Carefully observe our body, many people will find that in addition to the wrinkles of the face, the body also "hides" pieces of white and red lines, just like stretch marks and obesity lines, and it is difficult to eliminate.
What's going on here? And how can we improve it? Could it be a hidden physical health problem?
First, red and white lines, mostly "expansion patterns"
1. What is the "expansion pattern"?
Swelling lines, as the name suggests, are the lines that appear after the skin is expanded, also known as atrophot lines.
Under the action of some factors, the skin becomes fragile due to elastic fiber degeneration, and if it is subjected to excessive stretching, it will break, causing the skin to appear striated, like "cracking". Therefore, whether it is stretch marks, obesity marks, or growth lines, it can be called "expansion lines".
However, the expansion pattern, because of the different development periods of formation, will also appear different performances, the most obvious is the "color change".
2. What does it mean to have different colors of expansion patterns?
(1) Early stage of development: red veins. The expansion stripes are initially red, pink or purple-red stripes, so they are also called red stripes. Usually asymptomatic or mildly itchy with a slight bulge.
(2) Late stage of development: white stripes. Generally after 6 months to two years, most of the red lines will become pale marks close to the skin color, hence the name white lines. Usually there is no conscious symptom, there will be a slight depression, the skin at the depression is thinner, the surface is shiny, so it is also called atrophic lines.
3. Why do the expansion lines "come to the door"?
People often mistakenly think that the swelling striations are caused by obesity, but in fact, they are much more than that:
(1) Rapid weight loss, skin shrinkage. When obese, a large amount of subcutaneous fat accumulates, resulting in mechanical extension of the skin, when the rapid weight loss, the subcutaneous fat suddenly decreases sharply, the original highly expanded skin wrinkles, resulting in a series of concave "atrophic lines".
(2) Excessive fitness, muscle expansion. Swelling lines are also common on fitness enthusiasts. If you are over-active, the muscles expand faster than the skin, and the collagen tissue of the dermis layer will also tear, creating a stripe of expansion on the skin.
(3) Pubertal development, rapid growth. Adolescent boys and girls, due to the rapid development of the body, the increase in bone volume exceeds the lengthening rate of the skin, resulting in "growth lines", which mostly appear after the pubic hair grows. The most common areas of adolescent women are the lower abdomen, thighs, buttocks, and breasts, and the most common areas of adolescent men are the buttocks, thighs, calves, and back.
(4) Abdominal bulge after pregnancy. After pregnancy, women often need to supplement a lot of nutrients, resulting in thickening of subcutaneous fat; at the same time, as the fetus grows, the stomach will become larger and larger, the skin will continue to open, causing the rupture of elastic fibers and producing "stretch marks".
(5) Drug and disease effects. Long-term systematic or topical use of corticosteroids may cause swelling lines in the body, and the lines will become more pronounced, coarse, and widely distributed. In addition, endocrine diseases such as Cushing syndrome and diabetes may also cause swelling lines.
4, improve the expansion of the stripe, use these 3 tricks
Over time, the swelling lines will gradually lighten, but it is difficult to eliminate them completely. In addition to choosing the method of laser treatment, we can also prevent and improve the swelling lines through daily eating habits.
(1) Ensure the daily water intake and discharge metabolic waste. If the detoxification function of the lymphatic system is impaired, it will lead to the enlargement of fat cells, causing local swelling and swelling. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that you drink enough water every day, take away the cellular waste generated in the body with the help of sweating and urination, make the microcirculation healthy and smooth, maintain normal lymphatic function, and prevent the occurrence of swelling lines.
(2) Do a good job of moisturizing work to prevent skin from drying and cracking. If the skin is too dry, it is more likely to cause the elastic fibers to break due to extension. Therefore, we must do a good job of moisturizing work every day, and within 3 minutes after washing and bathing, we should apply hand cream and body lotion as soon as possible to make the skin full of elasticity, smooth and delicate.
(3) Supplement collagen to maintain skin elasticity. A variety of soy products, such as tofu, soybean skin, etc. can accelerate collagen synthesis; some vegetables containing lycopene, such as red peppers, tomatoes, etc., can also enhance collagen in the skin; carrots, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables rich in vitamin A can repair damaged collagen.
But if there are some abnormal lines on the body, it may also be a health problem...
Second, the appearance of these lines in the body is mostly a sign of disease
1. Dark lines appear on the skin, beware of tumors
If the skin somewhere on the body suddenly thickens, roughs, turns black or grayish brown, and there are wart-like and small papillary lines, it is likely that acanthosis nigricans occurs on the neck, armpits, groin, perianal areas, umbilical fossa, areola, and face.
Acanthosis nigricans is divided into benign and malignant. Benign acanthosis nigricans can occur with pituitary, adrenal, and ovarian tumors, and the onset of which is mostly adolescent; the symptoms of pseudoscanthosis nigricans can gradually fade with weight loss; but malignant acanthosis nigricans is almost always associated with visceral tumors. Therefore, if you find that there is a black spinosa on the body, you must check it out as soon as possible to determine the cause as soon as possible.
2. Crab claw lines grow on the wings of the nose, which may be gastric ulcers
Chinese medicine believes that the meridians of the spleen and stomach are connected to the nasal tips, and if the nose wings are red and swollen, red and purple, or crab claw lines (fine red lines) appear, it may indicate the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach, and there is a risk of stomach ulcers.
And according to clinical studies, most of the people with crab claw stripes have positive test results for Helicobacter pylori. Western medicine has also shown that helicobacter pylori infection will have capillary dilation, which corresponds to crab claw patterns.
3. Spider angiomating occurs, and there is a risk of liver cancer
Spider nevi is a phenomenon centered on a point on the skin that spreads red blood to the surroundings, so named because its pattern resembles a spider. The boundaries of spider moles are not clear, disappear when pressed with the fingers, reappear when released hands, and are more common on the neck, chest or abdomen.
When liver function is impaired and declines, the liver's inactivation effect on estrogen is reduced, which will lead to an increase in 17-β estradiol and estrone in the blood, resulting in telangiectasia of arterioles. Therefore, if there is a spider mole, it is necessary to be vigilant about whether there is liver damage or even the risk of liver cancer.
4. Erythema on the face may be a precancerous lesion
If there is an asymmetrical distribution of erythema on the body, with attached scales, or accompanied by ulcers and erosions, it is likely to be solar keratosis, which is also a common cause of basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma. It tends to occur on the entire face, front chest, and upper limbs, and is very common in middle-aged and elderly people after the age of 50.
This dangerous erythema tends to persist, does not resolve itself, and slowly expands in size. Initially, the erythema is confined to the epidermal layer, which can be completely eliminated at this time; but if it is not taken seriously, the plaque breaks through to the dermis layer, which may indicate the development of severe squamous cell carcinoma.
Data show that the probability of developing invasive squamous cell carcinoma in untreated patients is 8-20%. Therefore, when this kind of wrinkle appears on the skin, we must seek medical treatment in time to be vigilant about the occurrence of cancer.