Idiopathic craniofacial erythema is a medical condition characterized by uncontrollable and frequently unprovoked facial blushing.
Blushing can occur at any time and is frequently triggered by even mundane events, such as talking to friends, paying for goods in a shop, asking for directions or even simply making eye contact with another person.
It is unknown why people are afflicted with this condition, but it is appears to be the result of an overactive sympathetic nervous system, an automatic response which sufferers have no mental control over.
Studies have also shown that patients with severe facial blushing or focal hyperhidrosis commonly have family members with one or both of the related disorders.
The most successful non-invasive procedure is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), which attempts to alleviate the anxiety felt by sufferers.