- When you're sitting in the hospital,
one of the first things doctors evaluate
is your biggest organ, skin.
Here are 14 ways your skin actually tells me
a lot about your health.
Just remember, changes to your skin may be a benign variant
and there are always multiple diagnoses to consider.
That's why I included a list of potential other options
called the differential right here on this clipboard.
If you're ever concerned or spot a new change though,
don't hesitate to seek professional medical advice.
If your skin has lots of bruising that happens really easily
your blood may be having a problem with clotting.
That's because one of the most prominent signs
of a condition known as hemophilia is easy bruisability
due to the fact that bleeding becomes harder to control.
If your skin has a cut that refuses to heal for a long time,
you may have skin cancer.
I'm not exaggerating here.
A non-healing wound on the face, to me,
is skin cancer unless proven otherwise.
This is because the face heals so much faster
than other parts of the body
and it's one of the most that's exposed to the sun.
If your skin has hair growth in unusual places as a woman,
you may have PCOS.
Females having hair suddenly appear in areas
like the upper lip, chest and back can be a sign
of excess Testosterone,
often occurring with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
This is because androgenic hormones like testosterone
can cause peach fuzz or vellus hair to develop into larger,
darker terminal hair.
If your skin has a bullseye shaped rash,
you might have been hiking recently,
especially in the northeast of the US.
That's because one of the most common, but not all the time,
early presentations of Lyme disease
comes with the erythema migrants rash.
Lyme disease is spread by these guys, deer ticks.
So be sure to follow tips on how to best protect yourself.
If you ever red rash across your nose
and face with light sensitivity,
you might have increased inflammation
throughout your whole body from lupus.
That's because immune related changes in the skin
causes to become extra sensitive
and overreact to UV exposure from the sun.
So the most sun exposed regions like your nasal bridge
and cheeks get affected the most,
and it's important to remember
that lupus affects more than just your skin.
If you have darkening of the folds of your skin
in the neck, armpit, or groin, you may have diabetes.
Acanthosis Nigricans is when a hormonal disturbance,
usually insulin related, causes an uptick of certain cells
in the skin,
changing its appearance to become more thickened,
velvety, and dark.
Early onset of this should trigger a discussion
with your doctor about certain blood tests.
If you have more than 50 moles on your skin,
you could have a higher risk
of a type of skin cancer known as melanoma.
Moles, also known as beauty marks,
are brown pigmented spots that are a result of cells
called melanocytes tightly gathering together into clusters.
Most of them are quite harmless and are very common.
It's not that moles lead to cancer,
but instead a correlation that we have found to be true,
and we could use this correlation to help guide
risk stratification and prevention.
If I squeeze your nail and the blanching, or whitening,
does not resolve within two to three seconds,
you could be going into shock.
This is called the capillary refill test.
By squeezing the tip of the finger
we're able to temporarily cut off blood supply,
and upon release, we expect to see reprofusion of color
from blood very quickly.
If this process takes longer than three seconds,
there's an issue with circulation.
Why the nail bed?
Well, it's less impacted by melanin
and therefore there's less variation across humans.
If your skin is very pale on your conjunctiva or palms,
you may have a fast heart rate because you're anemic.
On areas where there's less variation from person to person,
we're able to see a decrease in that red hue
symbolizing that perhaps there's less
oxygen carrying ability in the blood vessels.
This could be due to a problem with the red blood cells
or perfusion issue like hypertension or blockages.
When your tissues aren't getting enough oxygen,
your heart tries to compensate for this by beating faster.
If your skin has a defined area of redness
and scaling over your neckline or ear lobes,
you might be wearing inexpensive jewelry.
Contact dermatitis is one of the most common skin conditions
we see in primary care.
The interesting part about the diagnosis
is that the condition is usually very localized,
to where the contact had occurred.
So the red patches have very unique shapes
outlining the exact shape of that allergic cause.
Nickel is actually one of the more common metals
causing this immune overreaction on the skin,
and it's commonly found in costume jewelry and belt buckles.
If your skin has yellow growths on or near the eyelids,
you may be consuming too many fatty animal products,
aka high cholesterol.
Xanthelasma is a benign mass where cholesterol deposits
build up under the skin.
While the growth itself is not usually problematic
it can represent a disorder of the management of fats
and cholesterols in your body leading to other conditions
like heart disease.
That's why in addition to addressing cosmetic concerns
with these lesions,
we also routinely check blood lipid and other tests.
If your skin has one of these spider angiomas on your face,
neck, or upper chest,
you may have a liver problem like cirrhosis.
Interestingly enough, these unique blood vessels occur
in pregnancy as well as with liver disorders.
The exact mechanism for why
and how they're formed is not even fully understood,
but the hormone estrogen and certain vascular growth factors
have been implicated in initial research.
If your skin doesn't bounce back after being pinched,
you may need some water.
This is called the skin turgor test
and basically checks your skin's resiliency
after being manipulated.
If you are heavily, heavily dehydrated,
then skin struggles to return
to its normal position quickly.
However, there's an important caveat here
that this test needs to be thought about in context
as someone over the age of 65 may have naturally
less resilient skin simply due to age, not dehydration.
If your skin is yellow,
you might be drinking too much alcohol.
Jaundice is a well-known condition
for causing this unique change.
The color change actually stems from bilirubin,
which is a yellow orange breakdown product
of red blood cells.
It is normally processed by the liver
to be passed into the digestive system as bile,
then it's excreted through urine and stool.
However, if there's damage to the liver from alcohol,
the bilirubin can enter your bloodstream
and therefore cause yellow skin discoloration.
So many people ask me if sparkling water's
good for their health.
Well I answer that question
and more on this responding to comments video,
click here to check that out,
and as always, stay happy and healthy.
(gentle music)