Flushing

Flushing reflects increased blood flow near the surface rather than sweat glands, though the two can appear together. It can be prompted by heat, emotion, certain foods, alcohol, or hormonal changes. Because it is a vascular response, the skin looks red and feels warm during an episode. When flushing is frequent, marked, or paired with other symptoms, it can be worth a medical conversation. It is distinct from sweating, since one involves blood vessels and the other involves glands, even when they occur at once. Recognizing which is which helps make sense of a warm, red face that may or may not be damp. The widening of blood vessels is what brings extra blood, and color, to the surface. Blushing is a familiar emotional form of the same vascular response. Its redness sets it apart from sweating, which does not change skin color.

Cheeks turning red and warm after a glass of wine, sometimes with a light sweat, illustrate flushing. The redness comes from widened blood vessels, so a person can flush noticeably while producing little or no sweat at all. Blushing during an embarrassing moment is the same vascular reaction driven by emotion rather than heat or alcohol.

It often accompanies hot flashes, falls under vasomotor symptoms, and is a blood-vessel response driven by vessels in the dermis rather than by sweat.