Rosacea Review - Newsletter of the National Rosacea SocietyRosacea Review - Newsletter of the National Rosacea Society

medication

Q&A: Long-Term Medication & Craving Triggers

Q. If I take long-term medication consistently, will it lose its effectiveness?

A. Topical therapy is commonly prescribed to control rosacea on a long-term basis, and no evidence has suggested that it loses effectiveness. A long-term controlled clinical study found that 77 percent of rosacea patients consistently using topical metronidazole remained in remission, while 42 percent of patients using no therapy had relapsed within six months.

Skin Care Routine May Aid Long-Term Therapy

Complying with long-term medical therapy may appear to be a demanding commitment. However, many rosacea patients have found that incorporating topical therapy into a twice-daily facial care routine is a painless and efficient way to comply with doctor's orders.1 In fact, the soothing regimen necessary to avoid irritating the facial skin or causing flushing can be a refuge of calm during a busy day.

Long-Term Topical Therapy Can Halt Flare-ups

Long-term treatment with topical medication alone was found to effectively keep rosacea at bay in a multicenter clinical study reported at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

In the study, after being successfully treated with a combination of oral and topical antibiotics to bring their rosacea under initial control, 88 rosacea sufferers were randomly assigned to use alone either a topical antibiotic or the same topical gel without the antibiotic (placebo) twice daily for six months.

Patients Report Symptoms Reappear Unless They Follow Doctor's Orders

In a recent National Rosacea Society survey of more than 1,022 rosacea sufferers on compliance with medical therapy, 74 percent said their condition worsened if they failed to take their medication as directed by their physicians.

More than half of the respondents said a flare-up eventually occurred if they did not use medication as prescribed, and 28 percent said their symptoms became more severe. Only 4 percent said their symptoms stayed under control without proper use of medical therapy.

Patients Who Follow Directions Achieve High Rate of Success

Rosacea sufferers who follow their doctor's orders regarding medical therapy and also make appropriate lifestyle modifications achieve a high rate of success in controlling their condition, according to a recent survey of Rosacea Review readers.

In the survey of 520 rosacea patients, 51 percent were under treatment with topical therapy alone and 34 percent were using a combination of both oral and topical antibiotics. Only 11 percent had been prescribed oral antibiotic tablets alone.

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