Excessive blushing is like wearing a mask of someone you’re not. You may get entirely red in the face totally out of proportion to how you’re feeling. Even if you’re a little bit embarrassed or nervous, excessive blushing will make it seem like you’re not in control of the situation. Excessive blushing can have a deep psychological impact, so that is often the first line of defense as a cure for blushing.

People will undergo intensive therapy to rid themselves of the nerves and embarrassment that lead to facial blushing. Often this type of cure for blushing is ineffective because facial blushing will occur in situations that are not particularly difficult. Excessive blushing is very often a physical problem i.e. vasodilation, not mental. While therapy can indeed be a cure for blushing of some types, it cannot curb the deep red excessive blushing associated with a physical disorder. People cannot control excessive blushing any more than they can effectively regulate their heart rate. There are certain tricks you can undergo to calm yourself down, but the beating of the heart and facial blushing are mostly involuntary.

Excessive blushing is a physical reaction caused by vasodilation. When the muscle in the blood vessels relax; the diameter of the vessel increases, leading to increased blood flow. Thus, vasodilation result is the warmth and reddish hue known as facial blushing. Vasodilation causing excessive blushing is controlled by the autonomous nervous system so it is an involuntary physiological response. While you can control some of the feelings of embarrassment or humiliation that lead to vasodilation, this is not possible in extreme cases of excessive blushing.

Some other physiological causes for excessive blushing are a thyroid problem or menopause. In addition, some medications can lead to facial blushing as well--such as hormonal treatments, prostate cancer medication, osteoporosis medication, and others. Your doctor must rule out these causes of vasodilation or excessive blushing before deciding on a course of action to control the excessive blushing. Anti-perspirants used under the arms cannot be a cure for blushing because it cannot be applied on the face. Medication is also not always be an effective cure for blushing and may be contraindicated with medication the patient is already taking.

Generally, people who suffer from excessive blushing have suffered from the problem from a very young age and it is not related to medication or other health concern. Excessive blushing is not health threatening in any way, but it can be severely debilitating psychologically. Being that there is a direct relationship between psychological issues and physical health, excessive blushing could lead indirectly to other health problems.