Why do lips turn blue in an adult and a child: a sign of what kind of disease cyanosis can be

Blue lips are a sign that is most often attributed to hypothermia of the body. From low temperatures, they can turn blue in whole or in part - in the form of blue or dark spots. However, serious illnesses can also cause these symptoms. If the color of the lips has changed and this is not a short-term phenomenon, then there is a possibility that there are problems in the body.

Why can an adult's lips turn blue?

In adults, the most common causes of blue lips are:

1. Reception of harmful substances. Blueness of the lips in an adult is a sign indicating the use of toxins or smoking. The toxic gases contained in cigarettes, when inhaled, affect the mucous membranes of the mouth and lips. As a result, a bluish tint appears on the upper layers of the epidermis. Blue discoloration also causes hypoxia, which can accompany poisoning.
2. Pregnancy. In the process of carrying a child in women, many changes occur in the body. If, along with a change in the color of the lips, pallor of the face appears, then this indicates iron deficiency anemia. This is due to the low hemoglobin level that often accompanies pregnancy.
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3. External stimuli - hypothermia and lack of oxygen. In the first case, the color changes due to the blood vessels. Due to low temperatures, they narrow, and blood stops circulating through the lips, falling into other parts of the body. In the second case, bluish lips can be the first symptom of a lack of oxygen. This can occur due to illness or due to suffocation.

The main thing is to identify and fix the problem in time.

In addition to these reasons, many diseases of varying severity can cause such symptoms.

What diseases can blue lips be a sign of?

Often a person is faced with a situation where blue or even purple lips indicate that he has a disease.

Such diseases include:

1. Croup is a disease of the respiratory system. It is accompanied not only by blueness of the lips, but also by additional symptoms: severe cough, breathing problems, profuse salivation.
2. Diseases of the cardiovascular system and lungs. If the natural color has changed simultaneously with the appearance of a rapid pulse and a holding of breath, then problems in the work of the heart and lungs are likely.

If you do not pay attention to the symptoms in time, you may experience a heart attack, heart attack, asthma. Therefore, experts recommend seeking help from a doctor at the first warning signs. Only he will be able to determine the disease and prescribe an effective treatment.

In the photo, cyanosis of the lips with croup in a child - the color can vary from blue to dark purple:

Causes of cyanosis of the lips in children

Almost every parent is faced with a situation where the child's lips and the area around the mouth turn blue. The most common reason is that the child is simply cold.

But if there is no reason for hypothermia, then this may indicate apnea. In medical terminology, the phenomenon is called "affective-respiratory seizure." Sometimes breathing in a child can stop for a short period of time, at the moment of inhalation. The first sign is the appearance of pallor of the skin. The second is lilac lips or the area around them.

Most often, parents of babies who are between the ages of 6 months and 5 years encounter the disease. The duration of each attack is no more than 1-2 minutes. In this case, an attack can occur both once a day and several times a week or month.

This disease is characteristic of many children, most often does not require treatment (although it is necessary to consult a neurologist) and passes without consequences by 6-7 years. The main cause of ARP is considered to be a strong surge in the child's emotions - crying, fear, fright, etc.

However, the reason for the cyanoticity of the lips is the presence of other diseases:

1. Inflammation of the vocal cords in young children (3 years and less). Additional symptoms are dry cough, hoarseness, fever, heaviness when inhaling.
2. Cerebral edema or meningoencephalitis. In case of illness, the balance of calcium and phosphorus is disturbed in the blood.
3. Heart disease, pneumonia, asthma. In addition to cyanosis, the baby has problems with sleep, severe coughing, and weight loss.

The main recommendation for all parents in such circumstances is an urgent visit to the doctor in order to find out why the child has blue lips, and he will already prescribe the correct treatment. The specialist should provide all the available information about the attacks: frequency, duration and other signs.

How to treat, first aid

Depending on the disease indicated by the blue lips, the first aid is also different.

If a person has cold and blue lips, then he must be transferred to warmth, covered with a blanket. After that, if hypothermia became the cause, the body will restore proper circulation, the required amount of oxygen will enter the organs, and the person will warm up.

To make the recovery process faster, the victim can be given a drink of hot tea. It is not recommended to give coffee to a sick person, 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, the vascular tone increases. A few minutes of jumping rope or 2-3 laps in the stadium will make it possible to increase the speed of blood circulation.

If cyanosis is caused by a lack of iron in the body, especially during the period of gestation, then restore its level will be able to special food additives (Gemobin, Nova Ferrum) or drugs (Ferretab, Maltofer, Gino-tardiferon, Sorbifer-Durule).

Pregnant women should take any medication only on the recommendation of the attending physician!

In the case when blue discoloration is caused by smoking, then the only way to remove it is to quit smoking.

If these methods did not help get rid of the symptom, then the problem lies in more serious reasons for which the intervention of specialists is necessary.