What Are the Causes of Red Skin?

If you blush because you are embarrassed or shy, you have a temporary condition that turns your face red. It's nothing to worry about. But some people have other, more serious conditions that turn their skin redsome short-term and some long-term.Labels





Rosacea
Rosacea is a skin condition that includes bumpy skin, acne-like breakouts and red skin that gets worse if you drink alcohol or eat spicy foods, according to freebeautytips.org. Rosacea tends to occur in fair-skinned people, who blush easily. Rosacea starts slowly and persists until a person's face is always red, pimples occur and blood vessels in the center of the face (cheeks, chin, nose and forehead) become visible. Skincarephysicians.com reports that rosacea may be caused by Demodex folliculorum, a mite that lives in hair follicles. The mites clog oil glands and this results in inflammation or red skin. The medical community also believes that Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that results in intestinal infection, may be the cause. Rosacea afflicts mostly women; however, when men have this condition, it causes rhinophyma, which makes the nose appear extremely red, deformed and too big, according to sbmedex.wordpress.com.

Contact Dermatitis
If you have sensitivity or an allergy to certain substances and your skin turns red when you come in to contact with these substances, this is contact dermatitis, according to revolutionhealth.com. Contact dermatitis can cause your skin to hurt, swell, heat up and become scarlet. Some soaps and detergents may have this effect, as can household cleaning products. Other culprits include rubber products, latex, elastic and dyes.

Sunburn
A sunburn can turn your skin red. When skin is overly exposed to the sun's ultraviolet rays, the skin becomes inflamed and turns red. Although summertime sunburns are well documented, your skin can burn anytime you are exposed to the sun without wearing sunscreen.

Red Rashes
Psoriasis results in red, scaly, itchy patches on your joints, according to medicineplus.com. Diaper rash will turn an infant's bottom red. Poison ivy will result in a red rash anywhere that your body has been exposed to the plant. Cradle cap, which newborns sometimes get, is called seborrheic dermatitis. The baby's scalp is affected by this condition because of overproduction of skin oil and irritation caused by yeast (malessizia), according to medicineplus.com. This can cause red skin, but not always. Other rashes that can turn a child's skin red include milia, heat rash, eczema, a yeast infection and baby acne, according to righthealth.com.

Additional Causes
A high temperature can cause a person's skin to become flushed. Cellulitis is a skin infection caused by bacteria that can make your skin feel hot to the touch. Cellulitis is painful. The infected area will become red. Scarlet fever is a sickness that is caused by a bacteria called group A streptococcus. It will result in a rash consisting of tiny red bumps that appear on the abdomen and chest. People who drink excessive amounts of alcohol may develop a red nose.

Medication
According to wrongdiagnosis.com, Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a rare condition that is often caused by medications and can result in red patches on the skin, in addition to rashes, blisters in the mucous membranes, persistent fever, swollen eyelids, flu symptoms and conjunctivitis. Whenever a patient starts on a new medication, he and his doctor should be on the lookout for these symptoms, because this syndrome can be fatal.