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What Do Purple Marks On The Face Indicate?

Posted on Mon, 23 Jan 2017

Question: Hello, I have recently noticed small purple marks on my face when I am coming down with a cold or flu. They go away once I am better. I thought maybe cold sores, but because they dont blister the doc said no. He ran a whole bunch of tests and my ferritin was quite high (633) but no other issues with bloods. He made me wait 4 weeks because I had a bad ear infection and then retest - ferritin test, full blood count and acute protein reactant test.all bloods and apr test came back normal - but ferritin still high (525)
I am a 38 yr old male. He is now having me test for hemochromatosis.
What my main question is - with the other Tests coming back normal, does that mean I don't need to worry about horrible diagnosis like cancer? I've heard high ferritin can be a marker of these things? If it turns out to not be hemochromatosis that is. Doc says 525 is on the very low end of high. Thanks

Answered by Dr. Geeta Sundar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Yes 525 is high and he has rightly decided to test for hemochromatosis

Detailed Answer:
Hi, welcome to HCM, Normal ferritin levels are--24 to 336 nanograms per milliliter in men. 11 to 307 nanograms per milliliter in women.
Yes 525 is still high, and he has rightly decided to test for hemochromatosis and possibly hemosiderosis. I do not think it could be cancer. But before I decide, what is your hemoglobin?
Regarding the purplish marks that come and go with flu attacks, they are not a sign of cancer since they disappear on their own.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Geeta Sundar (3 hours later)

Thanks for the response.
I'm not too sure about hemoglobin?
The following tests have been carried out and all have returned a 'normal' reading - only ferritin reading high on 2 occasions.

The tests were- E/LFTs, ESR, FBE (twice) , UEC, CRP (twice), FERRITIN (twice), ACR

Answered by Dr. Geeta Sundar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Sometimes over supplementation even from diet will lead to high ferritin

Detailed Answer:
Hi, I am sure your doctor would have done your hemoglobin and it must be normal. Or he would have told you--so do not worry about it.
Sometimes over supplementation even from diet will lead to high ferritin levels. Here we also expect high hemoglobin levels. Correcting diet and omitting any supplements will help if this is so. That is why I asked.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng