A cream containing a green tea extract is showing promise in the treatment of rosacea in women, California researchers report.
Rosacea is a chronic condition most often characterized by redness, bumps, pimples and visible blood vessels on the face.
People with fair skin who tend to blush easily are thought to be at highest risk.
Dr. Tanweer Syed, a dermatologist at the University of California in San Francisco, reports that a cream containing a green tea extract called polyphenone produces a 70 per cent improvement in rosacea compared with an inactive cream.
The study included 60 women, ages 25 to 50 years, half of whom were treated with the green tea cream and half treated with inactive cream.
The women applied the cream to their face twice a day for four weeks.
Guy Webster, a dermatologist at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia who was not involved in the study.
"These women obviously had rosacea and blushing.
There is not much you can do for this.
But the faces were looking distinctively red (at the beginning of the study) and they are coming out not distinctively red."
However, Webster cautions the work is in the early stages and needs confirming.
The cream also has been shown to have anti-aging and anti-acne properties, Syed says.