In recent years, social media have become the virtual place in which we spend our free time: there we inform ourselves about current news, let’s shake videos of kittens, we become indignant at this or that statement, and we self-diagnose mental and physical pathologies.
The latest trend running on TikTok and similar is called “ferritin face” (literally “ferritin face”, low by implication): a lot of content creators show the before and after of a body that suffers from iron deficiency, with pronounced dark circles, grayish skin, dry lips, brittle nails and hair that falls out. But how much science is there in these selfie-ready diagnoses?
Ferritin is a protein that varies based on the amount of iron present in our body: when it is low (below 15 µg/l according to the WHO, but according to other guidelines already below 30 µg/l), it indicates that iron reserves are insufficient.
Iron produces hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen: however, an iron deficiency does not immediately translate into a lowering of hemoglobin, because anemia can take longer to arrive; in other words, we can be low on iron without being anemic.
Ferritin face
The videos on ferritin face they often push the viewer to pay attention to a combination of signs – dark circles under the eyes, pale or grayish skin tone, thin hair and brittle nails. “You’re not ugly, you just have low ferritin,” says one creator.
According to doctors, it is impossible to diagnose iron deficiency just by looking at a person’s photo. The signs indicated in the videos can “be symptoms of an iron deficiency, but also of other pathologies”, underlines Dr. Aziza Sesay, interviewed by the BBC.
No to self-diagnoses
There is some truth in this trend: it is true that those who suffer from severe anemia are pale, and that tiredness resulting from a low iron level can cause dark circles under the eyes, but these signals are subjective and unreliable.
Doctors therefore advise us to pay more attention to how we feel rather than how we look: if we have doubts about whether we are suffering from iron deficiency, a blood test can clarify our ideas.
Let’s avoid self-diagnosis: taking supplements without medical indications can be harmful, and it is important to clarify the origin of the deficiency. In short, this time too social media proves to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand they shed light on an important problem, on the other, by oversimplifying the issue, they can push users to carry out diagnoses independently.
