Bruising usually happens after trauma, severe activity, and soft tissue injury. All of these events cause blood capillaries located beneath the skin surface to rupture and spill blood into the soft tissues around them. Bruising occurs as discolorations of the skin, ranging in color from dark red to purple and black-blue.
If you’ve had a fall or got injured, it’s normal to expect a mild blood clot accompanied by discoloration under your skin. However, if you get bruises all of a sudden and without any explanation, you might feel very worried. This gets much worse if the unexplained bruising repeatedly happens on the sides of your neck, back, legs and face.
What could it be?
The most common causes of unexplained bruises
Mysterious bleeding may in some cases be a symptom of an underlying health problem that requires careful treatment and medical attention. We normally recover from trauma for 2-4 weeks, after which the leaked blood is reabsorbed into the body again. But unexplained bruises may come from these causes:
Injuries or strenuous physical activities
Injuries or strenuous physical activities, such as running: Unexplained bruises might result from some apparently minor (or even undetected) injuries. It sometimes takes a couple of days for the blood to rise close to the surface of the skin, which may not even make you know what caused the bruises.
Aging and skin bruises
The normal ageing process may also result in unexplained bruising. The ability of the skin to produce collagen, which is an important component of the skin, decreases with age. The skin also loses most of its underlying fatty tissues which cushion the blood vessels. As a consequence, the skin is especially vulnerable to bruise, even from minor damage.
Diabetes causes bruising
Long-term vascular problems and easy bruising often associate with diabetes. One of the common warning signs of diabetes is acanthosis nigricans, a condition characterized by dark-colored bruises around the neck.
Sunburns
Ultraviolet radiation from the sun has far-reaching effects on the skin. It not only causes sunburns but also damages the skin, making it especially prone to bruising.
Vitamin Deficiency (Vitamin B12, K, and C)
Vitamin B12, C, and K deficiency could also cause unexplained skin bruises. These are important co-factors for different processes in the body, and their presence in inadequate amounts often makes tissues and blood vessels weaker and more susceptible to bruise.
Grave’s disease
This disorder is typically caused by an overactive thyroid, which results in a physiologically altered body. People with Grave ‘s disease appear to lose weight and grow thin and insufficient capillaries in the blood, which then makes their skin easy to bruise.
Low or reduced body fat
Body fat provides a natural cushion to the skin against trauma. People with thin skin (low-fat percentage) are at higher risk of bruising. For the same reason, people who have undergone a rapid weight loss may also experience unexplained bruises.
Blood Diseases
Most disorders and diseases associated with the blood are often known to cause unexplained bruises. Leukemia, hemophilia, sepsis, thrombocytopenia, and Hodgkin’s disease are some of them. If you suspect any of those conditions, obtaining prompt medical attention is advisable.
Side effects of some medications
Many drugs are known to affect the capacity of the blood to clot. Aspirin and anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, for instance, affect the role of the blood platelet which contributes to easy bruising. Other medicines, such as corticosteroids and pregnancy prevention pills, often cause blood vessel inflammation, sometimes leading to blood leakage, which is manifested as a bruise.
You can also know what is probably causing your bruises depending on where they are located.
Bruising on your feet, knees, and legs
Similar to other parts of the body, the legs are especially susceptible to bruise. Because it often takes a few days for bruises to become visible, it can be easy to forget a minor injury that could be the one to blame. Older people often have a greater chance of bruising, because their skin is often more delicate than that of younger adults due to decreased deposits of fat under the skin and diminished skin’s capacity to manufacture collagen.
As Gary Goldenberg, MD, assistant professor of dermatology at Mt. Sinai Hospital, points out, bruising is especially common among individuals over 60. If you have taken aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs (especially ibuprofen), or corticosteroids (e.g. for treating asthma or eczema), they could be the root causes of unexplained bruising.
If the bruises are still present, even with the above home care interventions, see your doctor for several weeks down the road. You may be struggling with a more significant medical condition or illness that is restricting your circulation, weakening the capillaries in the blood or affecting the capacity of the blood to clot.
Bruises on the arms
Bruising around the arms can easily occur for several causes, but in your particular case, diabetes is an unlikely cause. Bruising and diabetes join hands, so to speak, in a condition known as acanthosis nigricans, which manifests as brown or black patches of skin discoloration in folds and creases of the body, especially in the axes and the neck.
It occurs when insulin, usually associated with type II diabetes, spills over through the skin as a result of insulin resistance. These other symptoms can always be evaluated to rule out diabetes: increased thirst, more frequent urination, fatigue, extreme hunger, blurred vision, weight loss, and recurrent infections.
Unlike nigricans with acanthosis, bruises occur when an injury or trauma causes internal bleeding in the skin. Common suspects for unexplained bruising in the arms are:
- Thorough exercise, e.g., track, field and weightlifting, often causing blood vessel breakage
- Vitamin C, B12, K and folic acid deficiency
- Medications and supplements and their side effects. Aspirin, warfarin, corticosteroids (for example, prednisone), anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen), and dietary supplements including fish oil, ginger, garlic, and ginkgo can cause unexplained bruising.
- A bleeding or blood clotting disorder, e.g. leukemia
- Hepatitis, e.g., primary biliary cirrhosis
- Blood-vessel inflammation
Mysterious clots on the thighs
While unexplained bruises are often a sign, among others, of severe blood disorders such as anemia and leukemia, they may also be influenced by various factors such as:
- Exercise and strenuous activity: This may cause small tears in the capillaries of the blood, resulting in internal bleeding that presents as bruises.
- Injury: What we frequently interpret as mysterious bruises on thighs is the product of bumps against bed posts without realizing or mild lesions that are already missed when a bruise is noticeable on the skin’s surface; typically, after a few days.
- Women are particularly more prone to bruising than men, and even minimal trauma or injury to their skin can cause bruises, especially on the thighs, upper arms and buttocks. You might just be clumsy because of a lack of better words.
- Drugs and supplements: Many drugs may be to blame as well. Contraceptive drugs can be at fault, and even certain dietary supplements like ginkgo, fish oil, and garlic can be at fault. In a previous section of this paper, the possible impacts of certain medications on skin vessels are discussed in more detail.
- Vitamin C, B12, K and folic acid nutritional deficiency may also be the root cause of those unexplained thigh bruises. Taking foods that are rich in those essential nutrients may help.
Bruise on breast and stomach
Unexplained bruises accompanied by itching are often a sign of a serious condition in the liver known as primary biliary cirrhosis. It could also be the result of a local reaction on the skin. In some cases, you may experience this as a sudden change of color that looks like a big bruise in your breast or stomach. Your best course of action will be to immediately go to see the doctor for proper diagnosis and care.
How to get rid of a bruise
Bruises can give out many problems if you’re trying to make them disappear. The damage is not on clear view. It is under your skin. Still, there are a few remedies that can penetrate the skin surface and accelerate healing. Some of them prevent bruising in the first place. Others would only help your body making them disappear.
So, consider for yourself the following home remedies:
- Arnica Montana: This is a useful herb to counter pain and bruising. It has many anti-inflammatory substances. The skin is capable of absorbing these substances and healing more rapidly. They reduce swelling and aid in reducing irritation and skin rash.
- Bromelain: It comes from the pineapple, and instead of a substance it is a heterogeneous mix of enzymes. All of them have anti-inflammatory properties and reduce not only bruising but also the associated swelling.
- Quercetin: This is a flavonoid, and it comes from fruits mainly. Similar to the above, it has anti-inflammatory potential and a soothing effect.
- Vitamin K cream: This vitamin is essential for the clotting process. You can take vitamin K as an oral supplement, but also in topical creams. In this presentation, vitamin K will act exactly where it should, and may improve your bruises faster than other remedies.
- R.I.C.E: It stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. R.I.C.E is a method used to recover from a variety of health problems, especially musculoskeletal problems, but also skin bruises. By following these recommendations, we are reducing blood flow in the problem area, which reduces swelling and gives time to our body to naturally heal.
References
Reaves, J. (2010). Unexplained bruising: weighing the pros and cons of possible causes.
Vora, A., & Makris, M. (2001). An approach to investigation of easy bruising. Archives of disease in childhood, 84(6), 488-491.
Nissen, L., & Deldot, M. (2010). Unexplained bruising. Australian Pharmacist, 29(3), 226.
Hampton, K. K., & Preston, F. E. (1997). ABC of clinical haematology: Bleeding disorders, thrombosis, and anticoagulation. BMJ, 314(7086), 1026.