How to Stop Blushing for Good

Keep your skin from blushing by building confidence.

Blushing can be uncomfortable; not just for you, but for those around you who worry they've embarrassed you. Blushing occurs when a release of stress chemicals, forces blood to the surface of your skin. Blushing can be largely psychological, caused by feelings of stress or social anxiety, but it can appear more frequent on someone with light or sensitive skin. Stopping your blushing permanently requires a commitment to addressing the underlying cause of your blushing with medical or cognitive therapy. In addition to resolving the psychological causes, you must commit to avoiding physical trigger stimuli notorious for causing blushing such as alcohol and spicy food.

Instructions

1. See a therapist. Dealing with the source of the blushing problem is an effective way to eliminate blushing permanently. Cognitive behavior therapy will help you think about situations and fears differently. Other doctors may recommend confronting your fears directly. Other therapy approaches include discussing your childhood or past experiences to determine the cause of your embarrassment and social anxiety. Your therapist may also recommend relaxation techniques including yoga and meditation to help alleviate your overall anxiety levels.

2. Take medication. Drugs aren't the most appropriate treatment for everyone, but if you've tried other approaches without success, your doctor may prescribe some type of medication. The three most commonly prescribed groups of medicines for psychologically-based blushing include, beta-blockers, anti-anxiety medication and clonidine. Each medication helps manage stress symptoms in a different way to reduce hyperventilation, palpitations, excess sweating and blushing.

3. Get an endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. This surgical option is only for the most severe cases of blushing and reduces the size of the blood vessels connected to your face. In 2002 a study by doctors at a Kungalv Hospital in Sweden and published in the British Journal of Dermatology, found that patients who underwent this type of surgery had a 90% success rate in reducing blushing. The drawbacks however, included increased perspiration in the upper and lower body, recorded in 85% of patients.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid blushing triggers such as exercising in the heat, alcohol, spicy and sour foods. If you feel that your blushing is a significant concern, speak with your doctor directly about the most appropriate options for you.

• Never attempt to treat or cure and condition using medication or other surgical procedures without the guidance of a licensed medical professional.

References

• Victoria, Australia Better Health: Blushing Explained
• British Medical Journal: Successful treatment of facial blushing by endoscopic transthoracic sympathicotomy 1998
• American Academy of Dermatology: Stress and Skin