Pale Skin – Causes, Treatment & Prevention

Pale skin

There was a time when pale skin was considered genteel. In other centuries, pallor was considered unhealthy and frowned upon. But what does pale skin actually mean and is it a sign of health?

What is pale skin

One speaks of pale skin when the skin and in particular the skin of the face is characterized by a strikingly light colour. Here the coloring is clearly lighter than the rest of the affected person’s skin. You can say that when a person is pale, there is always something wrong with them.

Pale skin can therefore be interpreted as a warning sign to take a closer look at your physical condition. The pallor does not always have to have a disease value. Sometimes pale skin simply indicates that people spend too much time indoors. Walks and exercise in the fresh air can have a quick effect here.

Causes

Pale skin has many causes. It is known that people from northern regions generally suffer from pale skin. The reason is the lower solar radiation. However, this has no disease value. Pallor occurs extremely acutely in the event of circulatory weakness or severe blood loss, since the body can no longer maintain the blood supply.

Those who suffer from low blood pressure will always have a pale complexion. If the pallor persists longer, a serious illness can also be behind it. Pallor can occur with cancer, anemia, heart and liver diseases, kidney inflammation and a lack of vitamin B. But even a simple cold can temporarily cause pale facial skin.

Diseases

  • circulatory weakness
  • liver diseases

When to the doctor?

People with pale skin are by no means in a worrying condition. Their skin color is constantly pale from birth and in most cases not caused by illness. Therefore, there is no need for action that makes a trip to the doctor necessary. If skin pallor occurs spontaneously after experiencing an intense event, a doctor should be consulted.

There could be a state of shock or trauma. Both mental states should be managed medically and monitored further. Pale skin can be an indication of low blood pressure. This is often not a worrying condition. Nevertheless, it should be checked by a doctor at regular intervals, as it can trigger further complications such as tiredness , lack of energy or lack of concentration.

Pale skin is often a sign of a heart attack. This can be caused by a virus or bacteria. In most cases, other symptoms are present or will appear in the coming hours or days. It is therefore advisable to consult a doctor in good time. If the pale skin develops gradually, a doctor should also be consulted. The pallor of the skin could be a sign of a deficiency in the organism. A nutrient or blood deficiency can indicate other harmless or serious diseases and should therefore be clarified.

Diagnosis and course

Anyone affected can make the diagnosis of pale skin at home alone in front of the mirror. A careful look can usually tell if a region of the body (often the face) appears paler and less vibrant than the rest of the skin. Short-term pallor does not require further treatment. However, if the pallor persists, going to the doctor is inevitable.

At the beginning, the doctor will have a detailed conversation with the patient to get an idea of ​​the living conditions and possible causes of the paleness. This includes questions about taking any medication, previous illnesses, eating habits, sporting activities and possible consumption of cigarettes. Blood pressure and pulse are then measured.

The blood test will provide information about whether anemia is present or not. To be on the safe side, the heart is also checked by means of an ECG in order to be able to detect deviations. If the diagnosis is still not certain, further investigations are necessary. In addition to the ultrasound examination , this also includes long-term ECG, long-term blood pressure measurement and bone marrow diagnostics. The course of the pallor depends on its cause and is individually different. In short: once the disease has been defeated, the pallor also disappears.

Complications

People who have pale skin from birth do not suffer from any disease-related condition. Therefore, there are no complications in the medical sense in the affected persons. However, pale skin is more sensitive to the sun’s rays because it has less melatonin. Melatonin is a natural skin protection against UV radiation. As a result, those affected are increasingly applying sunscreen in the form of commercially available UV protection products to their skin.

The individual preparations should be tested for tolerability in order not to cause any unwanted skin reactions such as itching or reddening . Without additional UV protection applied to parts of the body that are not covered by clothing, people with pale skin will suffer from sunburn. Depending on the intensity of the solar radiation, this can occur within minutes. Sunburn is painful and can cause other complications.

In severe cases, the burns lead to reddening and detachment of the skin layers. Touching the affected areas causes unpleasant pain. Depending on the severity of the sunburn, sitting or lying down can not only cause severe pain, it can even become impossible. Wearing clothing on the skin is also experienced as painful. Sunburn is also considered a trigger for skin cancer. Newly developed pale skin indicates a nutrient deficiency or thyroid problems.

Treatment and therapy

Treating pale skin depends on the root cause. If you are not ill and just don’t get enough sun exposure, you should spend at least half an hour outdoors every day. A lot of exercise and regular meals help with low blood pressure. In particular, emphasis should be placed on breakfast. If the patient even faints , the only thing that helps is to call the emergency doctor.

Overall, however, low blood pressure should not be treated with medication. A healthy lifestyle that also includes a lot of relaxation is more important. If pallor occurs due to iron deficiency , the diet must be reconsidered and replanned. Sometimes there is also an undiscovered source of bleeding, which must be found (e.g. stomach ulcer ).

With a pronounced anemia , only taking iron in tablet form will help. It should be taken over a period of at least three months. The body’s iron stores are only replenished after this time. This is also the case with a vitamin B deficiency.

However, if the pallor is the result of cancer, lengthy therapeutic procedures such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy often have to be used in addition to removing the tumour . Heart and kidney diseases are also treated with medication.

Outlook and prognosis

Pale skin is often the result of a lack of blood circulation in the skin. For example, in the case of shock symptoms, all of the blood is diverted to the internal organs and the typical paleness develops. Shock can result from excessive blood loss from injuries to internal organs, or from an allergic reaction . Basically, a shock is always a medical emergency that must be treated immediately. If left untreated, about 60 percent die as a result of shock. In addition, long-term damage is almost unavoidable despite treatment, since the organs are undersupplied during the shock period.

A more harmless variant is low blood pressure (hypotension). If the person concerned experiences dizziness , this can be treated with simple home remedies such as drinking a lot or exercising, so that the prognosis is very good. If the person concerned does not feel dizzy, this can even be an advantage, since these people usually have a longer life expectancy than people with normal blood pressure.

Another cause of pale skin can be anemia. This is easy to diagnose and treat too. Infusion of blood can already reduce the risk of secondary diseases. In addition, the cause, such as a stomach ulcer or vitamin deficiency , should be treated in order to further optimize the prognosis.

Prevention

If the pale skin is caused by poor circulation, it can be easily prevented. So you should have breakfast in the morning and generally make sure to distribute the meals well over the day. Nervousness and stress should be avoided or you should learn how to deal with them.

If the pallor is due to a lack of vitamin B, proper nutrition is the priority. Of course, paleness, which is a consequence of serious illnesses, cannot be prevented. Here it is important to use all preventive examinations in order to determine the early stage of the disease in good time.

Dorothy Farrar

Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.

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