Idiopathic craniofacial erythema is a medical condition characterized by uncontrollable and frequently unprovoked facial

blushing Blushing or erubescence is the reddening of a person's face due to psychological reasons. It is normally involuntary and triggered by emotional stress associated with passion, embarrassment, shyness, fear, anger, or romantic stimulation. S ...

. Blushing can occur at any time and is frequently triggered by even mundane events, such as talking to friends, paying for goods in a shop, asking for directions or even simply making eye contact with another person. This medical condition characterized by severe, frequent and uncontrollable reddening of the face, which is often unprovoked. It is unknown why people are afflicted with this condition, but it is appears to be the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system, an automatic response which sufferers have no mental control over. It is related to

focal hyperhidrosis Focal hyperhidrosis, also known as primary hyperhidrosis, is a disease characterized by an excessive sweating localized in certain body regions (particularly palms, feet and underarms). Studies suggest that this condition, affecting between 1% ...

, more commonly known as excessive sweating, as it is caused by the same overactive nerves which cause excessive sweating. Sufferers of severe facial blushing commonly experience focal hyperhidrosis. Studies have also shown that patients with severe facial blushing or focal hyperhidrosis commonly have family members with one or both of the related disorders.

In popular culture

*In

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

Season 2, Episode 3, a patient is diagnosed with idiopathic craniofacial erythema. *The female protagonist in the South Korean drama '' Heart to Heart'' suffers from uncontrollable blushing, that leaves her sociophobic.

Treatment

A number of treatments are available. Options for conservative treatment for chronic blushing include oral medications and behavioral therapy. Several types of medications are used as treatment for idiopathic craniofacial erythema. Anxiolytics, such as Valium®, are used for anxiety; beta-blockers, which blunt the body’s reaction to stress; or anticholinergic drugs, such as robinol, ditropan, or propanthelin.3. The most successful

non-invasive procedure A medical procedure is defined as ''non-invasive'' when no break in the skin is created and there is no contact with the mucosa, or skin break, or internal body cavity beyond a natural or artificial body orifice. For example, deep palpation and pe ...

cognitive behavioural therapy Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that aims to reduce symptoms of various mental health conditions, primarily depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on challenging and chang ...

(CBT), which attempts to alleviate the anxiety felt by sufferers. In extreme cases a

surgical procedure Surgery is a medical specialty that uses manual and instrumental techniques to diagnose or treat pathological conditions (e.g., trauma, disease, injury, malignancy), to alter bodily functions (e.g., malabsorption created by bariatric surgery s ...

known as endoscopic transthoracic sympathicotomy (ETS) is available. Pioneered by

surgeons In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, this procedure has recently become increasingly controversial due to its many potential

adverse effects An adverse effect is an undesired harmful effect resulting from a medication or other intervention, such as surgery. An adverse effect may be termed a "side effect", when judged to be secondary to a main or therapeutic effect. The term complic ...

. Patients who have undergone the procedure frequently complain of compensatory sweating and

fatigue Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a signs and symptoms, symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself. Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated wit ...

, with around 5% reconsidering getting the treatment. ETS is now normally only considered in extreme cases where other treatments have been ineffective.

External links

The New Yorker
- ''CRIMSON TIDE - What is blushing?, No one knows for sure, but it can ruin your life'' by

Atul Gawande Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Department ...

. {{Psychology stub Anxiety disorders