there is some evidence that two types of medicated creams can lead to an improvement in rosacea: those containing azelaic acid and those with the antibiotic, metronidazole. These creams did not cause a lot of adverse effects and those side effects were not serious.
The second conclusion was that other frequently used treatments have not been adequately tested, and so their effects cannot be assessed. This includes tetracycline and other medications that are used for serious skin changes caused by rosacea. Those medications can also cause adverse effects.
- Created (German version): February 14th 2006 10:00
- Last update: April 16th 2006 16:19
- History: Show list
- Source: van Zuuren EJ, Graber MA, Hollis S, Chaudhry M, Gupta AK, Gover M. Interventions for rosacea. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 3 of 2005. (Cochrane Database)