Ferritin face: the new health scare taking social media by storm

Name: Ferritin face.

Age: The name is new, but the symptoms are old.

Symptoms: Pallor, dull skin, dark circles under your eyes. Looking washed out, basically.

What are you, a mirror? Oh no, does this describe you? Do you also have ferritin face?

Aren’t those just symptoms for “looking tired”? Is this one of those social media health scares with little to no scientific basis? No! I mean, yes, the term has recently become very popular on social media, as reported in the Washington Post. Ferritin face is not a real medical term (nor are there consistent criteria that define it) – but ferritin at least is definitely a thing.

Tell me about ferritin, then. It’s a complex globular protein that stores iron in the body in its inactive form. If you have low ferritin levels, it could indicate an iron deficiency.

And what happens if I have an iron deficiency? If it is severe and goes untreated for long enough, it could lead to tachycardia, breathlessness, chest pain and heart complications.

This is terrible! How can I cure myself? Well, earlier this summer, Allure magazine wrote a long piece entitled What It Means to Have “Ferritin Face”, calling iron deficiency an epidemic that women are prone to. It had plenty of advice.

Like what? Tell me now, before my dark circles kill me! It can often be overcome with a change of diet, as meat and green leafy vegetables are a good source. But you can also just go and have an intravenous iron infusion.

An IV it is! Be warned that, according to a leading iron infusion clinic, it could cost you in the region of £800.

Cabbage! Someone get me a cabbage! Alternatively, you could stop crapping your pants at every social media health scare. You should never diagnose and treat yourself via TikTok clips.

OK, fine. Think it about it sensibly. There is a vast difference between ferritin face and actual anaemia. Anaemia doesn’t just make you pale and tired-looking; it can leave you fatigued and breathless, with headaches, dizziness, palpitations and a loss of concentration being common symptoms.

Oh, I don’t have any of those. Good. But if you do, the NHS recommends that you see a GP, who will try to discover the underlying reason for your iron deficiency – which could be anything from heavy periods to cancer – and put you on a course of iron tablets.

So I don’t need to worry about ferritin. Probably not, no. But get an early night tonight. You look dreadful.

Do say: “You do not have ferritin face.”

Don’t say: “But you do have ferreting face, which is far worse.”