Under normal conditions, the lips are rosy and slightly moist.
A variation of their color can be linked to benign conditions or various types of diseases, which we will learn more about in the next chapters.
Lips with white-yellowish spots
They can be a sign of a pathological condition (thrush spread to the lips, lip tumor, herpes simplex vesicles) or benign (Fordyce spots, due to an enlargement of the sebaceous glands, or milia, due to an entrapment of the dead skin on the surface of the lips).
Pale lips
They are a typical sign of anemia, that is of a pathological reduction of hemoglobin in the blood below normal values, which in turn can have various causes (iron deficiency, hypothyroidism, hemorrhages, nephropathies, bone marrow diseases).
Pale and dry lips can also be an expression of vitamin deficiencies.
Purple Lips - Blue Lips
They contribute to determine a picture of cyanosis (bluish coloring of the skin and mucous membranes). They are therefore due to the lack of oxygen in the blood, or more correctly to the excessive presence of hemoglobin not bound to oxygen; this condition is common during severe cardio-circulatory or respiratory disorders. Also among the possible pathological causes is Raynaud's disease.
Blue-pale lips may appear even after a long time in a cold environment or heavy smokers, especially if they have respiratory problems.
Bright red lips
They are common in case of polycythemia vera (strong increase in red blood cells in the blood) or inflammatory processes of the lips (called in medical terms cheiliti). Cherry red lips also occur during acidosis and carbon monoxide poisoning (due to the presence of carboxyhemoglobin).
Yellow lips
If accompanied by a yellowish complexion of the skin and ocular sclera (white of the eyes), they can be the expression of a serious liver disease (see jaundice).
Lips of a bronze-slate color
They are common in patients with Addison's disease.
Lower black lip
It suspects multiple polypomatosis of the small intestine and sometimes of other tracts of the digestive tract (as happens in the Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, a rare hereditary, autosomal dominant disease, in which there are spots similar to those common in the around the mouth and in the orifices in gender)
Lips covered with blackish plates
Also called sooty lips, they are often present in severe toxinfections and severe dehydration.
