The National Rosacea Society with support from Aclaris Therapeutics is offering a public service booklet called Recognizing Redness to help rosacea sufferers assess facial redness and understand the most common triggers for flareups.
The booklet includes a redness register—a scale with nine shades of redness, from very light to dark red. In a well-lit room with a mirror, the patient holds the color scale to the back of their hand, neck or other area of skin that gets as much sun exposure as their face to determine the shade of redness and records the number. Next, the patient holds the redness register to affected areas of their face to determine the shade of redness, and records the number. A difference of two or more shades may indicate rosacea, and greater difference may indicate greater severity. The booklet also includes information about rosacea and how it is diagnosed, as well as a list of the most common rosacea triggers.
“The new Recognizing Redness booklet is an excellent tool for patients to understand the disorder and assess the fluctuations in their complexion,” said Estee Williams, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. “Because rosacea redness is so variable and can be difficult to measure by eye, it is useful to be able to objectively track improvement made by medical therapy and avoidance of triggers for flareups.”
Recognizing Redness may be downloaded free of charge on the NRS website, www.rosacea.org. Health professionals may also order bulk quantities for use as patient handouts. Contact: 888.662.5874, [email protected].
