Red Facial Rashes

This table comes from a PDF from the American Academy of Dermatology.

Differential Diagnosis of Red Facial Rashes
	Morphology	Symptoms	Distribution	Treatment
Seborrhea	Pink-red. Greasy white-yellow scale	Often asymptomatic	Scalp, brows, nasal crease, in and behind ears, can involve chest, axilla, areas of facial hair	Topical steroid Topical calcineurin inhibitor Topical antifungal
Eczema	Varies depending on chronicity: Acute = bullous, Chronic = pink lichenified	Itchy, dry, burning	Variable depending on type, Allergic = areas of allergen exposure Atopic = spares nose/central face	Topical steroid Topical calcineurin inhibitor
Rosacea	Erythema (patches) telangiectasia, +-pink papules and pustules. Some with rhinophyma	Some have dry, irritated, burning skin Worsened by alcohol, hot or spicy foods, exercise, etc.	Concavities of face: forehead, cheeks, nose, chin also eyes	Topical antibiotics Topical calcineurin inhibitor Oral doxycycline
Acne	Comedones, pink papules, pustules	Social impairment pain, itching	Face, sparing eyelids Shoulders, chest and back	Topical antibiotics topical retinoids Oral antibiotics
Lupus	Pink-Red-Brown, Annular, Variable scale, Variable Scarring	Tender, warm	Acute (malar): cheeks, without crossing nasolabial fold DLE: Sun-exposed areas and inside ear	Topical steroids Antimalarial
Tinea	Pink annular, Patches and plaques with advancing scale	Asymptomatic or itchy	Anywhere with stratified squamous epithelium	Topical or oral antifungal