Senile purpura bruises and treatment options

@ellerbracke
Hi,
I bruise easily so know what you mean and it’s in the 90s here in Florida too. Use the opposite colors of the bruise to hide it. I use a yellow, concealer on a fresh purple bruise and a green concealer when it’s red. Then blend in some makeup extending beyond the bruise. When it starts to fade and get yellow , my regular skin tone concealer and a dab of makeup seems to cover it although sometimes a little coral lipstick mixed in with the makeup seems to hide it too. Depends on how fussy I am to hide it. My skin is fair. I use a tanning cream a lot since I try to avoid, the sun as much as I can and that helps also.

I very often wear loose 3/4 or even long sleeve tops in the summer.....don’t find it any hotter than short sleeve as long as it’s a cottony or linen type material.
And I figure it’s keeping the sun off and preventing age spots.

Regards from Mary in sunny and hot Florida

@imallears For your bruises have you ever tried Arnica it's made for bruises and pain. For my pain I use it mixed with essential oils ,have used it on bruises Right now 8a.m. It's 58degrees .

@imallears I don't know anything about covering makeup except for faces. I suppose that could work for your arms also. My suggestion would be to protect your arms against the pokes by wearing long leather gardening gloves (mine go almost up to my elbows) or fashioning arm protectors by cutting the arms off a denim shirt (or the bottoms of skinny jeans [think thrift shop]) and pin or tie them at the elbow and wrist. Not as hot as a full shirt, but would still protect the forearms. Good Luck.

@lioness - Arnica is a great suggestion My husband bruises easily and I'm going to try it on him. Thanks for the tip.

Yes, the Arnica cream is great. Now there's 2 types .... one is for pain and the other is for bruises.
abby

@lisagirard
Hi,

Never heard of it but looked it up. Good to know when I take up wrestling😂

@2011panc
Hi,
I don’t have to do much outside work. I usually bump my shins against tables or someone has squeezed me too hard on the arm.
I tend to move around too fast indoors and knick my fingers with something sharp. Fragile thing I am....

Regards from FL Mary

@imallears Like your sense of humor Arnica cream that is for bruises forgot to mention that @amberpep thanks

@ellerbracke @imallears Are you sure these are bruises? I get purple spots on my forearms that are called actinic purpura, or very insultingly, senile purpura. As my daughter commented when I told her that, "how rude!". Here is an article about a product, Dermend, that is supposed to help with this.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5605207/
I asked my dermatologist and he prescribed Tretinoin, which is basically a retin A type of cream and supposed to make your skin a little thicker to not get these marks as easily.
I am including pictures of my purpura so you can see if this what you also have. They are different from bruises actually, and more apt to happen with fair-skinned people. Being on prednisone increases the chance of getting them because apparently, prednisone thins your skin more. I just found this out Friday from a nurse.
I wear an Apple watch now and am getting a lot of redness/purpura where that is. The Apple watch emits a green light out the back to reflect on your blood and determine your BPM. I am wondering if that green light may be causing a problem for me. I think I may try turning that option off on my watch.
There is a heavy makeup called Dermablend that is made for body usage - they actually have both, facial and body. That could help I believe but it sounds as if it's a pain in the neck to use. I am hoping mine will diminish some time before my son's wedding, but if not I may consider using it.
JK

To everyone: thank you for all the helpful suggestions. Arnica stands out, will try that. And will look for dermablend. Usually I’m not too worried about the discolorations, but with my 70th coming up I don’t want to look like 80 during the celebrations!
Regarding JK’s comment that it might be actinic purpura, I will check this out. It does look very much like what I have, it is limited to my forearms, but it only seems to happen when there is a trigger (like when I brush against branches while pruning a shrub, like being lazy and sticking my arm into a tight, half-open container and scraping the skin (without breaking it), those kind of situations. So perhaps it’s a combination of senile bruising with a cause?