Skin Conditions – Is It Rosacia, Rosecea, or Acne Rosacea?

by on 2009/05/31

Not surprisingly, the skin disorder known as "rosacea" is one of the top incorrectly spelled skin afflictions in the field of medicine.  It is often referred to as rosacae, roseca, roseaca, rosacia and a few other mis-spelled names, but the proper spelling of this aggravating skin disease is R-O-S-A-C-E-A.

It is not uncommon to hear this skin disorder called "acne" rosacea because its symptoms (e.g. whiteheads and pimples) closely resembling the universal skin disorder known as Acne Vulgaris, which translated is 'common acne.'  But the fact is that  roseacea is quite a different animal .  This skin affliction generally is noticed on the facial skin and is usually comprised of times of skin aggravation followed by a period of remission.  A primary difference from acne is that rosacea typically commences after thirty years old and can become visible on people well into their late 40's.  

Common Mis-Spellings of The Term Rosacea

We have found that an amazing ten percent of the searches performed on Yahoo and Google by men and women looking for more information regarding Rosacea are misspelled versions of the appropriate medical name.  Compiling a list of the highest incident mis-spellings, you will find the following terms being entered into the search engines:  rosacia, rosecea, roseacea, roscea, roseaca. 

These bad spellings are not the exception.  In fact, they are entered into the largest search engine between 325 times for the highest incident of mis-spelled terms (rosacia) down to 33 times for the lowest (rosacae) each day on average.   Even as you might expect that the big search engines don't encourage misspellings, numerous search results can be found using these misspelled terms to try to connect with the rosacea patients who have tried their best to find more information about this skin affliction.

What Is Rosacea?

Despite how you spell "Rosacea", the list of symptoms are generally the same over the broader population.  Even though each man or woman diagnosed with this skin condition can have slightly different symptoms and varying degrees of severity, the disease can generally be diagnosed easily by a certified dermatologist.  The primary symptoms can be identified as a reddening of the nose, both cheeks, the chin, and possibly forehead.  The good news is that the symptoms are transient and periods of remission generally follow exacerbations .  

It's a sad fact that there is no sure-fire solution for this skin disease.  But, with proper treatment and changes in lifestyle, it can effectively be controlled.   So, whether we spell it rosecea, roscea, or roseca, the symptoms and emotional and social challenges will be the same.


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