Rosacea Causes and Triggers
Updated on July 14, 2026
ON THIS PAGE
ON THIS PAGE
Rosacea is a common inflammatory skin condition. Symptoms include flushing (sudden facial reddening), visible blood vessels, persistent redness, facial swelling, raised red patches, thickening around the nose (rhinophyma), and acne-like pimples.
It’s a chronic condition, and the symptoms can come and go throughout your life. Understanding its causes and triggers can potentially reduce the number of flares you experience, resulting in clearer skin.
What Are Common Causes of Rosacea?
Although the exact cause of rosacea is unknown, experts believe that certain factors may play a role in the development of this skin condition. This includes:
Abnormal Blood Vessels
Some people with rosacea have enlarged blood vessels in their face, resulting in redness around their cheeks and nose. One theory is that these individuals have an abnormality in their blood vessels, which makes them more susceptible to swelling and inflammation. The reason for this abnormality isn’t clear.
Genetics
Family history or genetics may also contribute to rosacea. In fact, many people diagnosed with this skin condition also have a close family member with similar symptoms.
Overactive Immune System
Rosacea might also arise because of an overactive immune system. Inflammation is an integral part of your body’s immune system response. Inflammation acts as a defense mechanism, helping your body heal and fight off threats, like bacteria, viruses, and foreign objects like splinters, among others.
Sometimes, though, the immune system overreacts, triggering inflammation. This response can lead to dilated blood vessels and redness in the face.
Microscopic Mites
Everyone’s skin contains mites of the genus Demodex that live near or on hair follicles and oil glands. These mites are usually harmless and go unnoticed. But for reasons that aren’t clear, these mites seem to play a role in the development of rosacea. It appears that people with rosacea have a larger number of these mites on their skin than other people, says Anna D. Guanche, MD, a dermatologist based in Calabasas, California.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) Bacteria
This bacteria can infect the digestive system and live there for good; it affects about half of all people and causes gastrointestinal illness in some. Although the connection between H. pylori and rosacea hasn’t been proven, it’s been found that people with rosacea may have higher rates of infection than those without the skin condition.
One theory is that the bacteria stimulates the production of nitric oxide, a gas that causes blood vessels to dilate. This makes blood vessels more visible, resulting in redness in the face.
Cathelicidin
Cathelicidin is a protein that protects the skin from infection. If you have rosacea, you may have too much of this protein on your skin, which can trigger inflammation.
Other Risk Factors
Rosacea can affect anyone at any age, yet certain people are at greater risk. Not only does this include people with a family history of rosacea, but also people from Scandinavian, Celtic, or Northern European families. Rosacea is also more common in women than men.
Men with rosacea are more likely to have thickening of the nose than women, and they may have worse symptoms, possibly because they delay treatment until the condition is advanced.
Rosacea is also more severe when people are ages 30 to 50, and while it can occur in people of any skin color, it tends to affect those who are fair-skinned. The risk increases if you are a former smoker.
Clearing Up Misconceptions About Rosacea Causes
It’s important to note the factors that don’t cause rosacea. Rosacea isn’t caused by poor hygiene, nor is it a contagious or infectious disease. So you can’t pass this skin condition to another person through direct or indirect skin contact.
What Can Trigger a Rosacea Flare?
The good news is that rosacea can go into remission, which is a period when symptoms disappear. Still, because rosacea is a chronic condition, symptoms can return.
Keep in mind that anything that increases blood flow to the facial area can exacerbate this condition.
Once you’re diagnosed with rosacea, you may be able to reduce your flares by understanding your triggers. Here are some typical ones.
Hot Drinks and Spicy Foods
Both of these can increase blood flow to your face and cause flushing or skin redness. But while spicy foods and hot drinks are triggers for some people with rosacea, they don’t affect everyone with the condition.
To help identify which food and drinks to avoid, keep a journal and make a note of everything you consume. Does your rosacea worsen or flare after eating or drinking certain things? If so, eliminate these items and see if your condition improves.
Alcohol
Alcohol doesn’t cause rosacea, but alcoholic beverages can cause dilated blood vessels in your skin, resulting in flushing and redness, says Tsippora Shainhouse, MD, a dermatologist based in Beverly Hills, California.
For this reason, you should avoid any alcoholic beverage that triggers a flare, such as red wine, beer, gin, champagne, or vodka.
Extreme Temperatures
Extreme temperatures (hot or cold) can also trigger rosacea. You might notice worsening symptoms when you’re overheated or after exposure to cold air or wind.
Avoiding hot baths or saunas, as well as protecting your skin from cold air can potentially limit flares.
Exposure to Sunlight
Sunlight can also irritate rosacea. So the more you’re exposed to the sun, the more rosacea flares you may experience. For this reason, you might need to make SPF your BFF, says Kristel Polder, MD, a dermatologist in private practice in Dallas. Sunscreen not only helps improve rosacea redness, it can also help acne-prone skin, she says.
To guard your skin and reduce flares, apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher (even when it’s cloudy), stay indoors during the brightest part of the day, and wear protective clothing and sunglasses to cover your skin and eyes.
High-Histamine Foods
High-histamine foods, such as aged cheeses, shellfish, legumes, and smoked meats, among others, can also cause dilated blood vessels, which can worsen symptoms or trigger a new flare. Avoiding these foods may improve the appearance of your skin. Again, use a food journal to pinpoint possible food triggers.
Cosmetics
“Rosacea-prone people tend to have sensitive skin and are more likely to react to various ingredients and chemicals in personal skin care products,” says Dr. Shainhouse. This can include products containing alcohol, camphor, urea, or menthol.
Look for fragrance-free versions instead, says Shainhouse, and use a mild cleanser on your face. Also, be gentle — don’t scrub or rub your skin too roughly. This can exacerbate redness.
Stress
Stress also triggers rosacea in some people. Do your best to reduce stress. Steps that can help include exercising, getting plenty of sleep, and practicing relaxation techniques, like yoga or deep breathing. Because physical activity can trigger rosacea, try to limit outdoor workouts to earlier or later in the day, stick to the shady side of the street, and stay hydrated with ice-cold water to lessen the impact of heat and sun exposure.
Other reported rosacea triggers include hormonal changes (such as pregnancy or menopause), and certain medications, like corticosteroids (steroids) or vasodilators prescribed to treat high blood pressure.
Resources We Trust
- Mayo Clinic: Rosacea: Symptoms & Causes
- Cleveland Clinic: Rosacea
- National Rosacea Society: All About Rosacea: Signs & Symptoms and Treatment
- American Academy of Dermatology Association: Rosacea: Causes
- Johns Hopkins Medicine: Rosacea
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
- Rosacea. Cleveland Clinic. April 12, 2023.
- Rosacea. Harvard Health Publishing. September 17, 2024.
- Frequently Asked Questions. National Rosacea Society.
- Rosacea: Symptoms & Causes. Mayo Clinic. October 17, 2023.
- In Brief: What is an Inflammation? InformedHealth.org. April 11, 2025.
- Wei F et al. Evidence for the Clinical Association between Demodex and Rosacea: A Review. Dermatology. February 2024.
- H. Pylori Infection. Cleveland Clinic. May 13, 2025.
- Gao Y et al. Association Between Rosacea and Helicobacter pylori Infection: A Meta-Analysis. PLoS One. April 4, 2024.
- Maden S. Rosacea: An Overview of Its Etiological Factors, Pathogenesis, Classification and Therapy Options. Dermato. November 1, 2023.
- Huang W et al. LAPTM5 Exacerbates STING-Mediated Inflammation Induced by LL-37 Through Stabilizing STING in Rosacea. Communications Biology. October 14, 2025.
- Rosacea. Virginia Commonwealth University. January 2023.
- Rosacea: Symptoms & Causes. Mayo Clinic. October 17, 2023.
- Ahuff. Have Rosacea? Time and Treatment Are On Your Side. National Rosacea Society. April 1, 2023.
- Skin Flushing. Cleveland Clinic. May 2, 2025.
- Rosacea: Diagnosis & Treatment. Mayo Clinic. October 17, 2023.
- Factors That May Trigger Rosacea Flare-Ups. National Rosacea Society.
- Sensitivity to Histamine and other Vasoactive Amines. British Dietetic Association. 2025.
- Are Mystery Triggers Causing Your Rosacea Flare-Ups? Cleveland Clinic. February 24, 2020.
- Rijal H et al. Drug-Induced Rosacea: A Systematic Review. Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery. July 29, 2024.
- Liu Y et al. The Role of Macrophages in Rosacea: Implications for Targeted Therapies. Frontiers in Immunology. August 23, 2023.
Meet Our Experts
Susan Bard, MD
Medical Reviewer
Susan Bard, MD, is a clinical instructor in the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and an adjunct clinical instructor in the department of dermatology at Mount Sin...
Valencia Higuera
Author
Valencia Higuera is a writer and digital creator from Chesapeake, Virginia. As a personal finance and health junkie, she enjoys all things related to budgeting, saving money, fitne...