While the color has no absolute meaning, black is often associated with negative things.
In art and literature, black is often used to enhance the effect of death and horror.
When black appears on our bodies, what might it mean?
1. Darkening of lips
The depth of lip color mainly depends on the thickness of the skin and the number of blood vessels, and everyone's lip color is different.
Normally, the lip color of a healthy person should be light red.
If your lip color continues to be darker or darker, you may need to pay attention to the following three health issues:
1. Digestive system problems
If the digestive system is abnormal for a long time and cannot effectively eliminate metabolic waste, toxins may reach the lips through blood circulation, causing the lip color to darken.
For example, indigestion or chronic constipation are often accompanied by symptoms such as loss of appetite.
Some patients with small intestinal polyps will have dark spots on their lower lip. If you have purple-black or solid black spots on your lips, this could be a sign of small intestinal polyps.
2. Cardiovascular problems
Insufficient blood supply to the heart or blocked blood circulation will cause the body to be deprived of oxygen, and the blood oxygen saturation around the lips will be reduced, which may make the lips darken.
For example, conditions such as hemangioma, heart disease, or myocarditis can cause this condition.
3. Liver problems
The liver is the metabolic center and main detoxification organ of the human body. Impaired liver function can lead to hormone level imbalance and metabolic abnormalities, which can cause melanin to accumulate in the body and cause lip color to deepen.
Especially for patients with chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis, their faces may become dull and black, and melanin may also appear around the eyes and lips, forming the so-called "liver disease face."
2. Dark neck
Some people always seem to have dark spots on the back and sides of their necks that cannot be removed even if they are washed. This may not be tanning, but a sign of a disease.
This condition, known as acanthosis nigricans, is a skin disease caused by excessive pigmentation. Its color may vary from light brown to black, and the skin may exhibit the following features:
The skin surface shows orange peel-like changes or velvet-like thickening;
The texture is soft and usually distributed symmetrically;
It feels grainy and rough to the touch;
Papillary growths may appear.
Although acanthosis nigricans itself is benign and mainly affects the appearance and does not cause other harm, its occurrence usually means that there may be abnormalities in the body's endocrine and metabolism.
1. Diabetes
In the early stages of diabetes, fasting blood glucose levels may be higher than normal even if the diagnostic criteria for diabetes have not yet been met.
Insulin resistance will prevent the normal binding of insulin to its receptors. Excess insulin interacts with insulin-like growth factor-1 receptors in peripheral tissues (such as skeletal muscle, fat, liver) to promote the proliferation of skin keratinocytes and fibroblasts.
Without timely intervention, the risk of diabetes will be greatly increased, as will the likelihood of acanthosis nigricans.
2. Polycystic ovary syndrome
The main symptoms of PCOS include irregular menstruation and hyperandrogenism, but because it is essentially a collection of metabolic problems, many patients also have obesity and insulin resistance.
Clinical observations show that up to one-third of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome also suffer from acanthosis nigricans.
3. Visceral tumors
If the dark skin folds are widespread and accompanied by strong itching, this may be a sign of malignant acanthosis nigricans.
Malignant acanthosis nigricans is usually caused by visceral tumors, with about 50% probability of being related to gastric cancer. Other possible related diseases include bile duct cancer, pancreatic cancer, rectal cancer and ovarian cancer. Middle-aged, older people and people with a lower body weight need to pay special attention to this symptom.
3. Black lines on fingernails
Black lines on fingernails are usually onychomycosis formed by an increase in pigment cells within the nail. This nevus may appear on any fingernail, but is especially common on the thumb, index finger, and first toe.
The width of onychomycosis generally does not exceed 3 mm, with neat edges, even pigment distribution, and slow widening.
It should be noted that if the black line on the nail (toe) suddenly becomes wider than 3 mm, or multiple intermittent strips of different colors appear, or the skin at the root of the nail (toe) turns black, these may is a sign of melanoma.
The pigment cells under the nail are usually inactive, but inflammation can activate these cells, causing gray or dark gray lines on the nail. Daily activities, such as doing laundry or washing dishes, can also cause this phenomenon.
Onychomycosis is usually darker in color, while lines caused by inflammation are lighter in color. If black lines appear on multiple fingernails at the same time, the possibility of onychomycosis is low.
4. Black stool
Normal stool color should be yellow or tan, due to the action of bilirubin in bile. Eating animal offal, blood products, or taking iron supplements may temporarily turn your stool black.
If food and medication have been eliminated and persistent or intermittent darkening of the stool remains, this is usually a sign of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, which may involve the esophagus, stomach, or duodenum.
If blood stays in the intestine for too long, it will cause the destruction of red blood cells, and hemoglobin will combine with sulfide to form black iron sulfide, making the stool black.
Of particular concern are gastrointestinal cancers:
Stomach cancer may present as black stool, persistent stomach pain, and vomiting blood.
Colorectal cancer may present with black stools and persistent difficulty with bowel movements.
These symptoms require prompt medical examination.
