Information on Excessive Blushing

Blushing is a natural neurological response that occurs when an individual experiences an embarrassing or emotionally stressful situation. Sometimes though, individuals may suffer from excessive blushing and find themselves flushing for little to no reason for a great deal of time or over larger areas of the body than that of the face. Identifying the cause of blushing is key to diagnosis and treatment.

Causes

• Think twice about eating spicy foods if you tend to blush.

  A variety of factors can cause excessive blushing. According to Dr. Jonathan Kantor of North Florida Dermatology Associates, factors include not only emotions but also spicy foods, alcohol, warm beverages, Rosacea, certain medicines, fever, changes in body temperature, menopause or even carcinoid syndrome. Individuals with social disorders may suffer from excessive blushing simply because everyday situations become more stressful, thus inviting the blush to spread.

  Those prone to excessive blushing should take special note of these causes, as well as where and when the skin reddens to find a way to alleviate symptoms.

Effects

• The most common effect of excessive blushing is emotional, the prolonging of the original emotional response that triggered the blush in the first place. Unfortunately, this is cyclical and can prolong or even spread the blushing. Dr. K. Laederach-Hofmann noted that chronic blushing can have major psychiatric after-effects such as depression, social anxiety disorder or social phobia. For those with social disorders, extreme cases may even result in erythrophobia, or a fear of blushing. This fear of course becomes aggravated during emotionally demanding situations and can directly lead into a new bout of blushing.

Symptoms

• Blushing is a natural, involuntary response of the skin to certain stimuli, because the sympathetic nervous system causes blood vessels, or capillaries, to enlarge. This reaction results in a redness of the skin, mostly in the face, neck and chest regions. If the redness lasts for an abnormally long period of time, has unusually strong color, spreads quickly and far or seems to come for unknown reasons, the case of blushing may be considered severe.

Treatments

• Learning to avoid or cope with emotional distress is pivotal in reducing bouts of blushing.

  The most direct way to treat excessive blushing is to identify the causes and avoid them. If excessive blushing only occurs when in emotionally distressing situations, either avoid those situations or develop a coping technique that allows for a calm confrontation to prohibit blood vessel dilation in the blushing region. Cognitive behavior therapy also is a possible solution. Some kinds of excessive blushing may be avoided by simply changing dietary habits or daily medications.

  A person suffering from excessive blushing also may seek out drug therapy or surgery. Some medications that include the ingredient Clonidine, a drug used to control the dilation of blood vessels, or anxiety medications, including those with beta blockers, can be helpful for treating severe blushing. For extreme cases, endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, a surgery also used for excessive sweating, is an option.