This symptom got its name from the name of the famous scientist and doctor of Hippocrates. A mask can appear only when a person is very sick, and serious processes occur in the body for the worse.
What is a symptom?
The Hippocratic mask is a set of certain changes on the face of a person who has been suffering from any serious illness for a long time. This concept will be more correctly attributed to the symptoms, because it is precisely by changes in the face that the doctor can very often determine the presence of an ailment, conduct the necessary diagnostics and prescribe timely treatment. Such traits can occur in a person who has diseases in the abdominal organs, suffers from exhaustion or long insomnia, and they can also be harbingers of imminent death.
Reasons for the manifestation of the mask
The mask of Hippocrates was first described in the 5th century in the writings of a scientist, where he examined in more detail the subject of facial changes, which may indicate an incorrect distribution of blood and lymph in the body. He also said that all this could indicate intoxication, because it is during this period that the inflammatory process begins to develop.
The mask can appear in many cases, but the main ones are listed below:
- If a person has peritonitis, as a rule, the inflammatory process develops in the peritoneum, it affects the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, and can touch the kidneys. Most often, the reason lies in the perforation of the digestive tract. For example, a rupture of appendicitis, the opening of a stomach or intestinal ulcer, can serve this.
- When an ulcer in the intestine or in the stomach opens, but only if an opening appears, after which the contents of the organ begin to flow freely into the abdominal cavity.
- With intestinal obstruction, when something impedes the progress of food, the cause may be a mechanical effect on the intestines.
- When the body is too exhausted, for example, for a long time the patient had to do without food for various reasons. In medicine, this condition is called cachexia.
- The mask of Hippocrates can occur when a person suffers from insomnia for a long time. Chronic lack of sleep very quickly passes into the difficult stage of the disease, while losing appetite, irritability appears. It is difficult to recognize precisely this condition, since it occurs at a psychological level.
If all the diseases listed above are absent, then the manifestation of a mask on the face may indicate that a person will soon die, since Hippocrates gave another definition of it - as a symptom indicating an imminent death.
The main characteristics of the mask of Hippocrates
The mask of Hippocrates has its own characteristics, therefore, before identifying it on the face of a person, it is worth paying attention to some of its characteristics:
- First of all, the facial expression changes : it becomes inexpressive, in some cases even motionless, the eyes can look at one point for a long time.
- Cheeks and eyes become sunken, cheekbones begin to form clearly.
- When a patient simply loses weight due to a disease, he still has a sparkle in his eyes, he is not wearing a Hippocratic mask, his eyes become dull.
- It is worth paying attention to the cornea: it becomes cloudy, a veil falls on the eyes.
- The lips turn white, and the corners of the mouth drop down, facial expressions lose their attractiveness, while the person’s lips can be too cold and dry, sores from the fact that the skin breaks.
- The mask of Hippocrates is a symptom in which the complexion necessarily changes: it becomes greenish, in some cases even lead, the blush disappears forever.
- The patient can sag the lower jaw, and the nose becomes pointed.
- If you touch the patient’s ears, you can feel how cold they are, while the lobes will look protruding.
- The skin on the face seems to be stretched, while it is too dry to the touch, peeling appears.
- Small droplets of sweat may appear on the forehead, but the skin will not be moisturized.
What does a mask look like before death
If the mask of Hippocrates appeared before death, then all of the above characteristics of this symptom can be supplemented with signs of agony. The patient's condition begins to take on a slightly different character, gradually all of his vital functions are fading. It is not at all difficult to discern, since a person may experience trembling all over the body, there is a breathing problem, it can become hoarse, the pulse slows down, the body temperature drops, and sometimes it can grow immediately to 40 degrees, feelings begin to disappear. This condition can last from 2 minutes to two days.
How does a face change during an illness
If you pay attention to the signs of the disease in time, then you can try to cure the disease. As a rule, an experienced doctor will immediately look at the patient who came to see him and begin to diagnose health problems. When a person has a haggard face and a dull expression, his eyes deeply sink and there is no shine, and his cheeks have fallen, and the skin has turned gray, it will be logical to suspect problems in the internal organs.
In cases where the Hippocratic mask appears, the face begins to change immediately and lose weight. After the patient is examined, the doctor will definitely pay attention to constant changes in features for some time: if the symptoms that appear on the first day will only worsen, then urgent measures must be taken to eliminate the mask causing disease.
Diagnosis of the disease
Hippocrates mask may not appear immediately after the first manifestations of the disease. But as soon as a person begins to feel health problems, you should immediately turn to a specialist for help, because in this way the patient has more chances to save his life.
Diagnosis will help to avoid complications, especially if the Hippocratic mask has already begun to appear. The description of all the symptoms and the supervision of a doctor are superficial studies, therefore, an emergency diagnosis may additionally be prescribed:
- Doctor's medical history and physical examination.
- Obligatory are the delivery of laboratory blood tests, since this method can tell a lot about the inflammatory process in the abdominal organs.
- As a rule, the doctor prescribes fluoroscopy and ultrasound of the abdominal organs.
- To obtain a complete picture of the disease, the patient will still need to undergo endoscopy and laparoscopy of the peritoneum.
As soon as all the results are obtained, the doctor will be able to start treatment and prescribe an immediate surgical intervention.
Hippocrates symptom relief
Do not think that a mask can appear only before death, in fact, this is not so. It can occur with manifestations of various diseases, and in many cases a person can recover if measures are taken in time to eliminate the underlying disease. Asking the question of what is the mask of Hippocrates, what is it really, one can safely say that this is a symptom that requires special attention and study, because in many cases the life of the patient depends on it. If it occurs after a disease in the abdominal cavity has been identified, then, as a rule, an urgent operation may be required.
If the symptom has arisen due to insomnia, which led to the depletion of the body, you should immediately contact a psychotherapist who will conduct psychocorrection and will be able to prescribe suitable medications.
Cachexia is also treated, this requires the help of a specialist, he selects a special diet, prescribes drugs that can restore metabolism in the body, and also requires careful care.
What does the symptom look like in the photo
With the development of the disease, the mask of Hippocrates may begin to appear (photo you see in the article). It is clearly seen that the entire human body may not be depleted, but all the signs of the disease may well be on the face. You should not immediately panic, because the forecasts can be quite favorable if you pay attention to the main symptoms in time and seek help. The doctor will help identify the disease and provide timely assistance. A mask arises only if the pathology is really serious. But with timely assistance, the patient can survive.
How to prevent the appearance of the mask of Hippocrates?
To ensure that the mask of Hippocrates does not appear, you should follow some simple rules. First of all, it is important to remember that this symptom appears when the disease goes into the terminal stage. If a person visits a specialist at the first symptoms of the disease, the disease can be recognized at the initial stage, which means that there will be a chance to avoid a long treatment, which may require surgical intervention.