While not a direct cause, drinking alcohol can worsen rhinophyma symptoms in people with rosacea. Rhinophyma — also sometimes referred to as “alcoholic nose” — is a physical condition that many people ... Rhinophyma is a skin condition that causes your nose to gradually become large, bumpy and bulb-like at the tip (bulbous).

Understanding the Context

It usually affects the tip of your nose, but may also be on the sides and the skin on top. Rhinophyma is a rare skin condition affecting your nose. Learn about the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for this condition. Rhinophyma is a skin condition affecting the nose in which the skin is thickened and the sebaceous (oil) glands are enlarged.

Key Insights

The skin appears skin coloured or red and often has prominent blood vessels, which may be thin and red (telangiectasia) or larger and purplish in hue (venulectasia). Rhinophyma is a skin disorder that causes the nose to become enlarged. Some other symptoms include lumpy, thickened skin and broken blood vessels. The condition is much more common in males than... Rhinophyma is a condition causing development of a large, bulbous nose associated with granulomatous infiltration, commonly due to untreated rosacea.

Final Thoughts

[1] The condition is most common in older white males. Rhinophyma refers to a nasal deformity caused by hyperplasia, or proliferation, of the sebaceous glands (i.e., oil glands) and connective tissue of the nose. The term rhinophyma derives from the Greek words “rhis,” meaning nose, and “phyma,” meaning skin tumor to describe its appearance. Rhinophyma is a type of advanced rosacea that typically develops slowly over time. It most often affects the lower half of the nose, causing thickened skin, enlarged oil glands, and an uneven or “bulbous” shape. A drinker's nose, clinically called rhinophyma, is a subtype of phymatous rosacea that causes progressive thickening, redness, and bulbous enlargement of the nose.

Rhinophyma is a skin disorder characterized by a large, red, bumpy or bulbous nose. Rhinophyma is classified as part of subtype 3 rosacea. It forms gradually over several years.