Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article, I'll tell you something useful about facial redness.
A sharp redness of the face is something like hot flashes. That is, not only redness, but also a feeling of heat. And not only on the face, but also on the neck, ears, chest, upper abdomen, or arms. Rather, even the upper body.
It is not sweating or a long-lasting "butterfly" around the nose like in lupus. A sharp redness rolls over, and then goes away.
The meaning of this redness is in the sharp expansion of blood vessels in the skin.
Dry and wet redness
The redness has two reasons: a sharp activation of the nerves and the effect on the vessels of some biologically active substances floating in the blood.
If it was the nerves, the nerves also stimulate the sweat glands. Then the redness is accompanied by sweating. This redness is called "wet".
If the matter was in some substances from the blood, then there will be just redness without sweating. It is called "dry".
Different nerves
Different nerves act differently on blood vessels. Sometimes the blood vessels narrow and the skin turns white. This happens, for example, on the fingers.
On the face, those nerve fibers that are in charge of expansion are mainly suitable for the vessels. Therefore, the face turns red more often.
If the face turned white, then it was not the vessels that narrowed, but rather the blood flew to the legs. This happens before fainting. They say: "The blood drained from his face ..."
Overheat
This happens most often. The temperature rises when you catch a cold, or you were climbing a mountain, or shaking in a stuffy bus in the summer, or drinking hot tea. The body gets hot from all this, and it dilates the blood vessels in the face. The breeze will blow over the face, and the blood in the dilated vessels will slowly cool down.
Tea
With him, everything is much more interesting and more complicated than with a stuffy bus.
When we drink hot tea, we heat the veins in our neck. The jugular vein runs next to the carotid artery and heats it too. The carotid artery very quickly delivers heated blood to the brain, and the brain decides that the person is overheated. To increase heat transfer, the brain forces the blood vessels to dilate and increases sweating.
In order not to frighten others with a red face during tea drinking, you need to cool it slightly before drinking tea. Or cool your neck slightly by eating something cold. Then this reflex will be interrupted.
Climax
Everything is clear here. Tides. They are associated with a natural decrease in blood estrogen levels. Feeling hot with sweating and facial flushing.
This happens in 50 - 80% of women over 45 years old.
If the reason was the surgical removal of the ovaries, then all this manifests itself much brighter and stronger.
Hot flashes can last 3 to 5 minutes and roll up to 20 times a day. They interfere with sleep and noticeably spoil life.
The point is that when the level of estrogen in the blood decreases, the internal thermostat is readjusted. But how exactly this happens is not entirely clear.
Emotions
When we say that someone blushed, we usually mean emotions. Most often, people who are worried about how others perceive them blush.
Nervous system problems
The type of facial redness associated with nerve fibers depends on the well-being of the nervous system. If everything is not in order in the head, then the reflexes will be strange.
Sometimes it is a brain tumor, sometimes epilepsy manifests itself this way. Many types of headaches such as migraines or spinal injuries can also be accompanied by facial flushing.
Everything there is terribly complicated and you can't do without a neurologist. Therefore, if your face turns red for no reason, then be sure to consult your doctor.
Acne rosacea
This is a type of acne on the face. And here the mechanism of facial redness is triggered, which is not associated with nerves, but with biologically active substances floating in the blood. Something at the local level and almost without the participation of the nervous system makes the blood vessels dilate.
Medicines
It's all about chemistry. Side effects of medications may not be related to nerves or hormones at all. Medicines simply act on blood vessels.
Many people know about this. Any calcium antagonists such as nifedipine or amlodipine provoke swelling in the legs and redness of the face. They roughly dilate blood vessels by their chemical action.
Everyone has also heard about nicotinic acid. It causes hot flashes.
Food
Hot pepper spices not only cause facial flushing, but literally raise body temperature.
Nitrates from processed meat also have this effect.
Sulfites from canned food can cause hot flashes.
We have already talked about scombroid poisoning with spoiled fish. It literally forms histamine there. It is a substrate for an allergic reaction. It can be said that it is an allergy without an allergen.
Asians have glutamine syndrome. They eat monosodium glutamate like salt. It can cause unpleasant hot flashes.
The same Asians have hot flashes from alcohol.
Europeans often blush not from alcohol itself, but from fermentation products. There, the devil knows what can be formed.
And there are all sorts of dangerous allergic reactions, severe and rare diseases. Therefore, see your doctor for any suspicious facial flushing.
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