Redness and Rosacea

What Is Rosacea & Facial Redness?

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition affecting millions of Americans, characterized by facial redness, visible blood vessels, flushing, and acne-like bumps. Even without rosacea, many patients develop broken capillaries or diffuse redness from sun damage, genetics, or aging. Left untreated, redness can worsen and impact confidence.

Causes of Redness & Broken Capillaries

• Rosacea: An inflammatory condition often triggered by heat, alcohol, spicy food, or stress.
• Sun damage: Chronic UV exposure weakens vessel walls.
• Genetics: Fair, sensitive skin types are more prone to redness.
• Hormonal factors: Fluctuations can make flushing more prominent.

Over time, repetitive flushing can lead to permanent dilation of small facial capillaries and broken blood vessels, typically on the cheeks, chin, and nose. These tend to worsen with time, relating to UV exposure and thinning of the skin with aging.

Advanced Treatment Options

We offer state-of-the-art devices proven to target redness safely and effectively:

• VBeam (Pulsed Dye Laser): Gold standard for rosacea, flushing, and broken blood vessels. Targets hemoglobin in vessels, collapsing them without harming surrounding skin.
• Aerolase: Gentle laser ideal for sensitive skin and safe in all skin tones; improves redness, inflammation, and even active acne and rosacea flares.
• Intense Pulsed Light (IPL): Broad-spectrum treatment for diffuse redness and sun damage.
• Topical Therapy: Prescription creams (ivermectin, metronidazole, azelaic acid) are commonly used for redness due to rosacea, along with vasoconstricting creams (Rhofade) to address facial flushing. Other skincare recommendations, including tinted moisturizers and sunscreens, can be used to camouflage redness.

Benefits of Treatment

Laser treatment of rosacea and broken capillaries helps reduce chronic facial redness and flushing. The result is more even skin tone, complexion, and radiance. Treatments are readily performed with minimal downtime. Individual broken blood vessels may disappear immediately after treatment.

Achieve long-term control when combined with medical skincare and lifestyle modifications, which will be discussed at your consultation.

What to Expect

• Most patients need 2–4 laser sessions for optimal results.
• Individual broken blood vessels often disappear immediately, while background redness improves gradually after each treatment.
• Mild redness or swelling may last a few hours to a few days post-treatment.

After treatment, ice will be applied to help reduce swelling and redness. Gentle hydrating cleansers and moisturizers will be used to calm any inflammation and support the skin barrier. Aftercare recommendations include icing every few hours and sleeping on your back with your head elevated to reduce undereye swelling.

A gradual reduction in redness will be noted over the following month after treatment. Treatments are typically performed at 4-week intervals until individual goals are met.

Lifestyle & Maintenance

• Sun protection: Broad-spectrum SPF daily.
• Trigger management: Avoid alcohol, spicy foods, extreme heat, or other known triggers to reduce flushing
• Maintenance treatments: Periodic laser treatments help sustain results.
• Medical-grade skincare: Gentle cleansers, barrier repair moisturizers, and anti-inflammatory topicals.

FAQs

Is there any downtime?

Redness and swelling is to be expected following treatment. Swelling is typically the most prominent after the first treatment when there are the most vessels (targets) for the laser. Depending on the type of broken blood vessel, sometimes settings are used that can cause mild bruising (purpura) – this will be discussed with you at the time of consultation to best gauge the degree of downtime.

Will the redness come back?

Treated vessels are gone permanently, but new ones may develop over time. Maintenance treatments help sustain results.

Does treatment hurt?

Most patients describe a quick “rubber band snap” sensation. Discomfort is minimal.

Is it safe for all skin types?

Yes — lasers will be carefully selected based on the patients skin type and the parameters can be safely customized for any skin tones.

Why choose Dr. Brian Hibler for treatment of facial redness and capillaries?

With extensive training in cosmetic dermatology, Dr. Hibler combines medical therapy with customized laser treatment protocols to best address your individual concerns. He safely treats facial redness, broken blood vessels, and rosacea on all skin types and tones. Patients with rosacea and facial redness often have more sensitive skin, and this is taken into consideration with the individual treatment parameters and aftercare routine.

Dr. Hibler’s extensive aesthetics training at Harvard, where many of the laser technologies were developed, allows him to adjust treatment settings and parameters based upon your skin tone and type of facial redness. He typically employs a variety of settings during each treatment to target different sized vessels and maximize the benefits of each individual treatment session.

Whether your goal is to reduce background redness or removal broken blood vessels, Dr. Hibler will help guide you toward the most effective treatment for your needs. Contact Dr. Hibler at his Midtown Manhattan office to schedule your consultation today.