Red Bruises On Arms In Elderly

Bruising of the hands and arms may result from a condition called actinic purpura, also known as Bateman purpura. It involves flat, purple blotches that darken before gradually fading. Actinic purpura occurs due to sun damage that weakens the blood vessels and appears most often in elderly and light-skinned individuals.

Some of the causes of bruising for no reason include age, medication, or serious disease. Bruising for no reason may be a signal to consult a healthcare professional. As people age, capillary walls become less able to withstand the bumps and jostling of daily activities.

Easy Bruising On Arms Causes. Natural supplements like fish oil capsules, in excess, causes easy bruising. Garlic, ginger, and ginkgo biloba consumed in excess causes blood to thin, leading to bruising. Old age is an important cause for bruising. A low platelet count is another significant cause.

Following are the probable causes that trigger bleeding under the skin: With aging, the fat layers under the skin become thin. As a result, the padding effect of the skin deteriorates. For this reason, in elderly people, even a minor injury on the skin can lead to the breakage of underlying blood vessels.

Blood Diseases. Multiple blood diseases can cause easy bruising, including hemophilia (inability of blood to clot), blood poisoning, liver disease, kidney disease, or cancer. There should be concerned if the legs (or another part of the body) bruise easily and there are other symptoms or multiple bruises.

Also, if you begin to feel a lot of pressure or pain in a bruised part of your body, you could be suffering from compartment syndrome. This happens when pressure increases on the soft tissue and structure underneath your skin and reduces the flow of blood and oxygen to tissues.

Garlic, ginger, and ginkgo biloba consumed in excess causes blood to thin, leading to bruising. Steroid based anti-inflammatory medicines. Old age is an important cause for bruising. Excessive alcohol in the blood, dilutes the blood and causes bruising. A low platelet count is another significant cause.

Daily application of an alpha-hydroxy acid cream, or tretinoin cream will increase skin thickness and may help a small amount. Cosmetics can be used to camouflage the lesions. Finally, prevention of trauma to the skin is an excellent way to keep the bruising from coming in the first place.

Topical and systemic corticosteroids — which can be used to treat various conditions, including allergies, asthma and eczema — cause your skin to thin, making it easier to bruise. Certain dietary supplements, such as ginkgo, also can increase your bruising risk due to a blood-thinning effect.

Why is easy bruising so common in older adults? Most bruises form when small blood vessels (capillaries) near the skin’s surface are broken by the impact of a blow or injury — often on the arms or legs. When this happens, blood leaks out of the vessels and initially appears as a black-and-blue mark.

If you have bleeding under the skin that is not the result of an apparent injury, it may be the sign of a serious medical condition or disease. Bleeding under the skin that is not caused by an injury can appear as small red or purple dots called petechiae, or in larger flat patches called purpura.

Blood vessels may also break due to the aging process of the skin, often in the facial area, or they may break internally. Broken blood vessels can be seen easily because they tend to lie under a layer of transparent skin. Blood vessels can break because of the effects of injury or trauma.

Purpura Treatment. Normally having purpura is not a life-threatening condition but if you have bleeding in the brain that is the result of blood vessels that are leaking it can be deadly but this happening is very rare. Most of the time purpura will go away on their own within a few weeks or months.