Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bruising

Where'd that come from?

lwclec072 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:06:27 -0800

Why do I bruise so easily? I bruise very easily. At any given time I could easily count 20 bruises on my body. My legs, arms, etc, are always covered in bruises, most of the time I have no clue how I even got the bruise (I do not play sports and I'm not very physically active). What could cause this? The extent of my bruising seems abnormal to me so I am concerned, could there be a serious underlying cause and if so should I be looking out for other symptoms as well? I do not have insurance but I go to a clinic, I have mentioned something to the doctor before but she didn't seem too concerned and never did blood work. What could explain why I bruise so easily?

Does bruising mean that I should not continue laser hair removal treatment?

pluma moos — Fri, 08 May 2009 11:47:39 -0800

Should I abandon my plan to have laser hair removal? I had a sample treatment of an area (about 2x3 inches in size) on my leg and light purple/blue bruising developed. I understand that this treatment typically causes redness but no bruising. It is now 2 days later and the bruise is starting to fade. Other than the ugliness and pain of bruising, is there any other risk to me of getting the full treatment? Plan is for both lower legs. It is an ELOS laser.

This little piggie went OWWWW all the way home

desjardins — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:19:12 -0800

I think I broke my littlest toe. Everything I read online says that basically nothing can be done, so there's no point in going to the doctor, right? This happened about 24 hours ago. It's swollen, bruised, and painful. I buddy-taped it overnight, but it seemed to make it MORE painful this morning. I can handle pain just fine and I have strong (legal) painkillers available if I need them. My life is very sedentary so it will get a lot of rest. My husband is concerned about longer-term complications (he mentioned gangrene, is he full of crap?). This is all his fault anyway because he left the thing on the floor that I walked into.

So, should I see a doctor, should I DTMFA, and do I need a lawyer? :)

What are these bruises and how do I get rid of them?

wexford_arts — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:10:04 -0800

I know about spider veins (those tiny, flat blue/red/purple lines) and varicose veins (raised, lumpy veins). I know that these can be treated with laser or sclerotherapy. But what do you call faint blue bruising that seems to follow the path of blood vessels but is neither sharply defined nor raised? And how can you treat it? I've had a very faint permanent bruise on one leg for at least ten years, but it now seems to be spreading into an estuary of bruises. Is this just an amorphous set of spider veins, an early stage of varicose veins, or something else? Or is my skin is just getting thinner and these are normal blood vessels?

Why is my ear suddenly numb?

scarylarry — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 22:50:07 -0800

Why did my ear suddenly go numb? Should I go to a doctor? The other night, I got more than a little merry on wine and spirits, and took a pretty bad spill. I have two small bruise/scrapes: one on my right cheekbone and the other on my forehead. Additionally, I have a pretty sore neck. Went home and passed out in a strange position.

The day after my big night out, my left ear went completely numb at around 3:00pm (well after the hangover had begun its glacial fade). Expecting it to go away, I carried on with my business and didn't think about it. But it hasn't gone away. My ear has been consistently numb for about 30 hours.

This afternoon, I found that if I massage my neck on the left side (where it hurts), my ear tingles. This leads me to suspect that I somehow...pinched a nerve?...when I took my drunken spill. But I don't know.

I'm a little worried about the numbness, since it hasn't gone away--and also because it's so bizarre. I tried googling, but didn't get very far.

My question is in two parts:

1) Does anyone have any idea what this could be?
2) Should I go to a doctor?--It's not simple for me to do this, as I have no health insurance and make precious little money.

Thanks!

mysterious bruising

godaweful — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 14:39:43 -0800

After heavy nights of drinking I always end up with mysterious bruises on my inner upper arms and sometimes even my inner thighs.... It looks like I was grabbed and I know that I was not....what is this all about? This happens all the time when I drink. I can't figure out why. I thought that maybe it was from the unerwire in my bra when I passed out fully clothed but last time this happened I wasn't wearing a bra....and that doesn't explain the leg bruises. Could this have something to do with the way my body reacts to lots of booze. I don't think that it has to do with me being rough... Does this happen to anybody else?

Black and blue

eas98 — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 11:05:03 -0800

I never used to bruise easily, and now I do... Before you all tell me to go see a doctor, I have done so, and after a battery of blood tests, nothing was found. I would therefore like to investigate this further on my own.

I went from someone who hardly ever bruised to someone who bruises very easily. I cannot think of any significant changes to my diet or anything.

Just to add a datapoint that may be coincidence or not: the woman I am currently with (and was with when I started noticing this change) bruises VERY easily and had this characteristic before she met me.

This is quite a mystery to me, and I appreciate anything any of you have to add to this. Thank you in advance.

I Bruise Easy

dflemingdotorg — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 12:27:16 -0800

Why do I get so many bruises? I am 22 years old, in very fit shape and I'm growing a lot of muscle quickly. I have recently noticed that I have, at any given time, 8-10 bruises on my body. Generally, they're from knocks, but I'm no more accident or physical activity prone than I used to be.

What might cause this shift in the ability to bruise? Is there anything I can do to prevent it other than improving my motor skills?

Help for severe bruising following jaw surgery?

scody — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 15:38:56 -0800

Help for severe bruising following surgery? (More, including about a dozen titanium screws holding my jaw together, inside.) I'm exactly 2 weeks post-op from jaw surgery (upper LeFort osteotomy and lower genioplasty, for those of you keeping score at home) and, after a few unexpected days in the ICU (I'm a bleeder! Who knew?), have been home for over a week and am generally on the mend quite well. However, I'm unusually bruised -- so much so that my surgeon said that in all his decades of doing these procedures, my bruises are among the worst he's ever seen. I have two black eyes and discoloration all around the mouth, chin, and upper jaw -- imagine a raccoon with a purple goatee and you will get some sense of it.

I'm not in a lot of pain, but I'd like to know if there’s anything to do to speed the process along a little. (I'm mainly concerned because I'd like to go back to work in a week or two, and I'd like to be able to see my young nephews soon without terrifying them.) We applied ice for the first several days, then heat (as my surgeon recommended) for the next few days, and I'm keeping my head elevated (oh, the joys of sleeping upright).

Is there anything else I could be doing? Time may very well be the only remedy, but I just thought I'd see if there are any docs/nurses/bruisers out there with some other suggestions to see if I can speed the process along. I read something about arnica online, but don’t really know much about it. Thanks for any help!