Your phone might be making your face red: doctor

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter





A 25-year-old woman who complained of frequently turning red in the face suffered from poor blood circulation and vasolidation, which was caused by her habit of looking down at her smartphone or tablet PC for long periods of time, a dermatologist said.

Liu Shao-yei (劉紹毅), head of dermatology at Taipei’s Shu-Tien Clinic, said the woman spent hours staring at the computer screen at work, tilting her head down while using her smartphone after work, and lying in bed watching South Korean dramas on her tablet PC at night.

The woman said that six months ago, she started feeling frequent muscle and neck pain, and her face became sensitive and turned red easily whenever the weather changed or she overworked or felt nervous.

People who often tilt their heads low for long hours and whose blood vessels in the skin are more prone to vasodilation (widening of blood vessels) may suffer from facial skin redness because of poor blood circulation caused by bad posture, Liu said.

“Not all facial redness is caused by rosacea, although many people seek medical treatment because they are worried that they might have rosacea,” Liu said.

A 2014 US study showed that only 31 percent of cases of red-face syndrome are due to rosacea, Liu added.

More than half of the patients in the initial stage of red-face syndrome can be cured if they seek proper treatment, such as correcting bad postures, gently massaging the shoulder and neck to improve blood circulation, and avoiding steroid and care products that can irritate the skin, he said.

Liu said that aside from a poor posture, red-face syndrome could be caused by the use of inappropriate skin care products or long-term topical steroid use.

He advised people to immediately stop using items that irritate their skin.