| Description |
Appearance in Light Skin |
Appearance in Dark Skin |
| Cyanosis: bluish tone through skin; reflects reduced (deoxygenated) hemoglobin |
- Bluish tinge, especially in palpebral conjunctiva (lower eyelid), nail beds, earlobes, lips, oral membranes, soles, and palms
|
- Ashen gray lips and tongue
|
| Pallor: paleness; may be sign of anemia, chronic disease, edema, or shock |
- Loss of rosy glow in skin, especially face
|
- Ashen gray appearance in black skin
- More yellowish-brown color in brown skin
|
| Erythema: redness; may be result of increased blood flow from climatic conditions, local inflammation, infection, skin irritation, allergy, or other dermatoses or may be caused by increased numbers of red blood cells as compensatory response to chronic hypoxia |
- Redness easily seen anywhere on body
|
- Much more difficult to assess; rely on palpation for warmth or edema
|
| Ecchymosis: large, diffuse areas, usually black and blue, caused by hemorrhage of blood into skin; typically result of injuries |
- Purplish to yellow-green areas; may be seen anywhere on skin
|
- Very difficult to see unless in mouth or conjunctiva
|
| Petechiae: same as ecchymosis except for size: small, distinct, pinpoint hemorrhages ≤2 mm in size; can denote some type of blood disorder, such as leukemia |
- Purplish pinpoints most easily seen on buttocks, abdomen, and inner surfaces of arms or legs
|
- Usually invisible except in oral mucosa, conjunctiva of eyelids, and conjunctiva covering eyeball
|
| Jaundice: yellow staining of skin usually caused by bile pigments |
- Yellow staining seen in sclerae of eyes, skin, fingernails, soles, palms, and oral mucosa
|
- Most reliably assessed in sclerae, hard palate, palms, and soles
|
