What's the resson the skin looks bluish when having cyanosis?
What's the reason the skin looks blue when having cyanosis? What's the relationship between lack of oxygen of the bluish appearance?
1 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
The skin of a caucasian-skinned person with cyanosis is described as bluish, but it is still more reddish than blue. The bluish jumps out at us in comparison with healthy well-oxygenated blood.
The colors we see are the product of the incoming light, and the proportion of the wavelengths that are absorbed, scattered, or reflected. Because skin and arteries/capillaries/veins are translucent, there's normally quite a bit of red light scattering and reflection going on. However when looking at veins or cyanotic skin, there's less reflection of the red wavelengths, and the skin looks darker and bluer than we're used to.
If you look at a photograph of someone with Raynaud's or cyanotic hands, you'll see that there's still quite a bit of red!
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.