Brief overview
- Definition: Couperosis is a chronic skin disease that mainly affects adults. Experts debate whether it is an early stage of rosacea.
- Symptoms: Most often, couperosis affects the face. Common symptoms include dry, sensitive, tight skin, sudden redness (triggered by triggers such as spicy food), visibly dilated, reddish veins on the face.
- Cause: Unclear. Several factors may interact in the development of the disease. Possible triggers of the symptoms: UV light, heat, cold, spicy food, alcohol, nicotine, substances from (skin) care products, mechanical stimuli, stress.
- Treatment: gel with brimonidine, laser treatment, psychotherapy,
- Skin care: do not wash/shower/bathe too often and too hot; use gentle cleansing milk for the face, dab off residues with cotton pad; use skin care products with suitable ingredients (such as NMF, urea, vitamin E, ceramides, plant oils).
What is couperosis?
Couperosis is a chronic skin disease, the cause of which is not yet known exactly. Affected people have very sensitive skin. Particularly on the face and décolleté, it reacts to touch and care products with dryness, redness, tension and itching. Local inflammatory reactions cause the smallest blood vessels in the face to dilate, making them visible to the naked eye (telangiectasias).
Couperosis usually first appears between the ages of 30 and 40. Women are affected by this skin condition somewhat more frequently than men.
Experts are divided as to whether couperosis is an independent clinical picture or a precursor of the skin disease rosacea.
What are the symptoms of couperosis?
As the disease progresses, the smallest blood vessels in the face dilate: Particularly on the cheeks and around the nose, fine, bluish-red veins then shimmer through the skin. From a greater distance, these skin areas look uniformly and permanently reddened.
Other couperosis symptoms are:
- burning skin sensation
- itching
- @ dry, tense and sensitive skin
The symptoms of couperosis resemble those of an allergic reaction, especially in the early stages. Such hypersensitivity reactions of the immune system can occur in all skin types! Couperosis, on the other hand, mainly affects people with dry and sensitive skin. Conversely, not everyone with dry, sensitive skin suffers from couperosis. If in doubt, talk to your dermatologist and have your skin examined.
Couperosis and rosacea: what’s the difference?
Such pustules or nodules on the face do not develop with couperosis. In addition, the course of the disease is milder. The symptoms tend to occur in fits and starts and then disappear again. In rosacea, on the other hand, the skin is permanently reddened and, in more advanced stages, plagued by severe inflammation.
Learn more about rosacea, its symptoms and treatment here.
Couperose: What is the cause?
The exact cause of couperosis is not yet clear. Doctors assume an interaction of various factors in the development of this skin disease.
Since those affected often suffer from oily-dry skin, some experts see this as a possible cause. If the skin is too dry and is not sufficiently nourished, its barrier function is disturbed. As a result, the skin absorbs more substances from the environment – including substances that are not good for it.
A genetic weakness of the connective tissue as well as high blood pressure could also be causes of couperosis.
Couperosis: Triggers
The sudden reddening of the skin that occurs with couperosis can be triggered by various triggers. What these are can vary greatly from patient to patient. Possible triggers are for example:
- spicy or highly seasoned food
- Caffeine
- nicotine
- mechanical irritation of the skin through friction (e.g. rubbing a wet face dry with a towel) or pressure
- certain ingredients in skin care products
- excessive skin care
- detergents
- certain medications
- heat
- cold
- UV radiation
Couperosis: Diagnosis
If you experience unexplained skin symptoms such as redness, itching, burning and dry patches on your face, you should consult your family doctor. He can assess whether it is a common skin irritation or couperosis, rosacea or another skin disease could be behind your symptoms. If necessary, he or she will refer you to a dermatologist.
The doctor will closely examine your skin on the face, neck and décolleté. Usually, this professional examination of the affected skin areas is sufficient to diagnose couperosis.
Couperosis: Treatment
Couperosis is usually a cosmetic problem. The redness of the skin is uncomfortable for many sufferers. Other symptoms such as itching and burning can also be very bothersome. No wonder that affected people usually urgently want to know: “What helps against couperosis?”.
Medication
Doctors can prescribe a gel with the active ingredient brimonidine for couperosis. This ensures that the dilated vessels in the face constrict again. The blood supply to them then decreases, and the redness recedes.
Affected persons should apply the brimonidine gel exactly according to the doctor’s instructions. It is important to avoid the eyes, lips, mouth and nostrils.
If the skin is dry when you apply the gel, you can apply a gentle moisturizing cream afterwards.
Unlike rosacea, creams containing antibiotics do not help with couperose. The creams are supposed to relieve skin inflammation in rosacea. However, such inflammations are absent in couperosis.
Laser treatment
Depending on the severity of couperosis and the patient’s level of suffering, couperosis can also be removed with a laser:
Several sessions are usually necessary for effective removal of couperosis. However, couperosis may recur later.
Laser treatment is not a substitute for drug therapy or the use of skin care products, but rather a supplement.
Psychotherapy
Many patients suffer greatly from the skin changes on the face. Insecurity, anxiety and depressive moods can develop. This in turn has a negative impact on the skin condition.
Individual case studies show that behavioral therapy and relaxation exercises can alleviate the psychological discomfort of those affected. If you too are suffering greatly from your couperose, be sure to seek help and talk to a therapist!
Home remedies for couperose on the face
Leave the cooling overlay on the skin only as long as you find it comfortable. If the cold causes pain or worsens the discomfort, remove the overlay immediately.
What can you do yourself against couperose?
If you suffer from couperose, you can relieve the discomfort yourself with a few tips. An important aid against couperosis is proper skin care. Nutrition and psychological well-being also play a role. Here are the most important tips:
Couperose: Proper care
The goal of skin care for couperose is to restore the skin’s barrier function and provide it with sufficient moisture. As a result, the skin regenerates and discomforts such as itching and burning diminish. The blood vessels can also be decongested with the right care, making them less visible.
Basically, the following applies to skin cleansing and skin care on the entire body:
- Use water and cleansing products sparingly.
- Do not use fatty acid salts (soaps, vegetable soaps) or surfactants of the alkyl sulfate group (fatty alcohol sulfates) for skin cleansing.
- Instead, reach for mild surfactants, e.g. betaines, collagen surfactants, alkyl polyglycosides.
- Use products that contain additional lipids (e.g. skin-compatible shower oils with a particularly high lipid content).
- Rinse all cleansing products thoroughly so that no residue remains on the skin.
- Pay attention to the correct pH value: All cleansing and care products should be slightly acidic and thus skin-neutral (pH value 5.9 to 5.5).
- Avoid products with fragrances and preservatives.
It is best to use a gentle cleansing milk or cream to cleanse the face of couperose. Apply the milk evenly and then rinse it off with a little water. If the water dries out or stresses your skin too much, dab off the cleansing milk with a cotton pad.
Suitable ingredients for care products
With couperose, it is important to use the right skin care products to avoid putting additional stress on the skin. It is best to use products with NMF (Natural Moisturizing Factor) and urea.
- NMF: The Natural Moisturizing Factor consists mainly of free amino acids, salts, lactic acid and urea. It moisturizes the skin. This makes it more elastic and resistant and supports the barrier function.
- Urea: Urea is a natural component of the skin. It binds moisture in the upper layers of the skin, keeping it elastic and supple.
For the care of dry and stressed skin, its supply with vitamins, fats and waxes is also important. In addition to vitamin E (tocopherol) and ceramides, olive, sunflower, jojoba, soybean, almond, evening primrose and borage oils are suitable ingredients for daily skin care products.
Identify and avoid triggers
If you want to prevent (more severe) symptoms of couperose, you should avoid trigger factors. To do this, however, you must first find out which factors can cause flushes in you.
A diary in which you note down every day for a while what you ate and drank and which cleansing and care products you used will help you to do this. Also write down other possible influences, such as weather factors (like temperature), swimming pool and sauna visits, and use of medications. In addition, record in the diary any symptoms that occur.
Evaluating these records can help you identify effective trigger factors for couperose symptoms in your case. If you are unsure about this, you can ask your doctor for help.
Identified personal trigger factors must then be avoided in the future. This may mean, for example…
- use less / different skin care products
- quit smoking
- stop or reduce caffeine consumption
- to abstain from certain spices (see also next point)
Couperose: diet
Certain nutritional factors can also be a trigger for couperose.
Very often this applies to hot food. If this also applies to you, you should let meals cool down briefly before you start eating. This reduces the risk of a “flush”.
Strong spices can also be critical in couperosis, which is why some people only season lightly when cooking (if someone who does not have couperosis is also eating, they can season their portion on the plate as they wish). However, it is not necessary to remove all spices from the menu. It is better to try out individually which spices (and possibly also their quantity) you can tolerate and which not.
Couperosis: course and prognosis
The course of the disease varies greatly from individual to individual. Couperosis can persist for a lifetime. Over time, it can develop into rosacea.
Couperosis is not curable, but harmless. However, it can become a cosmetic problem: For some sufferers, the skin changes on the face are emotionally very stressful. With the right care and treatment, however, the symptoms of copuperosis can be alleviated.
