Why is Your Face Beet Red When Running?

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There’s nothing like the feeling of getting all hot and sweaty from a good cardio workout. You feel amazing, full of energy, and all revved up on endorphins, so why do people keep asking if you’re OK? You catch a glimpse of your sweaty self in the bathroom mirror, and the unnaturally, brilliantly beet-red face staring back takes you by surprise, too. Wait—are you OK?

Your scarlet skin on its own is no cause for alarm. It’s actually just a sign that you’re working hard and building up heat. Here’s how it works. 

Why Does Your Face Get Red When You Run?

When your body temperature begins to climb, you perspire to keep cool, but it also dilates the blood vessels in your skin to reduce your overall body temp and deliver necessary oxygen to your muscles. Your face turns red because warm, oxygenated blood rushes to the surface of your skin, which helps heat radiate off of it and prevents you from overheating.  

Some complexions make that blood flow more visible than others. “The darker our natural skin tone, the more the red is camouflaged,” says board-certified dermatologist Dr. Brandith Irwin. Effort can also impact how red you get. “If our heart rate is at 110 bpm for 15 minutes, we won’t have as much dilation of the blood vessels. If our heart rate is at 165 bpm for 30 minutes, the blood vessels dilate more,” says Dr. Irwin.

Go ahead and continue exercising as long as you feel good and have no other symptoms. If you find that your flushed face is accompanied by fatigue, dizziness, sweating more than usual, or nausea, then it could be a sign of heat exhaustion, which is more likely to happen outside on hot and humid days. Working out in a hot room or in higher temps is definitely a risk, so if you experience these symptoms, stop exercising immediately, get inside where it’s cooler, loosen up tight clothing (or remove it altogether), and drink plenty of cool water.

To prevent heat exhaustion, make sure to drink plenty of fluids before and during your run. If you love outdoor workouts, try to exercise during a time of day when temperatures are the lowest, like in the early morning. It also helps to run on shady trails in the woods or on a breezy path near a lake or beach. 

It’s also important to pay attention if you are hypertensive and experiencing redness. “All runners should know their blood pressure and work with their doctors if it’s high,” says Dr. Irwin. “Redness should not be associated with chest pain or unusual shortness of breath.” 

How to Help Your Facial Redness

Dr. Irwin offers the following tips to help ease the flushed face feeling:

1. Run in cooler environments, especially if you’re doing high-intensity exercise like sprint intervals. Early morning and evenings are best in the hotter months. Or opt for an air-conditioned gym.
2. Use zinc oxide sunscreen to avoid sunburns. “UV damages skin which causes more blood vessels over time, wrinkles, brown spots, and blotchiness,” she says.
3. Keep your core temperature lower by staying hydrated with cool water or a sports drink.
4. See a dermatologist if you think you have rosacea, which can cause flushing. “Rosacea can often be treated with just a prescription cream,” says Dr. Irwin.
5. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), a cousin to laser treatments, can reduce flushing on the face, neck, and chest.

“To return to normal faster, hydrate with cool water, get your core temp down, and use a cool washcloth on the face if needed,” says Dr. Irwin. While it might not always be comfortable, remember that a beet-red face means that your body is working for you.

How to Get Rid of Redness on Your Face After Working Out

That whole postworkout glow that fitness bloggers and models are always showing off has never really been achievable for me. As someone with sensitive skin, whenever I finish up a workout my face immediately brightens to a tomato red shade. It’s something I’ve dealt with since my days as a high school soccer captain and has only gotten worse as my soccer days get further behind me and my fitness abilities decrease, making workouts so much harder.

So what’s the deal with this redness and why does it happen? When your body tries to maintain and regulate body temperature, it signals more blood flow to the surface of the skin. “This actually creates more heat on the skin’s surface—enough heat to be radiated off the skin in order to cool it,” dermatologist Ellen Marmur, M.D., tells SELF. “Skin redness reflects the dilated vessels in the skin that release the heat and cool the core organs like the heart and brain. Skin is like the body’s natural air conditioner.”

Even though I’m happy to see my body working hard, this redness issue is something I’ve always disliked about my complexion. I hate when I finish up a difficult boxing class or a long run feeling proud and accomplished and immediately look in the mirror to see a face that looks defeated and, honestly, sometimes concerning. So I talked with dermatologists and makeup artists to find the five best ways to reduce post-workout redness.

Here’s what happened when I put their strategies to the test.

1. I spritzed cold water on my face and body during a workout.

“Sweat and skin redness work together to cool off the skin. When your skin circulation increases, the body must have enough water to produce sweat that can evaporate off the skin,” explains Dr. Marmur. “This change from liquid sweat to vapor consumes energy in the form of heat and thus cools the skin.” To mimic this cooling that sweat provides, she says to spritz cold water on your body and face while you exercise.

This has always been my go-to stay-cool trick to help manage my redness. I typically keep an Avène Thermal Spring Water, $19, in the fridge and then bring it to classes with me. The beautiful light mist feels lovely, but of course, if you don’t want to pay for a product, you can always just keep a spritz bottle of tap water in your fridge for the same cooling effects.

This definitely always helps keep my skin hydrated after a serious sweat session, but it doesn’t exactly tone down the redness. Time is really what calms down blotchy red skin when I use this method. The hydrating mist just makes my skin feel smoother and less tight afterwards. Even though it’s not delivering all the results I need, I’ll continue doing it for it’s hydrating benefits, but mostly just because it feels amazing.

2. I tried a cold washcloth followed by moisturizer after a workout.

This was similar to the first technique, but more reactive than preventive. “If you are looking more ‘tomato faced’ than healthy and flushed, try applying a cold washcloth to the face before cleansing,” says makeup artist Gita Bass. Dr. Marmur also recommends rinsing off sweat with cold water, and they both recommend following up with a moisturizing product. “Post-gym red skin needs soothing hydration,” Bass says. “Choose a gentle moisturizer, like the Simple Skin Care Protecting Light Moisturizer, $10, with soothing vitamins to help soothe inflammation and rehydrate the skin.” Dr. Marmur says a serum like her Marmur Metamorphosis Balance serum, $85, is also gentle and good for redness reduction.

Why does the face turn red during training. Doctor explains

Why faces turn red, how to avoid facial redness during sports, in which cases redness is a cause for concern and see a doctor.

At the request of Soviet Sport Life&Style, Alexander Mudretsov, an expert in the field of sports and medical medicine, a general surgeon, spoke about all this.

Alexander Mudretsov, surgeon, specialist in sports and medical medicine

Why the face turns red

“Redness is the result of self-preservation of the organism. During exercise, a lot of heat is released. The body tries to prevent overheating and does its best to remove this excess heat – including through the skin. The vessels on its surface expand, and because of this, the skin becomes red – especially on the face, where a large number of capillaries are concentrated. Therefore, redness of the face during intense physical exertion is absolutely normal.

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Why some people face more redden

“It all depends on the number of blood vessels on the surface of the skin. In some people, the network of capillaries is more extensive due to physiology – their faces will blush more. In other people, redness during sports is less pronounced: it means that they have fewer blood vessels.

Capillaries are the thinnest vessels in the human body. Their system can change throughout life. It grows if a person gains excess weight and becomes smaller if he loses weight. With a high degree of probability, fat people’s faces from sports will have more red faces than thin people.

In addition, the redness of the face is often a matter of body fitness. If a person goes in for sports, strength training, running, regularly, his body works out the heat removal scheme more efficiently.”

Is it possible to prevent redness of the face

“To reduce the redness of the face during sports, rubbing with a towel soaked in water or washing with cold water will help to quickly return blood vessels to normal.

However, hyperemia cannot be completely prevented. From training, the face will still turn red, and it remains only to put up with it. The face will remain red for an average of 30-40 minutes after a workout, and sometimes longer. Then the body will “calm down”, and the complexion will return to normal.”

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When redness of the face is cause for concern

“If the face acquires a crimson, bright scarlet hue. This means that the intensity of the training should be reduced. If you work with weights, increase the rest time between sets or reduce working weights. If you are a runner, slow down your jogging speed, or better yet, switch to walking altogether. Breathe deeply. Watch your heart rate drop. It will be useful to consult a doctor to identify contraindications to fitness and draw up an individual program.

Another cause for concern is the persistence of facial redness at rest, on non-training days. In such cases, a red face can speak of diseases of internal organs, blood vessels, inflammatory processes in the body, and even allergic reactions to something. In this case, an examination by a doctor is mandatory!

source: “Soviet Sport”

Why does the face turn red during training

Why does the face turn red

In fact, the complexion may change slightly for various reasons. The simplest thing is that the skin reacts to changes in ambient temperature: remember, for example, what kind of blush you get in the cold.

See also:

• 5 things to do right after your workout
• Is it possible to exercise before going to bed
• Is it possible to train daily
• How to improve the effectiveness of training

And, of course, the face can turn red during any physical activity. “Slight reddening of the skin in this case is a normal physiological process,” explains Julia Malenchuk, X-Fit group program expert in Russia. – During exercise, the heart rate increases. Blood vessels dilate and blood flow accelerates to meet the need of working muscles for oxygen. The skin on the face is quite thin, so local vasodilation causes it to redden.

As the heart rate increases, skin tone gradually becomes more pink. “Moreover, group training trainers even have a small visual test on this topic,” adds Valentin Zinin, instructor of group programs SuperPopa fitness clubs Kometa . “If we see that during the warm-up, a person’s face turned pink, then everything is fine, he warmed up, warmed up and is ready for a more intense load.”

Why does someone’s face turn redder

Much here depends on the characteristics of the organism. “The degree of redness of the face may be due to the color of the skin (on dark and tanned, redness will not be so noticeable) and how close the capillaries are to its surface,” says Yulia Malenchuk. The closer they are, the brighter the blush will be. Rosacea, a dermatological disease that affects the capillaries, can also cause redness of the face. In this case, the face turns red even without training.

Body type and fitness level can also influence. “Fatter and untrained people usually blush a little more than thin or athletic people: their cardiovascular system often works with more stress,” notes Valentin Zinin.

Allergy sufferers can blush even more during fitness. “This is because their vessels are more sensitive to any changes,” Yulia Malenchuk adds.

Stronger redness of the face and with problems with blood vessels. “Their condition is negatively affected by smoking, alcohol, the abuse of spicy and fatty foods: the vessels become thin, fragile and sensitive,” Yulia Malenchuk comments.

And finally, severe reddening of the skin occurs due to improperly organized training: for example, if you neglected the warm-up and the body did not have time to prepare for the loads.

Is it possible to prevent redness of the face

In general, this is not necessary: ​​reddening of the skin simply shows that you have increased blood flow and increased body temperature.

But if it’s important to maintain a normal skin tone (for example, for a spectacular selfie at the exit from the gym), train in a cooler room, work out at a slower pace and drink more water. These natural ways to reduce body temperature will insure you from overheating, which means that your face will not redden much.

It will not be possible to completely preserve the natural complexion during vigorous exercise – a prolonged increase in heart rate will lead to temporary reddening of the skin.

Red face in training: when to worry?

A healthy glow during fitness is normal. But in some cases, reddened facial skin can be cause for concern. Should confuse:

Dark red complexion . “Intense redness or even a purplish tint to the skin can indicate that the intensity of the workout is too high. And if redness persists with a decrease in intensity, it can be a sign of quite serious pathologies (heart disease, hypertension). Consult a doctor,” says Yulia Malenchuk.

See also :

• Exercise for hypertension: how to exercise if you have high blood pressure

Uneven reddening of the skin . Normally, the face in training reddens evenly. “If the skin is spotted or the nasolabial triangle turns white against the background of a red face, the limbs turn red, this indicates overwork and too high a load. You need to slow down the pace of the lesson and relax, ”advises Valentin Zinin.

Presence of concomitant symptoms. These are headaches, excessive sweating, difficult or too rapid breathing. All this also indicates an overload of the cardiovascular system.