Very pale face compared to body?

[DutchCeliac]

Hello all, I am curious if there are people here who recognize themselves in the situation I am about to describe. I was diagnosed with celiac disease almost a year ago and have never eaten gluten on purpose except for 2 times (this is months ago). I never had problems with my stomach, but I did suffer from constipation, brain fog and some other vague complaints. All those complaints have disappeared almost immediately or after max 6 months, I feel very good. But I've always suffered from pale skin, I also have blond hair, so I won't get very brown. Only the weird thing is that my legs, arms and body do get a visible tan after exposure to the sun. Only my face has always been extremely pale, since I eat gluten-free, I have gotten a lot more color (less gray and pale) on my face. But I had also hoped that my face would tan in the summer, because that pale does not seem healthy to me. Especially if the rest of my body is coloring. It does seem to be getting a little better but still a huge difference with my arms and legs, also seems to be getting better periodically and then back off again. Is this just because my intestines are still recovering, or do people have experience with this, and will this always be the case.

[cristiana]

 

Hello DutchCeliac

Welcome to the forum.

I have not read anything similar on the forum before but I hope someone else might come forward and be able to help.  Could you be suffering from anemia and your paleness be due, not to a lack of melanin, but to iron deficiency?

Cristiana

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by cristiana

[DutchCeliac]

11 minutes ago, cristiana said:

 

Hello DutchCeliac

Welcome to the forum.

I have not read anything similar on the forum before but I hope someone else might come forward and be able to help.  Could you be suffering from anemia and your paleness be due, not to a lack of melanin, but to iron deficiency?

Cristiana

 

Hey Cristiana,

No my Iron level was perfect before diagnosis, i did have an accident where i lost blood in february. But my Iron is now back to normal.

[cristiana]

Is the paleness uniform, or are there patches of skin which are lighter than others?

 

[trents]

Perhaps you just have less melanin in the skin of your face than you do elsewhere.

[cristiana]

I wonder if, historically, as a child, your face was more protected from the sun than the rest of your body with sunscreen or a hat etc?  For years I hardly ever went out without either tights, a long skirt, trousers, etc  and to this day my legs just don't seem to react to the sun as quickly as my arms and face which have always regularly been exposed to the elements.  I have to put artificial tanning on my legs if I want them to match the rest of me!

[knitty kitty]

@DutchCeliac,

Welcome to the forum!

Have you had your Vitamin D level checked?  

I found an interesting article about Vitamin D and pigmentation...

A Dermatologist's Perspective on Vitamin D

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3498088/

And...

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

 Getting your Vitamin D level up to 80 ng/mol is beneficial because Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system.

Hope this helps!

[DutchCeliac]

3 hours ago, cristiana said:

Is the paleness uniform, or are there patches of skin which are lighter than others?

 

It is uniform on my head, maybe a little bit red on the cheeks

3 hours ago, trents said:

Perhaps you just have less melanin in the skin of your face than you do elsewhere.

Maybe, but normally there is more melanin in the face, because that part sees the sun more.

[DutchCeliac]

3 hours ago, cristiana said:

I wonder if, historically, as a child, your face was more protected from the sun than the rest of your body with sunscreen or a hat etc?  For years I hardly ever went out without either tights, a long skirt, trousers, etc  and to this day my legs just don't seem to react to the sun as quickly as my arms and face which have always regularly been exposed to the elements.  I have to put artificial tanning on my legs if I want them to match the rest of me!

No i never did wear a hat or use sunscreen as a kid as far as i know.

[DutchCeliac]

3 hours ago, knitty kitty said:

@DutchCeliac,

Welcome to the forum!

Have you had your Vitamin D level checked?  

I found an interesting article about Vitamin D and pigmentation...

A Dermatologist's Perspective on Vitamin D

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3498088/

And...

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

 Getting your Vitamin D level up to 80 ng/mol is beneficial because Vitamin D helps regulate the immune system.

Hope this helps!

Thank you! My blood test in december last year vitamine D was 41, a month ago it was 48. Apparently it's enough but i see many respectable sources that say for my age 50-75 is oke. And i'm also tall (1,93 cm) and heavy (87 kg), so maybe even more? I am going to take supplements for a while, and i will keep you updated if i see improvement.

[itarachiu]

I use to have pale face like all day untill I got diagnosticated and eliminated gluten from my diet, I still get pale face and nausea when I get gluneted from time to time by eating something fast without reading the ingredients. I was undiagnosticated for more than 10 years and people use to actually tell me that my face is to pale... well I was always felt sick, however after gluten free diet I start to get more brown skin, my skin is very white but now it does get brown more faster and it stays more brown if I do get exposed to sun. My friends also noticed, they told me all the time specially in the summer that they never seen me so brown so I believe the lack of vitamins can cause pale skin.

Another reason for my skin getting more brown is also because I do eat carrots now which I believe they help with the skin.

[knitty kitty]

I found some interesting articles that describe Copper deficiency as having a role in pale skin.  

Copper is needed to make melanin (the pigment in skin, hair and eyes)! 

Pale skin and other symptoms could be a sign of insufficient copper.  

See if your symptoms match...

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/copper-deficiency-symptoms

And...

https://www.healthline.com/health/copper-deficiency

And....

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Copper-HealthProfessional/

And...

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-copper

Hope this helps!

[trents]

But the issue OP is asking about is not pale skin per se but the uneven distribution of it on her exposed areas. 

[knitty kitty]

She's asking about the paleness of her face.  

[trents]

7 hours ago, knitty kitty said:

She's asking about the paleness of her face.  

From her first post: Only the weird thing is that my legs, arms and body do get a visible tan after exposure to the sun. Only my face has always been extremely pale, since I eat gluten-free, I have gotten a lot more color (less gray and pale) on my face. But I had also hoped that my face would tan in the summer, because that pale does not seem healthy to me. Especially if the rest of my body is coloring. It does seem to be getting a little better but still a huge difference with my arms and legs, also seems to be getting better periodically and then back off again.

[knitty kitty]

Yes, but it's not like vitiligo.  Facial skin is finer and naturally won't get as dark as arms or legs.

Another possibility would be low blood pressure as in POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) but she's not mentioned those symptoms.  

It's a mystery!

[knitty kitty]

On 7/26/2022 at 1:34 PM, DutchCeliac said:

Thank you! My blood test in december last year vitamine D was 41, a month ago it was 48. Apparently it's enough but i see many respectable sources that say for my age 50-75 is oke. And i'm also tall (1,93 cm) and heavy (87 kg), so maybe even more? I am going to take supplements for a while, and i will keep you updated if i see improvement.

Vitamin D does its best work when it gets around 80 nmol/l, at which level Vitamin D acts like a hormone and can regulate the immune system. 

I started feeling much better when I got my Vitamin D level up.  I was extremely deficient in Vitamin D and other vitamins and minerals as well.  It's very difficult to correct a deficiency by diet alone.  Extended vitamin deficiencies can cause health problems. 

Getting checked for vitamin and mineral deficiencies is part of proper follow up care for Celiac people.  Discuss the benefits of supplementing with vitamins, especially the eight essential B vitamins, and minerals while your intestines are healing with your doctor.