Certainly no reason for your apology, @sharonallen. Your condition is understandably troubling for you. It seems to have been with you for a long time -- time to see seven doctors, none of whom ventured even a guess about what's causing your problem. Mine is different. First, although the originally large bruise-like area of my arm later stretched from my elbow to my thumb (18 inches yesterday), today the coloring has faded so that it is hardly visible. I'm presuming normal metabolic activity in my body has carried away much of the venous blood that had collected just under the surface skin of my arm. My personal care physician (PCP) will see me tomorrow, and we'll discuss what caused the problem as well as the after-effects. Second, my discolored surface area was not painful, although deep forearm muscles developed some pain from moving or stretching, and it's possible those muscles squeezed a vein, causing it to bulge and leak. Finally, I have to emphasize that my problem began only nine days ago and is now on the verge of disappearing. I was concerned early on that I might have been attacked by a large blood clot that could damage my brain or a major organ, but that doesn't seem to have occurred. I'll let you know what my doctor says and if the problem recurs. Martin