Sunblock, the Office Environment & Roscea

For those of us who have to deal with the symptoms of roscea, we are aware that sun exposure can trigger increased redness and heat. In order to combat this, we use antioxidants with specific ingredients that calm these side effects and, in addition, lather on the sunblock when we go outside.

New studies, however, suggest that our office environment may also be a contributor to roscea symptoms. Some fluorescent light bulbs can increase the amount of nitric oxide (NO) and other free radicals within the skin cells. Nitric oxide is a known vasodilator that causes increased redness and inflammation of the skin, therefore causing more visible or broken capillaries.

The moral of the story is this: even if you are not outside, sun block is always necessary for proper skin protection.