Evidence of Barrier Deficiency in Rosacea and the Importance of Integrating OTC Skincare Products into Treatment Regimens

April 2021 | Volume 20 | Issue 4 | Original Article | 384 | Copyright © April 2021


Published online March 16, 2021

Hilary Baldwin MD,a Andrew F. Alexis MD MPH,B Anneke Andriessen PhD,c Diane S. Berson MD FAAD,d Patricia Farris MD FAAD,e Julie Harper MD,f Edward Lain MD FAAD,g Shari Marchbein MD,h Linda Stein Gold MD,i Jerry Tan MD FRCPCj

aAcne Treatment & Research Center, Brooklyn, NY
bIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY
cRadboud UMC Nijmegen, Andriessen Consultants, Malden, The Netherlands
dCornell University Weill Medical College, Weill Cornell Medical Center, Dermatology, New York, NY
eTulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA; Sanova Dermatology, Metairie, LA
fThe Dermatology and Skin Care Center of Birmingham, Birmingham, AL
gSanova Dermatology, Austin TX; Austin Institute for Clinical Research, Austin, TX
hNYU School of Medicine, New York, NY
iHenry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI
jRoyal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Department of Medicine, Western University, Windsor, ON, Canada; Windsor Clinical Research Inc; The Healthy Image Centre, Windsor, ON, Canada

The panel was asked to identify the OTC skincare products they recommend for rosacea monotherapy, adjunctive therapy, and maintenance therapy. Their answers included cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreens, anti-redness, and anti-inflammatory products. The OTC products recommended for monotherapy comprised ceramide-containing cleansers and moisturizers, mineral sunscreens, anti-redness creams, niacinamidecontaining lotions, and azelaic acid 10%. (Table 1).

For adjunctive therapy, their choices comprised facial cleansers and moisturizers with various ingredients. Ceramide containing skincare and a corrective gel was recommended by 37.5% of physicians. A cleanser and anti-redness cream was used by 37.5%, and a gentle cleanser, a moisturizer with SPF, or various types of serum was recommended by 25% of physicians (Table 2).

For rosacea maintenance, the panel responded that their recommendations were unchanged from their acute recommendations (Table 3).