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Senile purpura bruises and treatment options
Skin Health | Last Active: Oct 17 7:31pm | Replies (107)Comment receiving replies
At age 72 I’ve been dealing with increasingly fragile, thin skin. Have had senile purpura (sp.) for several years. I’m joking that if you give me a sharp look, I bruise heavily. Even absent-mindedly rubbing an itch produces a bruise on my arms. And any scratch, be it ever so slight, produces copious blood. Not on blood thinners! But a few days ago I hit a new low: went to swim laps in an indoor pool, had a bandaid on a minor scratch on back of my left hand, and remembered that this facility does not permit bandaids in the water. So I peeled it off - a water-proof version, and it resulted in a new tear where the outer corner of the bandaid had stubbornly clung to my skin. Did not even notice until salt pool water hit the hand, and I had pink run-off on top of my hand. Any advice, remedies, age-reversal skin rejuvenation, or other input would be great. Just don’t ask me to stop everyday life, which includes yard work, some home improvement projects, and just in general being not super careful.
Replies to "At age 72 I’ve been dealing with increasingly fragile, thin skin. Have had senile purpura (sp.)..."
Your skin sounds much like my husband who in his youth was a redhead. Like you he is not on blood thinners, but unlike you doesn't protect his skin and is active golfing and target shooting with lower arms exposed to sun. He has no idea what he hits or bumps to cause a wound which bleeds. I need to change the sheets and pillow cases more than once a week because even when scabbed over he may sratch open a would while sleeping I've give him all the recommended herbals/vitamins and if they are helping it is not noticeable. He is now 74 and in the last 2 years this conditon is noticebly getting worse.
I have found 2 bandaid types that do not tear the skin -
BandAid Sensitive Skin and Tegaderm which is invisible and waterproof.
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PS. Wanted to add that when working outdoors I always wear long sleeves, even in 90 degree heat, and various grades of gardening gloves. Still, gaps happen, branches scrape deep, so all summer long, when short(er) sleeves are the norm, I look like an abuse victim. Winter - less yard work, long sleeves, I revert back to not catching shocked looks.