Connect
Any suggestions to help with blood bruising on arms?
I’ve developed a pretty severe problem with blood bruises on my arms.
It started about 18 months ago and hasn’t stopped with diligent healing lotions, sunscreens, bruising creams, etc.
I recently saw a dermatologist who did a biopsy with negative results. He recommended continuing my regimen of lotion and sunscreen. I was disappointed he couldn’t help me more, but maybe there isn’t more he could do? A few months ago at an annual checkup I had comprehensive blood tests done and everything looks good. I’m not taking blood thinners or anything that would cause my capillaries to break so easily.
It’s so severe that I can tap my arm on something and it leaves a mark. My dog recently (accidentally) kicked her back legs off my upper arm and tore the top layers of skin off which left bad cuts and bruising from my forearm to my shoulder. I ended up at urgent care after it became infected and then 7 days on antibiotics. It’s healing but takes so long.
I’m dedicated to putting quality lotions and creams on my arms and I wear sunscreen when outside. I purchased sleeves to wear when outside working on my yard. I try to avoid the sun whenever I can.
I spent plenty of time in the sun growing up. I loved water sports and live close to the beach. But for the past 25 years my exposure has been limited. It seems this issue came on after I stopped taking pain medications and started using ibuprofen for pain. Recently, after reading that ibuprofen can thin the blood, I switched to acetaminophen. I haven’t seen any change yet.
Just last night I pushed a chair in at a dinner table and the top of my hand tapped the underside of the table, I now have a blood bruise across the top of my right hand. It seems like every day I have a new bruise.
I feel like my life is limited to avoiding the sun and hiding my beat up arms! Summer is here and I’d love nothing more than to be able to go outside in short sleeves and enjoy the day without getting stares at my horribly bruised arms! I know this is common with old age. I’m 65 and feel like I’m too young for the severity of bruising.
Is there anything that has helped anyone with this issue? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Aging Well Support Group.
Connect
Thank you-will do
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI wear fingerless gloves at home to reduce blood bruising on my hands
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
2 ReactionsI (75f) have the same issue. It seems like all I have to do is breathe had on my forearms and I’ll end up with enough bruises that looks like I’ve been in a bar fight - and lost!
The best cream i’ve found that help with healing bruises is Dermend. Granted, it’s somewhat pricey and they won’t vanish overnight, but it’s still better than anything else.
I always look on Amazon or EBay for the best price.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsI’m with you, I think we may have been in the same bar fight!
I try to be careful, but I never realized how much I bump my arms before the bruising started. The skin on my arms is going through some weird transition. It’s become crepey and so dry. I use lotions, sunscreens and drink plenty of water, healing creams, protective sleeves, etc. Nothing seems to make a permanent difference. Recently I (again) started using a powder calcium supplement to see if it might help. I go in cycles with some supplements, I take them a while then give my body a break. I know as I age calcium is deficient. I’m doing what I can from the inside out!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionYou’re probably doing the right thing about focusing on healing from the inside, BUT, because of this age thing, I don’t know if ANYONE has the answer.
Oh…and I don’t plan on resorting to wearing long sleeves in FL in the summer!
Think about the Dermend. It works better than anything else.
I just wish there was something PERMANENTLY we could do about old age skin!
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 ReactionsAre any of those commenting on bhrt? I would love to know if that has helped. Thanks
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction69 yo M - same problem.
Both of my parents had this problem, and I guess I inherited it. My primary doctor told me to use thin coat of Neosporin (no bandage) to help with what appears to be under surface blood blister looking bruise. Happy to say it works for me. The bruise fades much quicker!
Good luck
Underpinning all of this - and many other aspects of aging - we have basic biology. Over the years of our lives, within the nuclei of our cells, telomeres (these are the ends of chromosomes) become shorter (they are incompletely replicated at each mitosis) with several consequences. One is that genes may be less efficiently transcribed ("read and copied") such that the messenger RNAs that go out to the place in the cells where proteins are made (cyloplasm) are imperfect. Also, stretches of DNA that regulate gene transcription may function less well that in youth. Anyway, our skin and tissues underlying it differ when we are old from their condition when we were young. No amount of ointment will 'fix' that. Dietary suplments may help, but only if we have a deficit in that nutrient. So, as I said before, be very careful to avoid bruising or tearning the skin. That is failsafe if done successfully.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction