Health Blurbs

A bruise is marked by reddish purple discoloration of your skin. Sometimes color referenced as “black and blue”, a bruise is caused by blood seeping out of a blood vessel and into surrounding soft tissue.

A bruised blotch is called ecchymosis for technical. And sometimes, your bruise may be accompanied by tiny red dots or splotches.

If your bruise is caused from some type of blunt force, then it’s classified as a contusion. And when pressed, you’ll likely experience some pain from this type of bruising.

A blow to your skin surface may cause bruising to underlying muscle and bone as well. A bone bruise being the most serious and painful. In addition, internal organs may get bruised from a significant force to their area.

As you age, you may have easy bruising from what may be otherwise viewed as an insignificant blow. That’s because your capillary walls become more prone to rupture and your skin is thinner. Also, you could bruise easily for the same reasons despite the age factor.

Some drugs can cause you to bruise easily or cause bruises to appear without a preceding blow, like:

• isotretinoin
• chemotherapy
• blood thinners ~ aspirin, warfarin
• certain dietary supplements ~ fish oil, ginkgo
• corticosteroids (prednisone) ~ thins your skin
• clopidogrel (Plavix) ~ reduces blood’s ability to clot

Easy bruising may be a symptom of certain health conditions, such as:

• anemia
• Wilson disease
• Gaucher disease
• thrombocytopenia
• Cushing’s syndrome
• blood cancer ~ leukemia
• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
• liver problems ~ cirrhosis
• low platelet levels in blood
• blood clotting disorder ~ hemophilia, von Willebrand

And the rash symptom caused by fifth disease may look like a bruise.

Bruises generally last a couple of weeks. As a bruise fades, it’s color changes to green and brown. This is caused by your leaked blood breaking down and is perfectly normal.

There are some treatment techniques you can employ to prevent a fairly significant blow from leaving you with a ghastly bruise. Anti bruise care must be initiated immediately following the blunt force for the best results.

Start by applying an ice pack and pressure to the site of the blow for about 20 minutes. And if possible, keep the potential bruised area elevated, above your heat, during treatment and after.  Continue this care treatment intermittently for the about 24 hours. Ice reduces circulation, thus the quantity of blood letting is substantially reduced.

Day two involves applying heat instead of ice, maintaining the same bruised care course. Heat speeds up circulation to enhance vessel healing and blood removal process.

If pain and inflammation caused by a contusion is significant, NSAIDs help with relief treatment.