Why Does the Face Flush or Turn Red While Exercising?

Ever noticed how your face flushes or turns red while exercising? If yes! It is obvious you must have wondered to know about this. Are you worried about this sign on your face? Well! Nothing to worry about, it is just that you are working really hard while your workouts. Here in this article we will talk about the fact why does face flush or turn red while exercising. Hope this would be an interesting read for you.

When we exercise, there occur the dilation of the small capillaries or blood vessels present immediate under the surface of our skin and that makes the face flush or turn red. This dilation functions in transferring internally created heat, via the blood stream to the skin surface, especially in the face.

It was studied from the blood flow via the skin of trained endurance athletes and confirmed that the Cutaneuous blood flow during exercise is higher in endurance trained persons. It was found that during a bout of intense cycling, the trained athletes exercised at a higher metabolic rate or they generated more internal body heat than their untrained counterparts’ yet they possessed the same core body temperature. It was determined that the trained athletes were able to release more heat by enhanced blood flow via their skin capillaries. This, may be the reason that these trained endurance athletes have a redder face, or may experience more of the face flush than the untrained athletes.

The first thing you must be made aware that; there is absolutely nothing to worry if your face flushes or turns red while exercising. So, just stay relaxed about this! In most cases, faces flush or faces turning red are normal. It is actually caused because when we exercise; the capillaries in our face and throughout the body dilate and blood flows via them in an effort to move the heat that our body is generating to the surface of the skin; where it can be radiated off. This effort actually aids in keeping us cool while we work out. However, this can also make our skin; mostly the face look flushed or turning red.

Here we will take a look on why actually some people flush more or their face turn more red than others while exercising.

We already spoke one of the reasons behind this above and that is the trained endurance athletes have redder face or experience more of face flush than others. Here we will look on some other reasons that can cause more of face flush or redder face in some people than others.

• Some people flush more or have more red face after exercise because they may have more capillaries under the skin of their faces than others.
• More significant dilation of the capillaries below the skin of the face in some people can make them flush more or have more red face compared to others while exercising.
• Sometimes some people flush more when they exercise in extreme heat
• It may be that a person suffering from a vasomotor dysfunction may flush more or have more red face after exercising because the capillaries dilates inappropriately to get more flush or redder face.

There are more conditions that may be linked to the red faces in some people, we will look at in our following arrays.

• Heat Exhaustion or Heat Stroke : Working out or exercising in a hot room or in hot or high temperature area outside may cause face flush or make the face turn red and that sometimes can be a dangerous sign alerting about the condition known as heat exhaustion. You can know about this, if face flush or red face is accompanied by symptoms like dizziness, fatigue, heavy sweating, nausea etc. It is essential to stop exercising in case such symptoms arrives in you along with the facial flushing or face turning red. Do keep safe by getting in to a cooler area, loosening up the tight fits, drinking plenty of water etc. Heat stroke requires immediate medical attention as in chronic conditions it may lead to kidney, heart and muscle damage.
• Though most facial redness or facial flushing can be normal and a sign of you working hard for your health and fitness; there are some cases which may also alarm about an underlying illness or condition. It is essential to consult with an expert medical professional in case face flush or red face while exercising is also accompanied by light headedness, low blood pressure, shortness of breath, diarrhea, palpitation etc.
• Earlier we have mentioned about an vasomotor dysfunction , which is a way the nerve fibers or your skin are wired to your blood vessel; causing face flush or face turning red face while exercise. This condition is known as Rosacea. Here the capillaries dilates inappropriately to give an enhanced face flush.

Here we will talk about some of the tips to follow while exercising so as to prevent face flush or face turning red.

• Try to exercise in cool environment
• Wear light colored and loose fitting clothing
• Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated
• Do not exercise during afternoon hours
• Relax and do not over exercise in case you find the onset of any serious symptom while exercising.

We can conclude this with the point that in most cases, facial flushing or turning red while exercising is absolutely normal. However, in very rare cases they may be a sign of underlying danger that may require immediate medical attention. Kindly check for the symptoms and meet with a medical expert immediately in case you experience any serious symptoms or have issues in normal living after experiencing face flush while exercising.