Skin Bruising Easily On Arms

Why Do I Bruise So Easily?

• Getting Older. Do you bruise more easily now than you did when you were younger?
• Some Medicines and Supplements. If you take aspirin or a blood thinner, don’t be surprised by the occasional black-and-blue mark.
• Low Vitamin C. This nutrient is essential for healing, so if you don’t get enough, you may bruise easily.
• It Runs in Your Family.
• Sun Damage.

The most common cause of arm bruising is trauma. A broken bone or severe sprain may cause bruising to the arm. Children tend to incur more bruises than adults as a result of their higher activity levels.

Easy bruising is common with age. Although most bruises are harmless and go away without treatment, easy bruising can sometimes be a sign of a more serious problem. 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.

A person should seek medical attention any time they have the following symptoms or issues associated with bruising: a suspected broken bone. loss of function of a joint, limb or muscle. increasing pain. an area is affected by a bruise that returns. there is no identifiable cause of the bruising.

Purpura occurs when small blood vessels burst, causing blood to pool under the skin. This can create purple spots on the skin that range in size from small dots to large patches. Purpura spots are generally benign, but may indicate a more serious medical condition, such as a blood clotting disorder .

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.

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.

See a doctor if you have: Significant pain and swelling. … A bruise that lasts longer than two weeks without changing. … Small blood spots accompanied by fever, chills, weight loss or any other systemic symptoms that are new. Recurrent bruises without any clear causes.

Most bruising is benign, and is very common. But here’s when you should perhaps worry about bruising and when you should see your doctor: If they persist for prolonged periods of time (not healing) If you have more and more bruises through time. If you experience bruising more frequently than your prior baseline.

Bruises typically take 2 to 4 weeks to heal. As a bruise heals blood is reabsorbed into the body. Healing is accompanied by a change to various colors ranging from purplish black to reddish blue and yellowish green as the WebMD website says.

Bruises generally heal by themselves, if they do not disappear in a couple of weeks then that is when to worry about a bruise. Here are a few tips to ease the pain and speed up the healing process: Rest: If you get a bruise give that area some rest. This will stop the bruise from progression.

It is usually due to a collection of tissue fluid that is not drained away effectively. Sometimes it can occur with pooling of blood. Localized swelling may also be due to an abscess or cyst. Swelling of the arm may affect the entire length of the upper limb or involve only the fingers, hands, forearm or upper arm.

Long-term use of strong steroids can cause widespread purpura and bruising, normally on extensor surfaces of the hands, arms and thighs. It is caused by atrophy of the collagen fibres supporting blood vessels in the skin. A similar appearance is also found in senile-type purpura.

Bleeding under the skin can occur in a variety of ways, forming either tiny red dots called petechiae or larger flat areas that turn purple, called purpura. When bleeding under the skin is excessive, the large area of bruised skin is called an ecchymosis. When bleeding forms petechiae, it can be mistaken for a rash.