Several skin diseases have inflamed acne like spots but  are not actually acne. Sometimes you are being treated for a skin condition of acne and it may actually be something else.

As acne is a more commonly used term most people without any understanding of the problem begin to treat it as acne. It is important to know that there are other, similar looking disorders as you may not have acnebut another condition that requires a different form of treatment.

One skin disease that is very often mistaken for acne is a condition of the face which is known as rosacea. To make matters more confusing some doctors call it acne rosacea even though it actually very little to do with the ordinary type of acne.

Acne type papules do occur in rosacea but they are not tender as in the case of acne and when they are present other blemishes are there as well. Some of the things that can help you identify the condition called rosacea are that the skin of the cheek, nose, forehead and chin is red and often has worm like veins on the surface of the skin.

In the case of rosacea the skin is not usually as greasy as in the case of acne and there are also not that many blackheads which are a more prominent feature in people suffering from acne.

In rosacea the the rash appears mainly on the face, although sometimes the neck may get affected as well. Spots hardly ever appear on the shoulders, back or chest. Rosacea responds quite well to some oral antibiotics. In fact it is cleared much more quickly by some of the oral drugs than acne is, and local treatments are not very necessary. Although the spots go as quickly as six weeks, the red color of the skin can take much longer to calm down.

Whatever the skin disease, it must be treated and also treated correctly. It should be tackled at its onset and you should not wait for it to spread in the hope that it may go in its own course. That will not happen. It most likely only gets worse and then the treatment for the same take much longer than necessary.