My face gets BRIGHT red when working out. Help!

Sometimes this happens for really good reasons. I love those times. I revel in that color.

This morning it happened and i was overheated or something and almost keeled over. I hate that ish. But I hadnt had more than a couple sips of water this morning and I usually kill a bottle as I wake up and stretch. I have stupid hydration needs cause of something off in my brain. But whatevs, my own fault - I usually catch it before I black out. Hasnt happened since.... I dunno - May of last year?

I'm fair skinned and flush very easily - whether it's from working out, embarrassment, or just being nervous. However, my favorite running shirt is red... because it's obviously important to color coordinate.

I don't have pale skin and it happens to me, my husband tells me I look like a tomato.

My skin isn't particularly pale either, but my face turns really red when jogging or doing a class. Except for small circles on my cheeks that are very pale lol. Looks so weird, but I am getting used to it

Another red faced girl here : ).

I have the same issue, not a pretty workout!! But then again, I am not a pretty cryer either!! I get red and blotchy, am also very fair skinned with red (mostly gray now) hair.

Somethings we have no control over. If you feel good, are getting a good workout in, your doctor isn't concerned, don't worry about what others think!! :blushing:

Sorry I am replying so much later, but i didn't see this until now. But I am dying to know, did the antihistamine actually work? is my question. For what it's worth - for all others, I am pale, but I do not have freckles or reddish skin, I have a yellow/greenish base to my skin. I also do not wrinkle (or haven't yet at 50 now (my 50th birthday is coming up in April), not even very fine light ones around my eyes. Nothing, just none, and I had a great aunt who, family legend has it, also did not wrinkle or have gray hair (i still have neither) My two sisters and brother, who have aged well, still have some degree of wrinkling and some graying hair. We all have traits from our father, and the aunt who had who had no wrinkles at all like me was on the dad's side, so no "Milkman" jokes fit.

Anyway, i am very sick so I am in bed and indoors a lot. I cannot tolerate the sun a lot. Although when i did better with it in years past, i tanned beautifully. So I don't think this is necessarily a red/freckly skin problem.

I wish more doctors or nurses could post more about it here. What i have been told, and what makes sense to me, is how sick I feel when I get real red, and feel like I am about to pass out, what i've learned or been told, is that people with this have trouble sweating properly (i do sweat, but not a lot) and it's the blood capillaries and vessels rushing the blood to the surface of the skin in an attempt to give it time to cool off, since there isn't sufficient sweating to accomplish this. So it's a mechanism to prevent one from overheating. I have overheated anyway.

One time, i was in a public restroom, after or before working out, and i had used the brown paper handtowels provided in the public bathroom. Most people, i suppose, would have blotted/patted their skin; unfortunately, i was trying to remove some cosmetics/foundation, so i had rubbed a bit harder. When i pulled the paper towels away from my face, the girl next to me screeched in horror. (yes, i was mortified) I always knew I looked a bit redder and blotchier, but am very self-conscious about it. I have to put my hands on my knees and feel like I am about to keel over, all blotchedy, embarrassed and ...not totally confident about what is going on and if it's dangerous or not. Or if there is other steps (like in a public bathroom, there were no ice cubes to help cool me down) I could use to alleviate it, or if a Dr. or a skin doctor could help me. I have some incurable auto-immune diseases, and i so wanted to work off the fat I got from steroids and this other med i was put on. I used to be this nice healthy weight and instead I am battling all sorts of problems along with the medications. Of course, I care more about reaching remission, but the weight is really getting me down. I would be grateful if others can post tips or info about this condition from others of you who endure this. Thank you for your help. -s-

Little late to the red face club, but I know I frighten people with how red I get. My face gets very hot too and the skin feels tighter. I also turn red in the sun. I also don't sweat very much. I hate this.

I get red too, always when I do cardio. No big deal. :P

my face got really red at first (first 3 months) and now it doesn't get nearly as bad (after I lost all the face fat i guess). it's ok, it just means you are gettting an awesome workout!

L

I turn red too. I figure it's just increased blood flow. I don't have high blood pressure. It would be a much bigger concern if you were turning blue. Then you have a problem.

I use a gel facial serum after a shower after a run since I am still red. Cools your face as it evaporates and takes some of the redness away. I imagine something like aloe vera gel would also work.

Hi, wow i had no idea that i wasn't alone out there with this red thing. One time, I had been working out and then washed up, and had then dried my face a little roughly with those awful brown sandpaperesque paper towels you find in public bathrooms. After the workout, the soap and the rough drying, i pulled the towels away from my face and some woman almost screamed! worst reaction ...e.v.e.r.!.!

I LIKE this antihistamine idea, i take it is supposed to be the "Benadryl" type? Maybe not want to use it every time i work out but maybe at least on the occasion if i work out with a guy, i mean who wants to scare people?

I wanted to reply to you, because I was hoping you would share what kind of foundation do you use that helps you so much with this? I use Revelon ColorStay, it's true to it's name, and i have oily skin so with a red nose (it always seems to start there so even a regular day i might get a redder nose and this stuff does pretty good at staying put compared to other foundation formulas, I'm interested in anyone's info on brands they use, especially if they use pro makeup and know where to find it. As an art director, I used to get some from one of the make up artists that i worked with, and that some of that stuff is designed to even cover tats) it seems to have a green tinge to the base (at least in the color ranges that i use, Sand beige) But i actually have a natural green/yellow/olive tone to my skin, even if pale, and i would tan well if i didn't react so poorly to sunlight (heat exhaustion)

From what I've learned, depending on how strong you can tolerate it, it's not just being fair skinned, it's how our cooling system works, i notice that I don't sweat much and perhap this has to do with how I don't cool off properly and the thing is, your brain absolutely cannot overheat, and it is the body's response to efforts to cool your head that if it gets too hot, it causes the blood flow to the surface in order to further help the blood to cool, so it's a getting a little too hot-blooded that causes this flushing. Others whose cooling mechanism/ (including sweating?) and do this better, seem to have less of this response, I'm jealous because I always wished I could tolerate the heating up better without sun exhaustion, potential heat stroke or wanting to pass out. I wonder if anyone else has a correlation like mine?

Obviously this is a sore subject for me, so i was so glad to see this topic and the responses. Thank you all for sharing! I feel better somehow that I am not alone in this.

I liked your response, and i'm also supportive of anyone wanting to present their best self, and if some people naturally don't have to contend with this red face thing, what's the harm in those who do in not wanting to look worse or alarming others? *)

<- look at this face. im a brown woman and as it says on my profile: i always turn such an unhealthy shade of red when i workout hahah. oh well