Blue lips - reasons
Probably, every person at least once in his life had to see a passer-by with blue lips. In no case should such a phenomenon be ignored, since this indicates significant problems of the human body. In the event that your lips have begun to turn blue even a little, be sure to consult a doctor. You should also come to the doctor if there is a rapid heartbeat, blue nails, fever, sweating, a strong cough and problems with normal breathing.
Causes of blue lips
In medical practice, blue lips are called cyanotic. This phenomenon can be caused by a number of factors that must be paid attention to, as this indicates certain malfunctions in the human body.
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 clearly purple color of the skin and all mucous membranes (this is due to the increased content of reduced hemoglobin in the blood). If a 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 effect on the human body of an increased amount of toxic gases.
In some cases, in addition to the presence of blue lips, you can also observe a very pale shade of the skin. In this case, we can say that the patient suffers from iron deficiency anemia. The most common cause of anemia is blue lips during pregnancy. Iron is one of the most important trace elements that takes part in many processes in our body. In particular, iron is one of the components of hemoglobin, which is responsible for the red tint of blood. A lack of hemoglobin can be associated not only with a lack of iron in food, but also with frequent and profuse blood loss (during menstruation, severe trauma and peptic ulcer diseases).
Quite often, the cause of blue lips in children is a serious disease called croup, which is certainly accompanied by a severe cough, disturbances in normal breathing.
If the red lips change their natural color over time, and the patient has a delay in breathing, a rapid pulse, then we can talk about obvious symptoms of problems with the lungs or heart. The patient may have a heart attack, bronchitis, or 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, it is imperative to immediately seek help from a doctor.
Hypothermia is another common cause of blue lips. This is due to the fact that, after freezing, the blood vessels located in the lips narrow, not allowing blood to completely fill them. As a result, most of the blood begins to flow from these vessels to the internal organs: the brain, kidneys and heart, thus maintaining a constant temperature throughout the body. The normal color of the lips and skin occurs only if the blood flows 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 number of measures that will help small blue blood vessels no longer shine through the thin skin of the lips.
Sometimes blue lips are found in people with Raynaud's disease, when the vessels of the extremities burst under the influence of low temperatures or from severe stress. The human body tries to replenish the vessels with blood, which ultimately gives the body a blue tint.
Blue lips during pregnancy are a sign that the body of the expectant mother lacks iron. This problem is quite common, therefore, today drugs are already known that can help in resolving it.
What measures should you take if you have blue lips?
- Wrap yourself well in a warm blanket or terrycloth towel to keep your body warm quickly. Blood will begin to circulate faster through the internal organs and rise from them to the limbs and lips.
- Drink hot tea. You need to be careful when drinking hot coffee, because the caffeine contained in it causes vasoconstriction.
- They will quickly warm the body and give it a pink tint to sports (running, aerobics, etc.), which will help oxygen get to all tissues of the body.
- Make it a goal to quit smoking. Tobacco smoke and nicotine reduce the flow of oxygen to tissues and lead to rapid vasoconstriction.
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