Prep your skin for the holidays with our tinted skincare
Complimentary gift with every purchase over £75
Get your personalized diagnosis in under 4 minutes
Library
All Topics
Comment reconnaître les différents types de rougeurs ?

How to Recognize the Different Types of Rashes?

Painful, unsightly and uncomfortable. Redness can appear on the face or on other parts of the body. Depending on their cause, they can take different forms which can be extensive and inflamed.

Summary
Published August 10, 2022, updated on December 13, 2023, by Maylis, Chemical Engineer — 4 min read
Redness

Redness Due to Blemishes.

Acne generally appears on oily skin. It results from the obstruction of the pores due to an excessive secretion of sebum by the sebaceous glands and the colonization of certain pathogenic bacteria. A rash may give the skin a red appearance, due to the inflammatory nature of acne.

In addition, acne and blemishes can lead to post-inflammatory erythema (PIE). These are persistent pinkish-reddish flat spots. When the skin experiences a bacterial infection, blood flow to the blemish area increases. Thus, these marks are caused by the dilation of the blood capillaries. These red marks are more visible on fair skin.

Unlike acne scars, these marks are temporary and usually disappear spontaneously without leaving scars after several months (between 3 and 24 months). Sometimes it takes several years. However, the speed of their disappearance depends on your relationship with the sun, which can lengthen the healing time. As well, it depends on the difference between the color of your skin and the color of the spot.

Rougeurs d'imperfections.
Rougeurs d'imperfections.
Source : https://dermnetnz.org/

Redness Due to the Dilation of Microvessels.

Called rosacea or couperose, this chronic skin condition is the result of a large influx of blood when the blood capillaries that circulate through the skin dilate excessively in the dermis. This redness is usually observed on hypersensitive skin, due to an altered skin barrier and hyper-reactivity of the sensory fibers. It would not necessarily appear on normal skin. The redness may appear in localized areas and affect mainly the central part of the face (cheeks, nose, forehead and chin), or extend to the entire face in the most extreme cases. Depending on the condition of the skin, they can be temporary and disappear in a few minutes, or last for hours, days or even weeks. Although they are more common in fair-skinned people, all skin types can be affected.

Today, the physiological causes remain poorly identified. However, several factors can aggravate it, such as a disturbance of the immune system or a skin reaction following exposure to the sun.

In addition, redness may be genetic in origin. Indeed, this form of skin inflammation can be hereditary, especially in individuals with vasoreactive skin.

Note: Rosacea affects mostly women. This skin condition often occurs from the age of 30 and is characterized by distributed redness.

Rosacée.
Rosacée.
Source : https://dermnetnz.org/

Irritation Redness.

These discomforts are triggered when the person is faced with a stimulus. This is called contact eczema. These lesions are triggered by skin contact with an allergen: it is an acquired inflammatory skin disease. Thus, unlike atopic eczema (or atopic dermatitis), contact eczema is not due to an atopic condition that comes from allergies.

Contact dermatitis is an allergic reaction that occurs even in the absence of a genetic allergy-prone condition (unlike atopic dermatitis). After contact with the allergen in question, several symptoms may appear: red patches, swelling, small pimples, fluid-filled blisters, thickening of the skin and scaling.

Several elements can cause such reactions: cheap jewelry, clothing, local medications, perfumes, chemicals, cosmetics, hair products...

Rougeurs d'irritation.
Rougeurs d'irritation.
Source : https://dermnetnz.org/

Diagnostic

Understand your skin
and its complex needs.

Read more