How Dermatologists Treat Rosacea

Treatment lists are easy to misread when the verbs are soft. Check the verbs.

This page reads how the American Academy of Dermatology introduces rosacea treatment, then asks what a reader should have on paper before agreeing to any of it.

What the Academy's sentence says

The American Academy of Dermatology introduces its treatment list with this sentence:

Here are treatments that your dermatologist may include to treat the following signs and symptoms of rosacea.

Soft verbs and what they leave open

"May include" is permission, not a promise. A listed treatment is a possibility for your plan, not a guarantee that it will be in it. The sentence also hands the choice to "your dermatologist," not to a brochure or a package.

Whether to treat at all is a separate question. The American Academy of Dermatology takes it up on its page on whether rosacea needs treatment, and it is worth reading before anything is purchased.

What belongs in writing

"The following signs and symptoms" means the Academy ties treatments to specific signs and symptoms. A written plan should do the same. For a reader near Byram weighing a treatment package, look for the treatment named, the sign or symptom it addresses, the cost, and anything the package excludes.

One question before you agree

Ask for the treatment plan in writing, including what is excluded and what the terms say if you stop partway through. If lasers or lights are on the list, read the Academy's page on how well lasers and lights treat rosacea first, and compare it with what you were promised.