When to Seek Medical Care
- Call the doctor if the bruise is accompanied by swelling and extreme pain, especially if you take a blood-thinning medication for a medical condition.
- Call the doctor if bruising occurs easily or for no apparent reason.
- Call the doctor if the bruise is painful and under a toenail or fingernail.
What conditions can cause bruising?
Bruising (ecchymosis) happens when small blood vessels (capillaries) break under your skin. This can cause bleeding within the skin tissue.
Medical conditions
- Hemophilia A.
- Hemophilia B.
- Von Willebrand disease.
- A low platelet count.
- Cushing’s syndrome.
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).
- Vitamin deficiencies.
What bruises are serious?
You should call your healthcare provider if you experience:
- A black eye with vision problems.
- Bruising that lasts more than two weeks.
- Frequent large bruises.
- A lump in the bruised area (hematoma).
- Painful swelling.
- Pain that lingers days after the injury.
- A recurring bruise in the same location.
- Unexplained bruising.
What are the three types of bruises?
There are three types of bruises based on their location on your body: Subcutaneous bruises occur just beneath the skin. Intramuscular bruises occur in the underlying muscles. Periosteal bruises occur on the bones.
How do you know if bruising is serious? – Related Questions
What kind of bruise should I worry about?
Increased size or density. Lump under the bruise. Pain that lasts longer than 2-3 days. Persistent bruising for more than 2 weeks.
What Colour of bruises mean?
It often starts red because fresh, oxygen-rich blood has newly pooled underneath the skin. After around 1–2 days, the blood begins to lose oxygen and change color. A bruise that is a few days old will often appear blue, purple, or even black. In about 5–10 days, it turns a yellow or green color.
What are the bruise stages?
When a bruise first happens, it’s kind of red as the blood appears under the skin. Within 1–2 days, the hemoglobin (an iron-containing substance that carries oxygen) in the blood changes and the bruise turns bluish-purple or even black. After 5–10 days, the bruise looks green or yellow.
What does a cancerous bruise look like?
These bruises are different from the ones we’re used to seeing: they might be much darker red or purple and could be irregularly shaped. Bruises that could indicate cancer might also appear on parts of the body where bruises wouldn’t normally occur, like on the head, face, thighs or back, Dr. Wang says.
What do Leukaemia bruises look like?
Small red spots (petechiae)
Small, pinhead-sized red spots on the skin (called “petechiae”) may be a sign of leukaemia. These small red spots are actually very small bruises that cluster so that they look like a rash.
Whats the difference between a bruise and a hematoma?
A bruise, also known as a contusion, typically appears on the skin after trauma such as a blow to the body. It occurs when the small veins and capillaries under the skin break. A hematoma is a collection (or pooling) of blood outside the blood vessel.
When should you get a bruise checked?
Bruises are typically surface injuries that heal on their own without medical attention, and people can treat them safely at home. However, if you suffer a more significant trauma or injury and have bruising that does not heal and disappear after 2 weeks, then it’s time to get medical attention.
Can bruising cause a blood clot?
Can’t bad bruises cause blood clots? The bruise itself won’t cause a blood clot. In very rare circumstances, the hit that caused the bruise can. If a deep-seated vein is damaged during the collision, it could lead to a deep-vein clot.
Does a blood clot look like a bruise?
You might see some bruise-like discoloration, but you’re more likely to see red. A DVT causes redness in the affected limb and makes your arm or leg feel warm to the touch.
What are the first signs of a blood clot?
Symptoms of a blood clot include:
- throbbing or cramping pain, swelling, redness and warmth in a leg or arm.
- sudden breathlessness, sharp chest pain (may be worse when you breathe in) and a cough or coughing up blood.
What does it mean if your bruise is dark purple?
Within a day or so of impact, your bruise will darken to blue or purple. This is caused by both low oxygen supplies and swelling at the bruising site. As a result, hemoglobin, which is typically red, begins a gradual change to blue. This darkening can last through the fifth day after injury.
What are the early warning signs of a blood clot?
Warning Signs and Symptoms of Blood Clots
- Swelling in the leg or arm.
- Tenderness or cramps in the leg.
- Out of breath, or shortness of breath.
- Passing out or feeling lightheaded.
- Chest pain or back pain when breathing.
- Leg discoloration, either a red or blue hue.
- Overdrive, when your heart is racing.
- Time to call 911.
Can you feel yourself getting a blood clot?
Deep Vein Thrombosis:
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot forms in one of the deep veins of your body, usually in your legs, but sometimes in your arm. The signs and symptoms of a DVT include: Swelling, usually in one leg (or arm) Leg pain or tenderness often described as a cramp or Charley horse.
How do doctors check for blood clots in legs?
Duplex ultrasonography is an imaging test that uses sound waves to look at the flow of blood in the veins. It can detect blockages or blood clots in the deep veins. It is the standard imaging test to diagnose DVT. A D-dimer blood test measures a substance in the blood that is released when a clot breaks up.
Where do blood clots usually start?
Deep vein blood clots typically occur in the lower leg or thigh. “Deep vein thrombosis has classic symptoms—for example swelling, pain, warmth, and redness on the leg,” says Dr.
Whats a blood clot look like?
What Does a Blood Clot Look Like?: Blood clots can form anywhere in the body, such as the leg, lung, brain, heart, and stomach or intestines. Blood clots may look red and swollen, or like a reddish or bluish skin discoloration. Other blood clots may not be visible in the skin.
What are the 3 stages of blood clotting?
1) Constriction of the blood vessel. 2) Formation of a temporary “platelet plug.” 3) Activation of the coagulation cascade.
