Doctors identify several factors that explain why lips are blue.
- Lack of oxygen. In this case, not only the lips turn blue, but also other mucous membranes. First of all, oxygen starvation indicates disturbances in the functioning of the heart and blood vessels.
- Smoking. Cigarettes in very large quantities contribute to the gradual accumulation of toxic substances in the body.
- Anemia. It occurs when there is not enough iron in the body. And when there is a lack of this microelement, a lack of hemoglobin occurs, which is responsible for the red color of the lips.
- Lung or heart problems. In this case, the pulse quickens and breathing is delayed. One of the probable causes may be a blood clot in the lungs. In this case, you should immediately go to the doctor.
- Hypothermia. This, by the way, is the most common reason. The blood vessels narrow and do not allow blood to flow freely into them. Therefore, the shade of the lips or skin surface changes.
- During pregnancy, blue lips appear if a woman's body lacks iron. Fortunately, there are now many drugs available to combat this problem.
- Children may develop blue lips if they suffer from a severe form of the disease called croup. It is accompanied by a severe cough, and children may sometimes complain that their lips hurt. In this case, you should not use folk remedies, but immediately consult a doctor so as not to complicate the disease.
Description of the problem
In medicine, blueness of the lips is usually called cyanosis.
What it is? It is a symptom of various diseases that are manifested by a change in the color of the lips and skin blue. This is observed due to the accumulation of a huge amount of deoxyhemoglobin in the blood. Blood that is not saturated with the required amount of oxygen takes on a dark color. Therefore, it becomes visible through the skin, especially in those places where the epidermis is very thin. When considering the question of why an adult’s lips turn blue after drinking alcohol and smoking, it should be noted that this is due to the entry of toxins and harmful gases into the body.
This problem is called cyanosis, a symptom of various diseases. If the blood does not have the required amount of oxygen, it darkens. You can notice the darkening through the skin, especially in those parts of the body where its layer is thin.
If red lips change their natural color over time, and a person experiences shortness of breath and a rapid pulse, then we can talk about obvious symptoms of problems with the lungs or heart. The patient may have a heart attack, develop bronchitis, or develop asthma. All this indicates oxygen starvation. Sometimes the lips also turn blue due to the formation of a blood clot in the lungs. In this case, you must immediately seek help from a doctor.
Clinical picture
1. In the peripheral form of the pathology in adults and children, the darkened dermis is cold to the touch, but in the diffuse form it remains warm. If the lips turn blue in a short period of time, then the cause is asphyxia caused by suffocation or blockage of a blood vessel by a blood clot.
2. Cyanosis can intensify during physical exertion, against the background of emotional shock, prolonged hypothermia, or during exacerbation of chronic ailments.
3. When symptoms appear gradually and intensify during the day, this indicates intoxication of the body or an attack of bronchial asthma. A longer period of clinical signs is observed in chronic diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
4. With heart disease, dull pain in the sternum, shortness of breath, arrhythmia, cyanosis of the nasolabial triangle, fingers and toes, and swelling of the lower extremities occur.
5. If lips turn blue due to lung diseases, patients are worried about shortness of breath, coughing, difficulty breathing, and wheezing. With pneumothorax, air enters the pleural cavity, compresses the lungs, heart and large vessels, as a result, blood circulation is impaired and cyanosis develops. Attacks of bronchial asthma are accompanied by slow breathing, suffocation, lips, ears and limbs begin to turn blue and become cold to the touch. If a person is not given timely assistance, coma and death may occur.
Causes of blue lips in young children
Mothers of babies often notice that when their newborns cry, the skin color in the area around the mouth changes. The cause may be congenital heart disease, septic shock, neonatal pneumonia, asthma. In addition to cyanosis, other symptoms of malaise are observed: the baby does not eat well, does not gain weight, is drowsy, and is bothered by cough, rhinitis, and fever. In such cases, emergency medical care and consultation with a doctor are required.
When a child cries, a spasm of the larynx occurs, which is called affective-respiratory syndrome. This condition is not dangerous and refers to age-related characteristics, increased nervous excitability of the baby. The child’s body requires an increase in calcium levels, a deficiency of the microelement causes throat spasms, the lower lip, the area around the mouth, the nasolabial triangle, and the face turn blue. In most cases, the pathology goes away with age; in children older than 3–4 years, such attacks are not observed.
Blue lips can appear in newborns after intracranial hemorrhage, cerebral edema, or meningoencephalitis. Metabolic cyanosis occurs with titania. There is a significant calcium deficiency and excess phosphate in the blood serum.
Blue lips in children can be caused by congenital heart defects. The pathology is characterized by circulatory disorders; venous blood, not enriched with oxygen, is added to arterial blood. Babies are born with normal weight and skin color, but by 8–12 weeks of life, attacks of shortness of breath develop, the nasolabial triangle begins to turn blue, the baby loses consciousness and has convulsions. Treatment is performed surgically at the age of 3–6 years.
The cause of cyanosis in children can be a respiratory disease - croup, which affects infants and children under 3 years of age. The pathology is characterized by inflammation of the vocal cords and severe stenosis of the larynx. Concerns include a dry, barking cough, wheezing, and increased body temperature. With a critical narrowing of the lumen of the pharynx, salivation increases, the upper lip turns blue, severe shortness of breath and suffocation appear.
When should you see a doctor?
You should consult your doctor in the following cases:
- bothered by dull pain in the chest, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat;
- high blood pressure;
- fingers and lips suddenly began to turn blue;
- cyanosis is accompanied by convulsions and loss of consciousness;
- not enough air;
- nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lack of appetite;
- if the child is lethargic, capricious, refuses to eat;
- lips turn blue, and the blueness does not go away for more than a day.
If cyanosis is accompanied by suffocation, increased heart rate, or severe malaise, it is necessary to loosen the tight collar of clothing and ensure a flow of fresh air into the room. The patient is seated in a comfortable position and the limbs are rubbed. You should definitely call an emergency ambulance.
Adults should contact a general practitioner, cardiologist, endocrinologist or pulmonologist. Children with signs of cyanosis are examined by a pediatrician or other specialized specialists, depending on the cause of the blueness around the lips. Restoring blood circulation and normalizing blood pressure will help restore the skin to its natural color, stop an attack and avoid the development of serious complications.
Blue lips
may indicate serious pathologies in the body. Therefore, you should immediately remember the doctor as soon as you notice.
Associated symptoms may include blue nails, rapid heartbeat, fever, severe cough, sweating, and problems with normal breathing.
In all these cases, you should also visit a doctor.
Causes of blue lips
Doctors call blue lips cyanotic; the main reason for this phenomenon is called, which can occur due to cyanosis of the skin.
Signs of this condition are a pronounced purple color of all mucous membranes and skin. This is a consequence of excessive levels of reduced hemoglobin in the blood. Cyanosis in a patient is a signal of problems with the cardiovascular system.
Another common cause of cyanotic lips can be smoking and constant exposure to excessive amounts of toxic gases in the body. Sometimes a very pale skin tone is added to the blue color of the lips. In this case, doctors suspect that this is often observed during pregnancy. Iron is involved in various processes occurring in the body and is one of the most important microelements that is essential for it. In particular, iron is a component of hemoglobin, which gives blood its red tint.
Blue lips are often observed in children. This is a serious disease that is accompanied by disturbances in normal breathing and severe coughing.
A change in lip color from red to blue, especially coupled with a rapid pulse and holding your breath, makes you think about obvious problems with the heart or lungs. This condition is fraught with the development of asthma or bronchitis, since this is a clear sign of oxygen starvation.
In some cases, blue lips are associated with the formation of a blood clot in the lungs, and this is a reason to consult a doctor.
Lips often become blue when the body is hypothermic. This is explained by the fact that the blood vessels on the lips narrow when they freeze and do not allow blood to completely fill them. This leads to the fact that most of the blood from these vessels goes to the internal organs: the heart and kidneys, the brain. This is necessary to maintain a constant temperature throughout the body.
The normal color of the skin and lips is preserved only when blood moves through the vessels constantly in the usual volume and at the same speed. By heating your body, you can return blue or pale lips to their natural pink color.
In some cases, blue lips are observed in patients with Raynaud's disease, in which case the blood vessels burst when they are exposed to low temperatures, but this can also occur from severe stress. Trying to replenish blood vessels, the body reduces blood flow to the skin and lips and the body acquires a blue tint. If blue lips are observed during pregnancy, this may indicate iron deficiency in the body of the expectant mother. This is a fairly common condition, but there are a number of medications available that successfully treat this problem.
What to do if your lips turn blue?
If your lips turn blue, try to wrap yourself well in a terry towel or warm blanket to help your body warm up faster. Blood will begin to circulate through the internal organs faster and will soon rise to the limbs and lips. Drink some hot tea. However, you should be careful with coffee in this state, taking into account that the caffeine it contains constricts blood vessels. Sports training (aerobics, running, etc.) also quickly warms the body, removes the cyanotic tint and replaces it with a more pleasant pink one. Sport distributes oxygen well to all tissues of the body.
After all, nicotine and tobacco smoke lead to accelerated vasoconstriction and reduce the flow of oxygen to tissues.
Blue skin or lips usually indicate low oxygen levels in the blood or poor circulation.
When there is a lack of oxygen, the blood darkens, causing the skin to take on a blue tint. The scientific name for this phenomenon is cyanosis. In people with dark skin, cyanosis is more noticeable on the lips, gums and around the eyes.
If blueness is observed on the skin of the fingers, tip of the nose, lips, ears, or the nasolabial triangle turns blue - the area between the nose and upper lip and chin, they speak of acrocyanosis - blueness of the parts of the body furthest from the heart. This happens more often when there is a circulatory disorder. If the entire skin acquires a blue tint, we are talking about general (diffuse) cyanosis, which more often happens with a lack of oxygen: suffocation or poor lung function.
In rare cases, the skin may turn blue in a specific area, for example, on one finger. The reason for this change may be thrombosis (blockage) of a blood vessel or its sharp narrowing, which happens, for example, with Raynaud's syndrome.
Cyanosis in adults
- is always a reason to see a doctor. If an adult’s lips quickly become blue, skin cyanosis increases or the nasolabial triangle turns blue, difficulty breathing, chest pain, weakness, general malaise or other alarming symptoms suddenly appear, you should call an ambulance by calling from a landline phone 03, from a mobile phone 112 or 911.
Slowly developing cyanosis usually indicates a chronic heart or lung disease - in this case, you should consult a doctor yourself as soon as possible, and if you feel unwell, call a doctor at home. For example, the gradual turning blue of the fingers or toes, hands and feet also indicates a circulatory disorder, which happens in many chronic diseases of the heart and lungs.
Cyanosis in children
- always speaks of a dangerous condition. In infants, the nasolabial triangle often turns blue. If your child's skin turns blue, you should call an ambulance or go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital yourself. The following symptoms also indicate danger:
- shortness of breath - the child breathes more often than usual, flares his nostrils, tenses his chest muscles with each inhalation or exhalation;
- the child sits bent over;
- groans when breathing;
- the baby is lethargic, detached from others, inactive;
- eat poorly or refuse to eat;
- the child seems irritated.
Reasons why the labia turn blue
Doctors have identified the main cause of blue lips - lack of oxygen in the blood. As a result, blue discoloration is observed not only in the mouth area; such a manifestation can form anywhere in the skin and mucous membranes of the body. This is the result of increased levels of reduced hemoglobin in the blood. And the reason is very simple: the functionality of the cardiovascular system is impaired.
Experts have identified another reason for blue lips. This manifestation is observed in people who are heavy smokers, as the body is constantly poisoned with increased doses of toxic gases.
Unnatural paleness of the skin may also be obvious manifestations. The diagnosis is a lack of iron in the blood (iron deficiency anemia). Blue lips also occur in the absence of harmful habits, for example, in a woman during pregnancy. Iron plays an important role in the course of most processes in our body.
The substance affects the formation of hemoglobin - that's why our blood is red. Low hemoglobin is associated not only with iron deficiency in the blood (due, for example, to poor nutrition), but the cause can be frequent and intense blood loss - during the female cycle, with peptic ulcers, from severe injuries and cuts.
Blue lips are a fairly common symptom of respiratory tract pathology. A disease called croup occurs more often in children under 4 years of age. It is not difficult to notice: blue lips, difficulty breathing, a strong “barking” cough.
Changing the natural color of the lips is only an external manifestation. It may also be accompanied by rapid heartbeat and shortness of breath. These are clear signs that the patient has heart or lung problems. Anything can follow, from inflammation of the bronchi to asthma or a heart attack. There is only one reason - oxygen starvation.
Blue lips also occur with severe hypothermia. As a result, the vessels narrow, and the blood does not flow through the vessels sufficiently to completely fill them. Instead of uniformly filling the circulatory system, blood will be directed to the internal organs (heart, kidneys, brain) in order to at least maintain the required temperature in them.
The natural color of the integumentary tissue is the result of constant blood circulation throughout the system at a uniform speed. In order for your lips to regain their pink tint, you need to carry out a series of preventive actions to warm the body and dilate blood vessels to restore normal circulation. Then the small blue blood vessels will not be so clearly visible through the skin.
There is also another cause of blueness around the lips - Reynod's disease. In patients exposed to severely low temperatures, overexertion or stress, small blood vessels may simply burst. The body independently tries to establish natural blood exchange, resulting in a change in the color of the integumentary tissue.
First of all, provide your body with a sufficient level of warmth; if necessary, you can additionally wrap yourself in a warm blanket or dress warmer. Circulation will be restored, and blood will be able to flow calmly to all extremities and to the lips.
Drinking hot water also helps. True, in this case, not all drinks are equally effective; coffee, for example, on the contrary, promotes vasoconstriction. This is how a substance called caffeine affects the body.
Intense physical activity, such as running, jumping, and gymnastics, will help quickly return your body temperature to normal. Physical exercise helps improve vascular tone, which makes blood circulate faster.
If you smoke, try to get rid of this bad habit as soon as possible. It has been noticed that nicotine and tobacco smoke affect the natural flow of oxygen into the blood, causing blood vessels to narrow and body temperature to decrease.
If these measures do not help, or you are absolutely sure that the cause of your blue lips is not smoking or hypothermia, then consult a doctor as soon as possible. Especially if other negative symptoms are present at the same time.
Blueness of the mucous membranes of the intimate area occurs against the background of changes in blood circulation. As a result, a change in pigmentation occurs, which changes the color of the genitals.
The goal of treatment with homeopathic medicines is to enhance the body’s defense mechanism and promote its independent recovery.
Drugs | Purpose |
Blueness of the external genital organs with varicose veins. | |
Stagnation of blood. | |
Blue, swollen labia. | |
Stagnation of blood. |
At certain periods of their lives, many people notice various transformations and changes. For some, such changes are quite noticeable, but for others, this may be some kind of discovery only for the person himself. In particular, intimate parts of the body are not exposed.
At the same time, these areas and changes with them are often of interest to people, especially at a young age. The main question that cannot be answered unequivocally is: “Why does the skin darken in intimate places, the reasons and explanations for this.”
These reasons may relate to lifestyle and certain age-related changes.
It should be noted that the color of the labia is different for all women, and for each of them it can change at different periods of life. This feature is highly individual and can vary in different colors and shades - from beige to black, from pale light to very dark or rich.
Most all women usually have pink labia. But no matter what color you have, their color and shade may change with the onset of pregnancy.
The previously pale or dull red labia after conception often become deeply red, purple, dark, as if inflamed. Do not worry: such changes, as we have already said, are the absolute norm, if in addition to them there are no “suspicious” vaginal discharge, itching, burning and other pathological symptoms.
Also, you should not be surprised if during pregnancy only one labia changes color, while the second remains unchanged: this also happens normally.
Blueness of the labia during pregnancy is a very common early sign. As a rule, around the same time, the areolas of the nipples on the chest also darken: sometimes they also turn blue, but more often they acquire a dark brown color. A vein network on the chest may also appear.
The labia of a pregnant woman can also become blue due to varicose veins, which is observed in approximately a third of women who become pregnant for the first time and in most of those who are repeatedly pregnant. Overweight pregnant women and women who are genetically predisposed to this are at risk.
Most often, this condition is temporary and harmless: shortly before childbirth or shortly after it, it goes away on its own. But sometimes the blue labia during pregnancy begin to hurt and bleed, which you need to tell your doctor about. He will prescribe you an anti-inflammatory ointment, and also recommend wearing special compression garments without seams, not sitting too long or standing in one place for a long time, moving more and lying only on your side.
Please also note that blue tissue discoloration in this area can occur even in non-pregnant women due to wearing tight synthetic underwear, aggressive sex, very early onset of sexual activity, and also with age.
Sometimes on forums you can find messages that women’s labia have become very dark, almost black, during pregnancy. This frightens and worries some of them, but there is no reason to worry.
The color of the labia during pregnancy can actually not only darken greatly, but actually turn gray or black. Moreover: for approximately 2-3% of fair-skinned women in the world, this color of the mucous membranes in the perineum is their normal norm.
If nothing else bothers you other than color, then there is no need to worry. If you are not yet sure about your pregnancy, then if the color of the labia changes, you should dot all the i’s: it’s time to buy a test.
Especially for - Ekaterina Vlasenko
An ambulance must be called immediately if cyanosis of the lips is accompanied by shortness of breath and loss of consciousness, vomiting or suffocation, blood loss and other negative symptoms. The above explains why lips turn blue in an adult. Treatment should be prescribed by a specialist in any case.
First aid boils down to placing the patient in such a way as to ensure maximum oxygen flow, then you can give appropriate medications to alleviate the general condition and immediately call an ambulance.
If blue lips are due to hypothermia, the person needs to be warmed up by wrapping him in a blanket and giving him hot tea, rubbing it as much as possible. In case of slight hypothermia, it is recommended to take a bath with lukewarm water, gradually increasing its temperature to 40°C. Then you need to wrap yourself in a terry towel and lie under the blanket.
You cannot immediately place the patient under hot water, as well as give him alcohol or coffee. Otherwise, the risk of developing internal hemorrhages, rupture of capillaries and other negative consequences increases. If hypothermia is severe enough, the person may die. Therefore, he must be immediately sent to the hospital.
If your lips are blue during pregnancy, you should consult a gynecologist who will prescribe special medications containing iron. In this case, it is better not to self-medicate. There are many reasons why lips turn blue in an adult. Treatment with folk remedies can negatively affect human health. Therefore, you need to see a doctor.
- Wrap yourself well in a warm blanket or terry towel, which will allow your body to quickly warm up. Blood will begin to circulate faster through the internal organs and rise from them to the limbs and lips.
- You should drink hot tea. You need to be careful when drinking hot coffee, since the caffeine it contains causes vasoconstriction.
- Sports activities (running, aerobics, etc.) will quickly warm the body and give it a pink tint, which will help oxygen reach all tissues of the body.
- Set yourself a goal to quit smoking. Tobacco smoke and nicotine reduce the flow of oxygen to tissues and lead to rapid vasoconstriction.
Blue lips
Why do lips turn blue? The reason is usually a malfunction of the body. If this symptom appears, you should immediately consult a specialist.
If blue lips are accompanied by additional symptoms of general malaise, then this only increases the importance of visiting a doctor.
Reasons for changing lip color
Blue lips in medicine are called cyanotic. The appearance of this symptom is an indicator that some kind of malfunction has occurred in the body. Most often, blue lips appear in the following cases:
- With a lack of oxygen in the body. This usually forms during the development of cyanosis of the skin, which is accompanied by a purple coloration of the skin. This is due to an increased content of a certain type of hemoglobin in the blood. This disease indicates problems with the heart and blood vessels.
- The cause may be smoking, as the body is constantly exposed to toxic gases.
- If this symptom is accompanied by noticeable paleness of the skin, this may be a sign of anemia. This often happens during pregnancy. Iron is part of hemoglobin. Anemia is sometimes associated not only with insufficient iron levels, but also with large blood losses.
- In children, this symptom can occur with croup, which is also accompanied by cough and impaired breathing rate.
- If the natural color of the lips changes to blue, and the patient complains of delays in breathing, rapid heartbeat, then we can assume that the problem lies in the heart or lungs. In this case, the patient is at risk of a heart attack, asthma or bronchitis. Often blue lips indicate thrombus formation in the lungs. This is why it is important to visit your doctor as soon as possible.
- Lips may also turn blue when body temperature drops sharply. When hypothermia (frostbite) occurs, the walls of the capillaries narrow, which does not allow blood to pass through them freely. As a result, this part of the blood flows to other organs. Lips acquire a normal color only when the blood moves at a normal speed and nothing interferes with it. In case of hypothermia, you can carry out warming actions that do not require special skills: drink a cup of hot tea, wrap yourself in a blanket. After this, pale lips should return to their natural color.
- Blue lips can also occur in people with Raynold's disease. Vessels in the legs or arms burst during hypothermia or in severe stressful situations. Blood circulation is normalized due to the replenishment of blood vessels, but a pale blue color of the skin appears.
In women in the position, blue lips are a sign that the mother’s body lacks iron. In this case, you should consult a doctor.
Most likely, he will prescribe a drug that has no effect on the fetus to increase iron levels in the blood.
What should you do if your lips turn blue?
To identify the true cause of this symptom, you should seek qualified medical help. Different situations have their own approach to treatment.
In certain situations, there is an algorithm of actions that should be followed in this case:
- If you are hypothermic, you need to warm your body: you can wrap yourself in a blanket or simply put on warm clothes. This normalizes blood circulation and blood can reach all organ systems. You can also use hot drinks, but coffee should be excluded from this list. It contains caffeine and, due to it, promotes vasoconstriction. In addition, you cannot warm yourself with vodka;
- You can do physical exercise to increase your body temperature. Jumping, running, and gymnastics are suitable here. Physical activity improves vascular tone and blood circulation returns to normal;
- if blueness is caused by smoking, then you should get rid of this habit at an accelerated pace. Nicotine negatively affects the level of oxygen in the blood, which causes oxygen starvation. Tobacco smoking causes vasoconstriction, which affects blood flow and body temperature;
- If you have Reynolds disease, you should avoid possible stressful situations and expose yourself to danger. This will reduce the risk of vascular rupture and, accordingly, blue discoloration;
- If you have anemia, you should visit your doctor to prescribe medications that increase iron levels in the blood. This will avoid not only blue lips, but also many complications;
- If additional symptoms are found, additional diagnostics should be performed. When contacting a doctor, the patient must list all existing unpleasant symptoms. Only in this way will a specialist draw up an overall picture, put forward a proposed diagnosis and refer the patient for appropriate additional examinations.
If home methods have no effect on lip color, then most likely the reason is not cigarette abuse or hypothermia. Diseases accompanied by this symptom always affect the circulatory system, so you should not delay a visit to an experienced specialist and subsequent treatment of a possible disease.
How to get rid of lip cyanosis
In medicine, the following types of cyanosis are distinguished:
- Central, characterized by a pronounced blue color of the lips and cheeks. This occurs due to impaired blood circulation, as a result of which carbon anhydride accumulates in large quantities.
- Peripheral, which is caused by a slowdown in blood flow in the capillaries and an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the body. Venous and arterial blood mixes and breathing quickens.
It is also customary to distinguish between temporary and permanent cyanosis. In the first case, its appearance is provoked by hypothermia or severe physical exertion. In the second case, cyanosis is associated with pathologies of the cardiovascular system. Now it has become clear why an adult’s lips turn blue when it’s cold. We will consider more detailed reasons for the development of the anomaly below.
If there are symptoms of cyanosis, the patient is prescribed oxygen therapy. Only a doctor can find the cause of blueness; it is advisable to be examined by a cardiologist, pulmonologist and endocrinologist. It is necessary to undergo the prescribed tests to identify the cause of the disease.
If the cause of blue lips is poor blood circulation, you can use folk remedies that give positive reviews. They are easy to prepare at home:
- Aloe juice and honey mask. The ingredients are diluted in equal proportions and applied to the blue area. Suitable for adults and children.
- Horse chestnut tincture. The fruits are infused in cool water for half a day. Boil the infusion. Drink 12 days 30 minutes before meals, 1 tablespoon 3 times a day.
Folk remedies cannot be the only treatment! Seeing a doctor if you have cyanosis is mandatory.
Experts distinguish 2 forms of cyanosis.
- Central. It gives a person bright blue lips and cheeks. Symptoms appear due to disruptions in the movement of blood in the human body. Carbon anhydride accumulates in the blood in high volumes.
- Peripheral. It slows down the passage of blood in the capillaries, and increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the body. The connection of venous and arterial blood begins, after which breathing becomes more frequent.
Doctors distinguish short-term and continuous cyanosis. For the first option, the appearance of cyanosis is associated with severe hypothermia or a large number of physical exercises. For the second option - with the presence of pathologies in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
How to treat, first aid
Depending on the disease indicated by blue lips, first aid differs.
If a person has cold and blue lips, then he must be transferred to a warm place and covered with a blanket. After this, if the cause is hypothermia, proper circulation will be restored in the body, the necessary amount of oxygen will be supplied to the organs, and the person will warm up.
To make the recovery process faster, the victim can be given hot tea to drink. It is not recommended to give coffee to a patient, as caffeine constricts blood vessels. It is forbidden to take a hot bath if the victim has not yet warmed up - sudden changes in temperature contribute to vascular damage and internal hemorrhage.
Do not forget that with physical activity, vascular tone increases. A few minutes of jumping rope or 2-3 laps at the stadium will increase the speed of blood circulation.
If cyanosis is caused by a lack of iron in the body, especially during pregnancy, then special food supplements (Hemobin, Nova Ferrum) or medications (Ferretab, Maltofer, Gino-tardiferon, Sorbifer-Durule) can restore its level.
Pregnant women should take any medications only on the recommendation of their doctor!
In the case where blueness is caused by smoking, the only way to remove it is to quit smoking.
If these methods do not help get rid of the symptom, then the problem lies in more serious reasons that require the intervention of specialists.
Blue lips in a child are a symptom that indicates internal disorders or diseases. The shade changes due to fluctuations in the level of hemoglobin in the blood and its oxygen saturation. Such manifestations in children become a common cause of diseases of the respiratory system and heart. First you need to provide first aid, then contact a medical facility.
Common reasons why lips turn blue are heart failure and blockage of blood vessels. The phenomenon is caused by tissue hypoxia. If the lower or upper lip turns blue, then a disorder occurs as a result of weak outflow of venous blood and an imbalance of arterial inflow.
The cause is subcutaneous tumor, inflammation. The process is caused by nearby vessels in the lip muscle. Such manifestations occur in a child when swimming in cold water or when he is hypothermic.
When a small child cries, his lips often turn blue. If an infant cries for a long time, this provokes a flow of blood into the area of the lips and chin; the spraying of oxygen accelerates the pace as a result of the high activity of the lungs. If the child has calmed down and the cyanosis has subsided, there is no need to worry.
Reasons why a baby’s lips may turn blue that are not related to illness:
- lack of oxygen in enclosed spaces;
- hypothermia while walking at low temperatures;
- strong physical activity.
A possible cause of lip discoloration is a combination of all factors.
The main causes of blue lips in a child:
- pneumonia;
- pneumonia;
- asthmatic attack.
If the baby has no appetite, is losing weight, is lethargic, is crying, coughing, has a fever, then you need to urgently contact an ambulance.
There is such a reason for the blue triangle near the mouth as respiratory syndrome. The disease is not very dangerous and is directly related to age-related changes. Associated with overexcitation.
Symptoms:
- the lower lip turns blue;
- triangle near the mouth;
- face;
- throat spasms.
There is a lack of calcium in the child's body. In children over 4 years of age, the disease goes away on its own.
Metabolic cyanosis can cause blue lips in newborns.
In such cases, an excess of phosphates occurs in the body and a lack of sufficient calcium. Such phenomena occur after hemorrhage inside the skull or cerebral edema.
Congenital heart disease in infants causes blue lips. A sign of pathology is poor circulation. These babies develop the following symptoms by 9-12 weeks:
- dyspnea;
- loss of consciousness;
- blue discoloration of the nasolabial triangle;
- convulsions.
Treatment requires surgery between the ages of 3 and 6 years.
Cyanosis manifests itself due to the presence of a respiratory disease - croup. Children under 3 years of age are susceptible to it.
Symptoms:
- dry cough;
- wheezing;
- heat.
A dangerous condition is accompanied by salivation, choking, and the upper lip turns blue.
What danger cyanosis poses is determined by the condition of the baby’s tongue and nails.
If they have a pink tint and a healthy appearance, there is a possibility of perioral cyanosis, which is not dangerous.
If a bluish tint appears on the tongue, nails, or lips, you should immediately consult a doctor.
What measures need to be taken
The main cause of blue lips is considered to be a lack of oxygen in the body (oxygen starvation), which occurs due to cyanosis of the skin. Symptoms of this disease are a clearly purple color of the skin and all mucous membranes (this occurs due to the increased content of reduced hemoglobin in the blood). If the patient has cyanosis, then, first of all, this indicates that he has problems with the cardiovascular system.
The second common cause of blue lips is smoking and the constant exposure of the human body to increased amounts of toxic gases.
In some cases, in addition to the presence of blue lips, a very pale shade of the skin can be observed. In this case, we can say that the patient suffers from iron deficiency anemia. Most often, anemia causes blue lips during pregnancy. Iron is one of the most important trace elements that takes part in many processes in our body.
Quite often, the cause of blue lips in children is a serious disease called croup, which is certainly accompanied by a severe cough and disturbances in normal breathing.
If red lips change their natural color over time, and the patient experiences shortness of breath and a rapid pulse, then we can talk about obvious symptoms of problems with the lungs or heart. The patient may have a heart attack, develop bronchitis, or develop asthma. All this indicates oxygen starvation. Sometimes the lips also turn blue due to the formation of a blood clot in the lungs. In this case, you must immediately seek help from a doctor.
brain, kidneys and heart, thus maintaining a constant temperature throughout the body. Normal color of lips and skin occurs only if blood moves through the vessels constantly at the same speed and in the usual volume. It will be possible to return pale lips to their pink color after warming the body, as well as a series of measures that will help small blue blood vessels no longer show through the thin skin of the lips.
Sometimes blue lips occur in people with Raynaud's disease, when blood vessels in the extremities burst when exposed to low temperatures or severe stress. The human body tries to replenish the blood vessels with blood, which ultimately gives the body a blue tint.
Blue lips during pregnancy are a sign that the expectant mother’s body lacks iron. This problem is quite common, so today there are already known drugs that can help resolve it.
The appearance of central cyanosis
There are also other reasons why a child's lips, face or torso may turn blue. If, in addition to blue lips, the baby has a blue color of the epidermis on other parts of the body - on the face, upper or lower extremities, this may indicate the presence of a more dangerous health problem - central cyanosis. This condition requires immediate consultation with a doctor and immediate treatment.
Blue lips can be a temporary condition when children cry or eat. Also, the reasons for this symptom lie in increased activity or an outburst of anger, hysteria, or fever. In this situation, when crying, it is not the skin on the lips itself that turns blue, but the areas around the mouth, while the mucous membranes of the oral cavity and tongue remain pink. How to distinguish a normal condition from a dangerous condition? It is necessary to carefully examine the baby's skin. If the nail beds and tongue remain pink, and the lower or upper lip turns blue, this is a temporary condition that usually goes away on its own.
If the lips, the surface of the mucous membrane and tongue, and the nail plates become covered with a bluish tint, this is an alarming symptom that requires immediate contact with a doctor and finding out the cause of this condition.
Sources
- https://zdravotvet.ru/pochemu-sineyut-guby-u-vzroslogo-cheloveka-ili-rebenka/
- https://ProGuby.ru/bolezni/sinie-guby-u-rebenka
- https://tvoyzubnoy.ru/bolezni-i-ih-lechenie/guby/u-rebenka-sineyut-guby.html
- https://zubnoimir.ru/guby/sinie-u-rebenka.html
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Lung dysfunction
Why do adult lips turn blue? A photo of such pathology is provided. One of the factors in its appearance may be the presence of a blood clot in the artery of the lung. This also manifests itself during exacerbation of COPD or bronchial asthma. If you stay under water for a long time or stay on a mountain peak, your lips may also turn blue. Blue lips are almost always observed in severe pneumonia.
It is difficult to answer the question of why lips turn blue in an adult without conducting a thorough diagnosis. A very common source is heart failure. Here the organ cannot provide the necessary blood flow to the organs and tissues of the human body.
People with also suffer from blue lips. This is due to a defect in the organ, which is characterized by blood with a small amount of oxygen entering from the right ventricle directly into the left, without reaching the lungs. Blue lips are also observed during cardiac arrest.
What measures should you take if you have blue lips?
- Wrap yourself well in a warm blanket or terry towel, which will allow your body to quickly warm up. Blood will begin to circulate faster through the internal organs and rise from them to the limbs and lips.
- You should drink hot tea. You need to be careful when drinking hot coffee, since the caffeine it contains causes vasoconstriction.
- Sports activities (running, aerobics, etc.) will quickly warm the body and give it a pink tint, which will help oxygen reach all tissues of the body.
- Set yourself a goal to quit smoking. Tobacco smoke and nicotine reduce the flow of oxygen to tissues and lead to rapid vasoconstriction.
Video from YouTube on the topic of the article:
“Blue lips” are often found in people who have suffered from hypothermia. The most obvious reason for this is swimming in cold water or simply staying in a body of water for a long time. But this is the result of hypothermia and there is an explanation for this. But why do lips turn blue for no apparent reason?
Airway obstruction
These reasons include holding your breath or suffocation. There may also be some diseases that provoke obstruction of the airways. These include bronchiectasis, characterized by dilation of part of the bronchi with stagnation of sputum, which leads to infections.
Lips can also turn blue due to epiglottitis, which is manifested by inflammation of the epiglottis. In addition, pathology occurs with long-lasting convulsions as a result of certain diseases.
Pigmentation process
The change in skin color itself, in particular in the groin area, is associated with the amount of pigments released. Therefore, darkening of the skin should also be attributed to pigmentation.
The greater the amount of melanin, also known as pigment, released in your body, the more darkening of individual areas of the skin will appear.
Melanin is often secreted as a protector of your body, therefore, any violations of your health lead to its excess. And it is not at all necessary that your genitals are at risk, even if you notice pigmented spots in their area.
Why do lips turn blue in the cold?
The most common occurrence is blue lips due to cold, but this is not the only reason. Blue lips due to cold are associated with a narrowing of blood vessels that react to low temperatures. The blood supply deteriorates, the blood stagnates, acquires a bluish tint due to the fact that it gives off oxygen before reaching the peripheral tissues. This is where the specific color comes from. A lack of oxygen in the room also causes blue lips, as does an overdose of certain drugs and increased physical activity.
Lips can be called an indicator of health. A change in their color may indicate disturbances in the functioning of the body and the appearance of various diseases.
The lips are folds of muscle. On one side they are covered with skin, and on the other with mucous membrane. Inside they are covered with vessels that are visible under the skin and give the lips a red color. A change in color indicates a lack of oxygen saturation of the vessels. Blueness of the skin is called cyanosis.
Internal factors
If a person's lips begin to darken, there may be several reasons for this. If such a problem is discovered, then this is a reason to contact a specialist. Let's try to figure out what the reasons are and what the consequences are.
The blood that circulates through the vessels gives the skin a pinkish tint. When the body freezes, the body's capabilities are rebuilt to warm up all organs. The vessels through which blood passes to the legs, arms and lips become smaller from the cold, therefore the flow of blood is reduced. This reason gives the skin a dark color.
Often lips are blue due to lack of air in the body. There are several reasons for oxygen starvation.
- Complete or partial absence of air. This is due to negative habits - smoking reduces the flow of oxygen in the lungs. The presence of a foreign object in the respiratory system leads to fainting and complete blockage of air.
- Prolonged lying down creates oxygen stagnation in the lungs. This reason applies to bedridden patients. The mucus collects in the lungs and has no way to come out. The patient undergoes sanitation using a bronchoscope.
- Often after surgery, the patient’s lips turn blue - this is how anesthesia affects the lungs.
With this disease, a person often lacks air. Asthma inflames the bronchi and trachea, resulting in an attack of bronchospasm. Little air enters the body, the muscles tense, and the abundant blood flow makes not only the lips, but also the neck and face of the asthmatic blue.
Asthmatics are prone to blue lips
The person feels tired, the color of the skin, nails and lip color changes. The disease cannot begin to develop on its own. It becomes active after injuries, severe blood loss and poor nutrition. It is impossible to make a correct diagnosis at the initial stage, since there is no clinical picture of the disease. To determine the disease, a person only needs to donate blood. Treatment is prescribed after examination.
Often the appearance of blue color on the lips occurs due to heart failure, but first a person needs to undergo a thorough diagnosis. The heart is not able to give the body and tissues the required amount of blood. People who have had a heart defect since birth always have blue lips. This occurs due to damage in the organ, as low-oxygen blood passes from one ventricle to another and does not reach the lungs. They darken when the heart stops.
If a child’s lips and face begin to turn blue, this is a sign of the development of serious pathologies. A change in lip color indicates a central form of cyanosis. When the skin turns blue around the lips when a baby is crying or feeding, this is not a dangerous phenomenon. This result can occur due to the baby being very energetic or having a fit of anger. In this condition, the skin acquires a blue tint not only in the lip area, but throughout the body, and the tongue and oral cavity remain pink.
Parents need to carefully examine the child’s feet, hands, tongue and nails, after which they can understand whether this form is dangerous to the child’s health or not. Pink color indicates that the child has cyanosis in the mouth area. When the color begins to darken, you urgently need to call an ambulance.
So, for the most part, the causes of pigmentation in intimate areas come down to the impact of a person’s immediate internal, individual factors on their own health. Moreover, we are talking about specific internal health problems, without the influence of any external factors.
If you want to know the external reagents of why the skin in intimate places darkens: the reasons may be the following:
- Excess weight: due to the excessive amount of fat folds, you will produce copious amounts of sweat in those areas where the skin will darken in the future;
- Pregnancy period in women: pigmentation can occur against the background of strong hormonal changes;
- Fungi, infections of your groin area: in this case, you should not hesitate and begin treatment to cure the disease;
- Varicose veins: often a strong expansion of the veins gives outflow to the groin area, and also leads to darkening of the skin of the genital organs;
- Endocrine diseases: they are directly related to a person’s hormonal levels, which is why pigmentation can be observed not only in intimate places, but also in other areas of the skin;
- Diseases of internal organs, especially the liver, stomach, gall bladder and kidneys: in this case, it is strictly forbidden to postpone a visit to the doctor;
- Age: The number of years you have lived can also be a factor in the darkening of your skin, particularly in menopausal women.
The number of possible causes of genital pigmentation does not end with health problems and possible diseases. Also, to the question of why the skin darkens in intimate places, what could be the reasons for this, some of the external influencing factors can provide answers. Among them:
- Incorrect clothing: squeezing, rubbing, tightness while wearing clothes, especially underwear, can have a negative effect on the skin of the intimate parts of the body, which can cause its color to darken;
- Problems with depilation: following skin irritation or possible injury after improper hair removal, you may experience pigmentation of the genitals;
- Excess ultraviolet radiation: excessive exposure to the sun without appropriate cosmetics is fraught with the appearance of age spots;
- Taking oral contraceptives: due to changes in hormonal levels, darkening of the skin of intimate places is possible;
- Toxic Substances: Direct exposure to chemicals and toxic agents on the skin causes pigmented spots.
Thus, it is possible to establish the cause of darkening of the skin in intimate places and, if possible, eliminate the problem.
Find out now
You are waiting for your baby, your body is waiting, both your body and soul are getting ready. Everything changes and changes. This may seem strange to some, but even during pregnancy they change. By the way, a change in their color is the first sign of pregnancy.
Changing the labia is a normal and natural process. Hormones are raging in the body, the hormonal background is changing, and therefore the blood circulation of the pelvic organs is significantly increased, therefore the labia change in size - both small and large. They swell, become more juicy and elastic, and varicose veins often appear.
Veins appear on the lips or even lumps appear, however, there is no need to worry too much about this: after pregnancy, and maybe even before childbirth, everything will return to its place. There is a risk of developing acute varicothrombophlebitis or rupture of altered veins. It will entail bleeding, but this is also not so bad.
Unfortunately, during pregnancy there are not many means to combat varicose veins. This can only be treated with medication. As a rule, phlebotonics (Detralex, Phlebodia) are prescribed, but this is after the 6th month of pregnancy, when the baby’s main vital organs are formed. But after 36 weeks you can no longer take such drugs, since the body begins to prepare for childbirth.
The color of the lips becomes darker, often a little bluish and purple. By the way, such color changes can be observed already 10-12 days after conception. This is also associated with increased blood supply to the pelvic organs, and this process, in turn, is provided by nature to facilitate childbirth. In addition to active blood supply, there is also pressure from the fetus on the arteries - the growing baby puts weight on them, and accordingly, blood circulation worsens. It may even cause swelling of the labia, but this is usually not dangerous.
Changes in the labia become clearly noticeable at the end of the second or third trimester. They often cause discomfort, itching and sometimes even pain. Choose seamless underwear, consult a gynecologist - maybe he will prescribe you a special ointment.
But rashes on the lips no longer indicate anything good. Genital herpes is a serious disease. It poses a threat to the unborn child because it affects the information genetically embedded in the child and makes unwanted changes to it.
Almost 80% of children do not survive genital herpes in a pregnant woman, and 85% of those who survive suffer from brain defects, impaired vision and hearing, and deviations in physical development. Therefore, as soon as you see any rashes on the labia, do not hesitate to go to the doctor: it is better to be safe than to miss the moment.
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The size and color of the skin of the labia minora and labia majora vary significantly among women. The labia minora can be light pink, skin-colored, brown, almost red, etc.
The pigmentation of the intimate zone depends only on whether the distant ancestors were southerners or northerners. Northerners have lighter skin and mucous membranes, southerners have darker ones, and their descendants may have both. And it often happens that there is more pigmentation on one side and less on the other. This is fine. The color of the labia minora is usually about the same color as the areola of your breast nipples. If the areolas are dark, then the labia and anus will be too, although there are exceptions.
Why do lips turn blue and how to deal with it
In the absence of any health problems, a person's lips have a pinkish or reddish tint. Any changes in color, for example, the appearance of a blue tint, signal the development of a serious pathology and the need to undergo examination at a medical clinic, where they can tell why the lips turn blue and what to do in such a situation.
general information
Since ancient times, the appearance of the lips has been considered the main indicator of human health, therefore, if the slightest deviations from the natural pinkish tint appear, this may indicate the development of diseases or inflammatory processes in the body. When faced with the appearance of blue discoloration on the surface of the lips, you should contact a specialist and find out the cause of the problem.
There are natural factors that cause the structure to turn blue. First of all, it is a long stay in cold air, as a result of which the skin becomes bluish. However, if a change in shade occurs for no apparent reason, it may be due to serious health problems.
If, in addition to external skin changes, the following symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor urgently:
- Increased heart rate and shortness of breath.
- The appearance of blue on the nails.
- Feeling of lack of oxygen.
- Increased body temperature or fever.
- Coughing.
Cyanosis is a characteristic sign of many pathologies and is accompanied by a change in the color of the skin and mucous membranes. Such phenomena are caused by a high accumulation of deoxyhemoglobin - reduced hemoglobin - in the blood.
A blood mixture that has not received the required amount of oxygen takes on a dark tint. Moreover, it is so intense that it is easily visible through the skin, giving it a bluish appearance . This is clearly noticeable in places where the skin is very thin:
- lips;
- front of the head;
- ears.
Blue lips occur in patients suffering from blood flow dysfunctions causing hypoxemia. If the capillaries cannot be fully filled with blood, this leads to the following pathology - acrocyanosis. Its symptoms appear as blue discoloration on the tip of the nose and fingers.
Doctors distinguish two types of cyanosis:
- central;
- peripheral.
In the first case, the tint of the lips becomes very blue, which is due to insufficient arterialization of the blood. The peripheral type increases the concentration of oxygen in the tissues, so the skin color changes everywhere.
Main varieties
The intensity of the lip shade varies from light tones to bright purple. With hypothermia or increased physical activity, temporary cyanosis may develop. With prolonged or sudden onset of diseases of the cardiovascular system, cyanosis becomes persistent. Depending on the nature of the clinical picture, there are types of pathology:
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- Constant.
- General.
- Transitional.
- Perioral.
- Isolated.
- Local.
The problem of blue lips can progress in both children and adults.
Moreover, in young patients it may indicate serious pathologies or malfunctions in the functioning of internal organs and systems, which requires immediate hospitalization or calling an ambulance.
In most cases, perioral cyanosis is noticed, which causes a change in skin tone in the mouth and lips. The intensity of blue discoloration depends on various factors.
Possible reasons
Lips often turn blue when exposed to the cold for a long time. If the body is exposed to hypothermia, a redistribution of the body's resources occurs, which is necessary to warm the internal organs. Under the influence of cold, the blood vessels begin to narrow, which makes the skin on the lips blue and deprives them of sensitivity.
To restore normal blood circulation and supply the body with the necessary substances, it is enough to find a source of heat. After this, the lips will return to their normal shade, and the functioning of all organs and systems will be restored.
Another reason for blue lips is oxygen deficiency. This is often caused by the abuse of tobacco products, which cause poisoning of the body with toxic gases when a cigarette smolders. But air deficiency also occurs with more serious problems, for example, with serious pathology of the cardiovascular system.
Skin cyanosis is also called hypoxemia , which occurs due to low oxygen levels in the blood. The surface of the lips becomes blue due to a decrease in hemoglobin levels.
When faced with the problem of blue lips, the possibility of anemia due to iron deficiency cannot be ruled out. The substance enters the body along with food and is intended for the normal production of hemoglobin, which affects skin tone. If the patient becomes pale and his lips take on an unnatural purple tint, the problem is precisely a lack of iron.
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Deficiency of this substance occurs not only due to poor nutrition, but also with heavy blood loss during menstrual periods, with open ulcers or severe mechanical damage that causes rupture of blood vessels.
If, along with bluish lips, breathing problems appear, the pulse quickens, and the lips turn purple, there may be a malfunction in the lungs or heart. The problem also develops against the background of a heart attack or blood clot formation in the vessels, with chronic asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia.
Severe symptoms
Often, cyanosis indicates the presence of serious pathologies. If we talk about the central type, it leads to a gradual change in skin tone near the eyes or mouth. As cyanosis progresses, other areas of the body become blue.
The peripheral form is accompanied by bluish discoloration of the skin in areas of the body remote from the location of the heart. Additional symptoms of this pathology include swelling and swelling of the venous capillaries in the neck.
If cyanosis appears suddenly, and its spread occurs very quickly, you need to urgently be examined at the clinic and take appropriate measures. Depending on the causes of the disease, the following symptoms may be present:
- Disruption of the bronchopulmonary system. The pathology is accompanied by the appearance of a purple tint on the skin and mucous membranes, leading to shortness of breath and a wet cough. An increase in body temperature, hyperhidrosis and moist rales are also possible. In extreme cases, coughing with coughing up blood, chest pain and other more serious symptoms are noticed. In case of severe cyanosis, it is necessary to perform urgent respiratory resuscitation and place the patient in a hospital.
- Heart problems. Any heart disease can lead to blue lips and nasolabial triangle, severe shortness of breath, hemoptysis and secondary erythrocytosis. Also, if there are problems with the heart, a rapid jump in hematocrit or capillary stasis may be noticed. Moving into a severe stage, the pathology begins the process of deformation of the fingers and nails.
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When faced with the listed symptoms, it is necessary to undergo a comprehensive diagnosis and begin treatment.
If you ignore the rules, the patient may develop a psychoneurological disorder that affects the structure of the brain, asomnia and a number of other pathologies.
A decrease in the protective functions of the immune system and a deterioration in appetite are also possible. In severe cases, the risk of coma increases.
Blue lips in a child
If changes in the shade of the lips appear in a child suffering from a severe cough, you need to call an ambulance and conduct an examination. Any breathing problems can be fatal, so you should not delay contacting a pediatrician.
With the development of pathologies with the lungs or respiratory tract, children may complain of a feeling of tightness in the throat. Under no circumstances should you self-medicate using traditional medicine.
It is better to wait for a specialist who will diagnose and determine suitable treatment methods.
Many children are exposed to Raynaud's disease. It develops against the background of sudden temperature changes, severe nervous disorder or overstrain, which leads to damage to small vessels, so blueness on the surface of the lips is often associated with impaired blood circulation and the body’s desire to restore a normal state.
Any signs of bluish lips in a child are a serious reason to consult a doctor, since cyanosis may indicate the development of a dangerous pathology or other problems in the body.
Blue lips often indicate the presence of central cyanosis, but occasional bluish discoloration of the skin around the mouth occurs when crying or eating. Such manifestations do not pose a threat to health.
Also, the blue effect can occur with increased activity or a nervous breakdown, but in this case the tongue and oral mucosa remain pinkish.
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To ensure that cyanosis is not dangerous, it is enough to evaluate the condition of the nails and tongue. If they remain pink, then the problem is perioral cyanosis, which goes away on its own. But if a purple or intense blue color appears in such places, a visit to the doctor is inevitable.
In newborns, cyanosis can be a normal condition or a serious congenital pathology. Babies have very thin blood through which blood vessels can be seen, so the appearance of a blue tint on the lips is not a death sentence. However, if cyanosis becomes constant or severe, you need to show the baby to the pediatrician.
Other reasons
Blue lips can occur when taking large amounts of sedatives or narcotics, benzodiazepines, or with prolonged exposure to cold air or water. We already know. Here the blood vessels narrow, the blood does not completely fill the lips, and it enters the internal organs.
Blue lips are often observed with anemia, when the body lacks iron, which is part of hemoglobin, which, in turn, is responsible for the red color of the blood. Also, the level of this substance may fall during blood loss. Stressful situations can cause blue lips. Over time, the unpleasant symptom goes away in these cases.
What to do if your lips turn blue?
It’s easy to return plum-colored lips from hypothermia to their original pink color. Blueness in this case occurs due to vasoconstriction and insufficient blood flow to the mucous membrane.
How to cope with a reaction to cold:
Go into a warm room and wrap yourself in a cozy blanket.
Drink a hot drink, preferably herbal tea. Coffee is not suitable - caffeine causes vasoconstriction.
Jump a little, wave your arms, do some squats. Exercise will help improve blood circulation.
If you still need to get to a warm room, a simple trick helps. Cover your mouth with your cupped palms and breathe into them. This will warm both your hands and lips.
For heavy smokers and alcohol lovers, only giving up bad habits will help them return to normal lip color.
A slight iron deficiency can be restored by foods rich in this trace element:
Veal and liver;
Grapes and pomegranates;
Tomatoes and beets.
Long-term anemia requires medical supervision and taking medications containing iron. This is especially true for pregnant women and young mothers.
If your lips turn blue not from hypothermia, but you are indifferent to alcohol and cigarettes, you need to consult a therapist. Perhaps these are warning signs of a serious illness, especially if a change in the color of the mucous membranes is accompanied by other unpleasant symptoms.
Lips can be considered an indicator of the health of the body, but changes in their color should not always be associated with the manifestation of certain health problems. For example, blue discoloration of the skin is often associated with a banal outflow of blood under the influence of low temperature. This reaction is a protective mechanism that allows vital organs to be supplied with blood in the required quantity.
Hypothermia of the human body is a common process, not only in winter. Swimming in cold water in summer also affects the color of the skin. If you spend a long time in an unheated reservoir, you can observe blue discoloration of not only the lips, but also the extremities (arms and legs).
This state of the human body does not have any special consequences for health in general. But in order to avoid the development of complications, such as colds, you should still not get too cold.
Symptoms
Cyanosis is in some cases a symptom of various diseases. It may be accompanied by blue discoloration not only of the lips, but also of the areas around the eyes, mouth, and other parts of the body. Often there is swelling of the capillaries in the neck and their swelling. The following symptoms may also occur:
- If the functioning of the lungs and bronchi is impaired: shortness of breath, cough, fever, hemoptysis, chest pain.
- For heart disease: blue discoloration of the nasolabial triangle, shortness of breath, erythrocytosis, deformation of nails and fingers.
If such symptoms develop, it is recommended to immediately seek help from a specialist who will make a diagnosis and answer. In some cases, immediate respiratory resuscitation is required. Doctors conduct hardware and laboratory tests, based on the results of which they make an accurate diagnosis.
There may also be the following symptoms:
- cough and shortness of breath;
- chest pain;
- increased body temperature;
- hemoptysis;
- blueness of the corners of the mouth and nose;
- distortion of nails and fingers.
If your fingers also turn blue, you should immediately go to the hospital
If you have these symptoms, you should immediately go to the hospital. The doctor examines the patient, determines the disease and prescribes medications for treatment. If blue lips appear due to problems with the respiratory tract, a person may need respiratory resuscitation.
The main causes of blue mucous membranes of the lips
Blue lips are a sign of what disease? It is impossible to say this for sure without examination, since this symptom can be caused by various groups of pathologies:
- diseases of the respiratory system: foreign bodies in the bronchus or trachea, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, bronchial asthma, pneumothorax, lung tumors;
- heart and vascular diseases: rhythm disturbances, hypertension, pulmonary embolism, myocarditis, cardiomyopathies, myocardial infarction, some heart defects: aortic insufficiency, coarctation of the aorta, atrial and ventricular septal defects;
- poisonings that cause either “blocking” of enzymes in tissues that are responsible for the “assimilation” of oxygen, or tightly binding to hemoglobin, which cannot then independently form a complex with O2;
- shock conditions, which, being neglected by various conditions - blood loss, loss of fluid (with diarrhea, vomiting), the action of microbial toxins, severe allergies - lead to impaired blood circulation in peripheral tissues.
Conditions when the lip turns blue (this symptom has the same causes) can be divided into:
- arising acutely;
- developing gradually.
This helps doctors diagnose; the patient himself or his relatives must call an ambulance. Moreover, in case of acute deterioration of the condition, this must be done quickly.
If your lips turn blue due to lung diseases
Lung pathology is indicated by a cough, which can be either dry or wet, difficulty inhaling or exhaling, and wheezing when breathing. These symptoms may not exist. We will help you roughly navigate the main diseases.
Pneumothorax
This is an emergency condition that develops when air enters the pleural cavity. This can happen with a penetrating or closed wound, with a ruptured lung abscess, rupture of the esophagus, or damage to a small bronchus by a tumor. It happens that pneumothorax occurs when a healthy person, who had air cavities (bullas) in the lung tissue, but did not know about it, was injured or lifted a heavy object.
Pneumothorax is dangerous because incompressible air begins to compress the lung, followed by the heart and large vessels. As a result, both breathing and blood circulation are impaired.
Symptoms of pneumothorax appear after injury, coughing, or physical exertion. This:
- stabbing pain or feeling of a blow on one side;
- radiates to the neck, arm, sternum;
- worsens with movements, coughing, deep movement;
- feeling of lack of air;
- dyspnea;
- blue lips
Severe attack of bronchial asthma
It begins with the appearance of harbingers. Most often they resemble a cold: cough, sneezing, headache, runny nose, sore throat. Then the attack itself develops:
- difficulty breathing, especially exhalation;
- when exhaling there is a whistling, noisy breathing;
- there is a lack of air;
- Viscous, glassy sputum may be produced.
Asthmatic status
This is a complication of bronchial asthma. It must be stopped, otherwise it may end in death.
At first, the person is conscious, he tries to find a position in which it will be easier for him to breathe. Breathing becomes more frequent and is not controlled by usual medications. When coughing, no sputum is produced. Over time, the person becomes sluggish, chest movements cease to be noticeable, the pulse is frequent, arrhythmic, and difficult to palpate. If help is not provided at this stage, consciousness is depressed to the point of coma.
Pneumonia
This is the name for inflammation when swelling and loss of function occurs in the area of the main respiratory structures - the alveoli. The causes are viral, bacterial and fungal infections.
Prevention of occurrence
If you have chronic diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, or blood diseases, it is necessary to undergo regular preventive examinations. Adhere to the right lifestyle - take walks in the fresh air more often, give your body moderate physical activity, eat right. If you smoke, try to quit this habit, just like drinking alcohol.
Blue lips cannot be ignored. Timely seeking medical help and properly selected treatment will restore good health and a vibrant, healthy complexion.
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It is necessary to adhere to the correct lifestyle, not to overwork physically, and not to get too cold. It is also recommended to avoid alcohol and nicotine consumption for prevention purposes. Pregnant women should closely monitor their health and visit a gynecologist on time. In the presence of heart pathologies or blood diseases, preventive treatment is recommended.
So, why do the lips of an adult turn blue? There are currently a lot of factors that cause such a pathology. They can be associated with both internal problems and external influences. It is important to make a correct diagnosis in a timely manner and prescribe appropriate treatment. Otherwise, the risk of complications and even death increases.
Your lips may darken if you are exposed to the sun for long enough. There are several other reasons that cause darkening of the lips. This is a genetic factor, smoking, excessive consumption of tea and/or coffee, etc.
Many people, especially those who smoke, want to lighten darkened lips and make them look naturally pink. We assure you that this goal can be achieved at home using exclusively natural remedies.