facial flushing on half my face

[katpark]

Hello, my name is Katina, I am wondering if you have ever heard of my condition. I do not have a diagnosis yet, I have had MRI'S and lots of blood work but never a reason for my symptoms. I use to work out daily doing an hour of cardio kickboxing and then one day after 30 minutes or so, half my face turns bright red. There is a line down the center of my face only. At first I felt fine but when it happens now, I get a tingle in on my left side( the side that turns red) Have you ever heard of such a thing? I would love to know what causes this since I now do not work out for fear of having a stroke or something! Help me if you can!!!Thanks, Katina

[smelvanzq]

Hello, my name is Katina, I am wondering if you have ever heard of my condition. I do not have a diagnosis yet, I have had MRI'S and lots of blood work but never a reason for my symptoms. I use to work out daily doing an hour of cardio kickboxing and then one day after 30 minutes or so, half my face turns bright red. There is a line down the center of my face only. At first I felt fine but when it happens now, I get a tingle in on my left side( the side that turns red) Have you ever heard of such a thing? I would love to know what causes this since I now do not work out for fear of having a stroke or something! Help me if you can!!!Thanks, Katina

Hi! I think your condition is what we call in our country "namatanda". Farmer's doctors usually cure that disease..They'll make rituals beacause that disease is caused by bad spirits. But try consult doctors

[Angst2Amity]

Look up Frey's Disorder - fairly benign.

[Jeff P]

I have the exact same vertical split half white/red facial symptoms. I noticed it some 30 years ago. I used to play football in high school w/ intensive workouts. My lower back would hurt after games from overactive adrenals (maybe there's a relationship there). I am now 43 years old and have run 13 marathons and no problems. I also would like to know more about it. Many years ago a friend called it asymmetrical respiration but I haven't found any info on it. That's how I found you... looking this up on the internet... no luck so far.

[angst]

Really Look Up Frey's

General Discussion
Frey's Syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that results from injury or surgery near the parotid glands (which manufacture saliva), damaging the facial nerve. The parotid glands are the largest salivary glands and are located on the side of the face below and in front of the ear. This syndrome is characterized by flushing or sweating on one side of the face when certain foods are consumed. The symptoms usually are mild and well tolerated by most individuals. Relief from symptoms may require treatment in some cases.

http://www.rarediseases.org/search/rdbdetail_abstract.html?disname=Frey's%20Syndrome

[Unregistered]

I knew someone in middle school who used to have this happen to him whenever he exercised a lot, I'm not sure what exactly was wrong with him but i do know that he had two different color eyes. My sister also has two different color eyes and half of her face also turns red when exercises (she plays a lot of sports) and the doctor concluded that this was because she was only sweating on half of her face. She was also advised to take it easy while playing sports in warm weather because of the reduced portian of her face she is able to sweat upon (because sweating cools your body when overheated, if you didn't know). I don't know exactly why this happens but another thing is that my sister also has a non-cancerous cyst in her brain that isn't really dangerous, just causes migraines every now and then. They could be related but hey i'm not a doctor. If you're really concerned or have other symptoms, go see a doctor. Hope this helps!

[Unregistered]

Harlequin Syndrome
Harlequin syndrome, a term originally reserved for patients with asymmetrical facial flushing and sweating without ocular signs of Horner's syndrome, is a rare but clinically striking disorder. Most cases are of benign nature. Unilateral facial flushing can also be the first symptom of more serious conditions such as malignancy or stroke, however, and therefore a thorough diagnostic investigation is required.

Horner syndrome
Horner syndrome is a rare disorder caused by damage to the sympathetic nerves of the face and eye. The sympathetic nerves control circulation and perspiration.

Horner syndrome isn't a disease but a sign of an underlying — often serious — disorder.

[Unregistered]

I am another 55 year old female suffering from the half sided flushing after exercise. Actually, even if I get hot, I notice that half my head is hot, and the other half cool.

I have had this condition for 10 years. My husband noticed it first after I had mowed the lawn. He said "what's wrong with your face?". I was worried it was a symptom of a stroke or some other neurological emergency so I went to a walk-in medical clinic across the street. They immediately sent me to the emergency dept. of our local hospital where I waited for 2 hours to see a doctor. Then I was treated to a very rude interrogation by the resident physician who couldn't understand what my problem was (since the flushing had gone away over the two-hour period). Exasperated, I finally told her that I was concerned that it was a neurological issue because you could draw a line down the middle of my face (through my nose) and one side was beet red and sweaty, and the other was cold and dry. I also told her that the triage receptionist had witnessed this when I arrived. This doctor just kept asking questions like "why would you get red when you exercise?". She finally said, well you look alright now and sent me home. This was the emergency dept. at the Mississauga Hospital, Ontario Canada.

So I diagnosed myself over the internet over a period of time. I saw that there WERE a number of life-threatening issues with this condition (signs of impending artery rupture, lung or brain tumours, etc.)

I wanted to share my experience to see if others have had similar treatment.
My question about this condition is: Is there a possibility of permanent damage from overheating during exercise, since the body is not cooling itself properly?

Thanks.

[Unregistered]

Wow, I'm amazed to hear other people describe what I've been saying and seeing for years. I am a 28 year old female and have had this since I was 5 or 6. With exercise, my the right side of my face gets hot, red and sweaty, while the other side is cool, white and dry. I have the greatest picture from when I was 6 or so in my goalie gear and I had come off the soccer field. You could draw an absoluley straight line down the middle of my face, one half red the other half white. However, my upper body is affected as well. I don't sweat much on my left upper body. When I play sports (ie-cycling, tennis, spin class at the gym) my right arm will be dripping with sweat and my left arm is almost dry.

I had some testing done when I was 10 or so related to this and all I remember is that they said that my nervous system wasn't malfunctioning when it came to other areas. But now that I'm an adult and a nurse, I would like to know more and maybe get some answers expecially since I have some other unexplainable health issues.

[Unregistered]

It's called Harlequin Syndrome. It's considered a "rare" disease. Not very common. Like 1 in 200,000 people have it. Our friends just had a baby on July 15th & he has it.