DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What can I do for myself about rosacea? – K.R.

ANSWER: Almost every day, if you look for it, you can find at least one person who suffers from rosacea (row-ZAY-she-ah). It’s redness of the nose, chin and cheeks, often with crisscrossing, spider-web-sized blood vessels and sometimes with a crop of acne-like pimples. Its cause isn’t known with certainty, but many experts implicate a skin mite called demodex and a bacterium associated with the mite.

It most often begins between the ages of 30 and 50. Many patients’ lives are filled with periods when it improves and when it worsens, but it often ends up staying permanently.

On your own, make a list of things that cause rosacea to flare up for you. Heat, sunlight, alcohol, spicy foods, hot foods and drinks and vigorous scrubbing of the skin worsen it for most people. You should always use sunscreens that block both ultraviolet A and B rays. Special cosmetics can hide the red skin.

Almost always, a doctor has to step in with prescription medicines. Metronidazole creams and gels are popularly used and quite effective. Azelex cream is also helpful. Antibiotic creams, like Cleocin, can control the process. Oral antibiotics have to be prescribed in some instances. Which medicine is best depends on how great a person’s involvement is.

A fact about rosacea that’s often unappreciated is that it affects the eyes in as many as half of all patients. The eyes become dry and gritty and easily irritated. In a few individuals, eye involvement is the only sign of rosacea. When they are part of the process, eyes have to be kept moist. Artificial tears are one way of accomplishing that. In more resistant cases, an ophthalmologist has to be consulted.

You and all rosacea sufferers should contact the National Rosacea Society for the wealth of information and help it can provide. The toll-free number is 1-888-NO BLUSH, and its Web site is www.rosacea.org.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My 5-year-old daughter developed small bumps under one of her arms and behind one leg. The doctor diagnosed molluscum contagiosum and acted as if it was nothing unusual. The nurse applied a liquid medication to the bumps, and we were instructed to wash it off. The medication burned the skin, and she had large blisters. Then he gave me a prescription for Aldara, but it isn’t working. Are there any other treatments? – D.S.

ANSWER: Molluscum contagiosum is a common viral infection. It’s an eruption of tiny – .04- to .2-inch (1-5 mm) – dome-shaped bumps that eventually develop a central depression that makes them look a bit like miniature volcanoes. From the center of the volcano, a cheesy material can often be expressed.

I am pretty sure the nurse applied a small drop of cantharidin to the bumps. It’s standard treatment, and it does cause a blister that heals without a scar. Aldara cream is another standard treatment. The acne medicine Retin-A has met with some success.

A doctor can remove individual bumps, if they aren’t too numerous, with an instrument called a curette. It’s a tool used to extract pimples. Doctors can also freeze the bumps with liquid nitrogen, but that can be a painful process, and most children don’t tolerate it well.

For many, the best treatment is benign neglect. Molluscum-contagiosum bumps usually go away in six to nine months on their own.

You might want to try a painless trick that has worked for some people. After daily washing, apply surgical tape to the tiny bumps. It takes a while for this to have an effect, but it can shorten the time that molluscum contagiosum hangs around.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My doctor has me on Benicar for high blood pressure. Is it safe? – A.S.

ANSWER: Benicar belongs to a new class of high-blood-pressure medicines called angiotensin-receptor blockers. Angiotensin is a body-made substance that elevates blood pressure. Every drug has a list of possible side effects, and Benicar is not without potential problems. If my doctor prescribed it for me, I would not hesitate to use it.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com.