Facial Pallor

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I've found that the amount of pink and pale on the lips has much to teach us. The colors of the face often correspond to the level of adrenal function. Some conditions such as rosacea, sinusitis, acne, gum or tooth infection near the front of the mouth or other infectious processes can produce a pink color that mimics a healthy adrenal state. There are some areas that tend to stay pink, such as the center of the cheeks or chin. Other areas tend to become pale if the body weakens, goes into shock, fainting, or has poor adrenal function. The area around the mouth is one of the first places for this to occur (peri-oral pallor) and the pattern turns out to be a reliable indicator of adrenal function. In general, I find that my healthiest patients (e.g., athlete, sprained the ankle playing tennis) tend to have a full facial color and that the entire upper lip is a healthy pink. Those with chronic illness, fatigue or known adrenal problems tend to have a pale upper and lower lip . Those in between have partial pallor (or partial pink). When successful treatment to restore adrenal health is taking place (as observed by other parameters such as a more stable temperature pattern, improved energy, rising daily average temperatures if below 98.6, adrenal tests, pupillary light response), the pallor shrinks from the outside inward and is replaced by a pink color. When the pink occupies about 1/3 of the lip, the adrenal glands seems to be about 1/3 of the way toward health. Thus, 5/10 is 50% healthy etc.

Sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between the pale and pink area. Here are some hints on identifying the differences:
1- There is a difference in the quality of the two skins. Looking with an enlarging mirror or lens, one can see that the pale is smoother and dryer while the pink is more moist and the pits or depressions of the facial hair are more clearly seen.
2- If you pucker-up as if to give a kiss, the pale becomes more pale and the pink more pink.
3- If you pucker-up as if to give a kiss, the wrinkles that are formed stay in the 'pale zone'.
4- Wrinkles live in the pale zone. This is good news because
a. It permits you to identify more clearly where the pale zone is
b. If you increase the area of pink (thus shrinking the area of pale), the area in which the wrinkles can live shrinks and therefore, so do the wrinkles.