Pale skin color. Why does this happen?

Pale skin or cyanosis is a bluish discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes throughout the body or in fragments (sometimes in very limited areas of the skin, for example, only on the palms or fingers).

This phenomenon occurs due to a significant increase in the blood of the so-called reduced hemoglobin, or in other words, hemoglobin, which is not combined with oxygen.

Normally, the heart pumps blood into the lungs, where it is enriched with oxygen, and then goes back to the heart. It is then released to all organs and tissues, thereby reaching all parts of the body, supplying our organs and tissues with oxygen, and then returns with venous blood back to the heart, transporting carbon dioxide.

Cyanosis of the skin should be distinguished from the purple coloration of the face, which occurs with a disease such as erythremia or otherwise, a benign blood formation in which a large number of red blood cells appear in the blood. And also from cherry coloring of the skin, which occurs with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Cyanosis or pale skin coloring is divided into the following types:

Central (throughout the body)
Peripheral (in limited areas)

When does pallor occur throughout the body?

Central cyanosis or, in other words, pallor of all the skin of our body occurs when there is a violation of blood saturation in the lungs.

This happens in the following cases:

Respiratory failure due to lung diseases
Some blue-type heart defects, in which there is a pathological discharge of venous blood into the arterial bed due to defects in various walls of the heart, for example, with tetralogy of Fallot
Exposure to various industrial poisons, such as aniline derivatives
Taking certain medications (for example, sulfa drugs)

As a rule, the disappearance of the pathological factor, as well as the supply of oxygen, leads to a decrease in the severity of cyanosis.

Pediatrician appointment prices:


TYPES OF MEDICAL SERVICES	Cost, rub.
Examination of a child by a pediatrician to obtain a certificate + certificate	1950
Visit of a pediatrician, consultation at home (Moscow)	5400
Consultation with a pediatrician at home for the second child	1950
Patronage for a newborn / gymnastics and swimming at home (1 session, pediatrician Kapina A.V.)	6300

When does pale skin occur in certain areas of the body?

Peripheral cyanosis or local pallor of the skin, for example, the tips of the nose, lips, fingertips, occurs due to slow passage of blood through the capillaries and increased utilization of oxygen by tissues, as a result of which the content of reduced hemoglobin increases and gives the blood a dark color (bluish coloration of the skin).

This phenomenon occurs in the following cases:

Hypothermia (spasmodic skin arterioles)
Local circulatory disorders (for example, the presence of blood clots in the vessels of the legs with thrombophlebitis or arterial thrombosis)
Formation of stenotic plaques in the arteries (with atherosclerosis)
Severe heart failure (one of the main reasons for the slowing of blood flow through the capillaries due to a decrease in cardiac output. This phenomenon occurs, for example, with a history of myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathies, etc.)
Pulmonary embolism (PE). Cyanosis occurs, more often, in the upper half of the body, and is associated with the separation of a blood clot from the veins, most often of the lower extremities, with further entry into the pulmonary artery. This cyanosis is accompanied by a pronounced deterioration of the condition and, with significant blockage of the pulmonary artery, can lead to death.
Heart defects, such as acquired mitral valve stenosis.

Normally, blood from the lungs enters the left atrium, then through the mitral valve into the left ventricle. With stenosis (narrowing) of this valve, a full amount of blood no longer enters the left ventricle and, like a subway during rush hour, blood begins to stagnate in the previous sections, in particular in the lungs. In such cases, a bluish discoloration of the skin is often accompanied by severe shortness of breath, swelling, wheezing in the lungs and even sometimes hemoptysis.

Also, cyanosis may be present “paroxysmally” in the form of paleness and blue discoloration, for example, of the fingers. This happens with Raynaud's syndrome. Let us recall that Raynaud's syndrome is characterized by local spasm of arterioles in the extremities. Manifests itself in the form of clearly defined pallor of the skin. This syndrome is observed in the following cases:

Diffuse connective tissue diseases, especially scleroderma
Diseases of peripheral vessels (for example, with atherosclerosis of the vessels of the extremities)
Vibration disease
Frostbite
Chronic finger injury
Endocrine disorders (thyroid, gonads)
Taking various medications (for example, cytostatics)
Genetic disposition

An attack of peripheral spasm of arterioles in the extremities can be associated with severe anxiety, smoking, coldness or fatigue of the fingers.

Externally, Raynaud's syndrome is manifested by numbness, pain, paleness of the fingers due to spasm of the arteries and a changing bluish coloration of the skin.

This cyanosis results from compensatory dilation of the capillaries and veins, followed by redness of the affected finger at the end of the attack. This redness is due to the dilation of arterioles and capillaries when blood flow is restored (for example, when the limb is warmed).

According to statistics, in approximately half of patients with these symptoms, the cause cannot be identified; in these cases, Raynaud's phenomenon is diagnosed. It develops more often in young people, more often in women.

Pediatricians:

Avzalova Daria Evgenevna

Pediatrician, neonatologist
Experience: 18 years Reviews: 7

Call to home

Barzenok Tatyana Arsenyevna

Head of the pediatric department, pediatrician of the first category
Experience: 28 years Reviews: 17