1. < Skin Health

Senile purpura bruises and treatment options

Posted by ellerbracke @ellerbracke, May 24, 2019

I ( and a friend or 2) love gardening. Even with wearing long sleeves while working outside, (today it was about 76 degrees by 8 AM here), I still get poked or scratched. The resulting bleeds and the bruises are way out of proportion to the cause. Anybody have a good suggestion how to cover up some of the bruises on my lower arms (elbow to wrist) so I don’t look so abused when going out in public? Meaning, make-up tricks. Tomorrow it will be around 94 degrees again here, so long sleeves out and about are not what I want to wear going forward.

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notmoff | @notmoff | Aug 28, 2022
In reply to @contentandwell "Hi, @evinann You say your husband's spots bleed? Is there actually blood coming out of them..." + (show)
@contentandwell

Hi, @evinann
You say your husband's spots bleed? Is there actually blood coming out of them or just under the skin? I had some really large ones at one point but they are not nearly as bad now. I believe the difference for me was that I was on prednisone and no longer am.

My dermatologist prescribed tretinoin cream for me. It helps to strengthen the skin because the cause is generally that our skin gets thinner as we age. Prednisone makes it even more so.
This is a fairly good article about tretinoin. It also mentions side effects. I did not have any but of course I did wear a strong sunscreen when going out.
https://ro.co/health-guide/tretinoin-what-is-it-and-what-skin-conditions-can-it-treat/
There is another OTC cream also, Dermend, but I don't know if that is effective or not. Tretinoin did help me. It did not completely rid my arms of the purpura but it did minimize them.
If you do get a prescription for it, be aware that it is not covered by Medicare since it is considered to be cosmetic. If you use the app GoodRx you can often find a much better price than is available without it.
JK

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@jk If I slightly bump my arms from the elbow down to my hands, the skin wrinkles and then bleeds. I'm told this is from aging skin that had too much sun exposure.
Thanks for mentioning the diclosfenac. I'd not heard of it, but see that the side effects are all current issues for me so I hesitate. Comments?

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1 reply
JK | @contentandwell | Aug 28, 2022
In reply to @notmoff "@JK If I slightly bump my arms from the elbow down to my hands, the skin..." + (show)
@notmoff

@jk If I slightly bump my arms from the elbow down to my hands, the skin wrinkles and then bleeds. I'm told this is from aging skin that had too much sun exposure.
Thanks for mentioning the diclosfenac. I'd not heard of it, but see that the side effects are all current issues for me so I hesitate. Comments?

Jump to this post

Hi, @notmoff
I am truly sorry, I named the wrong medication. The medication gel that was prescribed for me was tretinoin. When you mentioned side effects I looked up Voltaren to see what they were and knew immediately I had mentioned an incorrect drug. I was prescribed both of these in the spring of 2019, thus my confusion. Voltaren is for arthritis primarily. It was prescribed for me for bursitis.
Tretinoin is basically Retin A and is most often used for acne but can also be used to help with purpura. Another cream used for purpura is Dermend which is OTC.
This is a fairly good article about tretinoin.
https://ro.co/health-guide/tretinoin-what-is-it-and-what-skin-conditions-can-it-treat/
One thing about tretinoin is that if you are on Medicare it is not covered because it is considered to be "cosmetic". If you use an app like GoodRx you can find much affordable prices.

I hope one of these will help you. Tretinoin did help with my purpura. It did not totally take them away but I had fewer spots and they were not as dark.
Again, I apologize for naming the wrong drug.
JK

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1 reply
notmoff | @notmoff | Aug 28, 2022
In reply to @contentandwell "Hi, @notmoff I am truly sorry, I named the wrong medication. The medication gel that was..." + (show)
@contentandwell

Hi, @notmoff
I am truly sorry, I named the wrong medication. The medication gel that was prescribed for me was tretinoin. When you mentioned side effects I looked up Voltaren to see what they were and knew immediately I had mentioned an incorrect drug. I was prescribed both of these in the spring of 2019, thus my confusion. Voltaren is for arthritis primarily. It was prescribed for me for bursitis.
Tretinoin is basically Retin A and is most often used for acne but can also be used to help with purpura. Another cream used for purpura is Dermend which is OTC.
This is a fairly good article about tretinoin.
https://ro.co/health-guide/tretinoin-what-is-it-and-what-skin-conditions-can-it-treat/
One thing about tretinoin is that if you are on Medicare it is not covered because it is considered to be "cosmetic". If you use an app like GoodRx you can find much affordable prices.

I hope one of these will help you. Tretinoin did help with my purpura. It did not totally take them away but I had fewer spots and they were not as dark.
Again, I apologize for naming the wrong drug.
JK

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JK - All is well (and content). Thanks for so promptly clarifying the medication mixup for me. The article you attached was thorough and helpful

And again, thanks for the suggestion. I understand it is $100 for a 6 month supply but worth it due to its efficacy.

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1 reply
jilliemo12345 | @jilliemo12345 | Aug 28, 2022

I hear you and have had the same problem. I wear long sleeve loosely fitted Cotten shirts. They seem to help deflect and not snag through to my skin. Both my husband and I use Corium 21 unscented cream. Use it sparingly 2x a day it soaks into the skin and actually will show an amazing difference in one month. I say use sparingly as less is best. It is expensive but worth every dime. You can find it on Amazon. Buy the 8 Oz jar. You can return it but give it time.
Best to you, Jilly

REPLY
1 reply
JK | @contentandwell | Aug 29, 2022
In reply to @jilliemo12345 "I hear you and have had the same problem. I wear long sleeve loosely fitted Cotten..." + (show)
@jilliemo12345

I hear you and have had the same problem. I wear long sleeve loosely fitted Cotten shirts. They seem to help deflect and not snag through to my skin. Both my husband and I use Corium 21 unscented cream. Use it sparingly 2x a day it soaks into the skin and actually will show an amazing difference in one month. I say use sparingly as less is best. It is expensive but worth every dime. You can find it on Amazon. Buy the 8 Oz jar. You can return it but give it time.
Best to you, Jilly

Jump to this post

@jilliemo12345 Hi, Jill. Thanks, Corium 21 works for purpura? I haven't heard of that before but maybe I will try it. My purpura were pretty much gone for a while but right now they are back.
JK

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jnb | @jnb | Aug 29, 2022
In reply to @notmoff "JK - All is well (and content). Thanks for so promptly clarifying the medication mixup for..." + (show)
@notmoff

JK - All is well (and content). Thanks for so promptly clarifying the medication mixup for me. The article you attached was thorough and helpful

And again, thanks for the suggestion. I understand it is $100 for a 6 month supply but worth it due to its efficacy.

Jump to this post

Since about 1980 I have used Tretinoin (Retin A) cream on both my face and my arms to combat brown or red areas of discoloration. It seems to work by speeding up cell renewal. You may at first see what appears to be a lighter layer of outer skin over the dark spots. I am a Costco member, and their member price is the lowest I have found for Tretinoin, even lower than Good Rx. I also find it helpful to use twice daily a good moisturizer cream on my face and once daily a lotion like Amlactin or CeraVe on my arms and legs.

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liene | @liene | Nov 5, 2022
In reply to @contentandwell "@ellerbracke @imallears Are you sure these are bruises? I get purple spots on my forearms that..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@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

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Did the Tretinoin work for you? I was using it for a while, and my bruising improved, but then it stopped working. I am using DermEnd also, but it doesn’t seem to help. But thanks for the tip about using Dermablend, I may have to try it.

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1 reply
Julie Chitwood | @billchitwood | Nov 8, 2022

My 89 year old husband has had purpura for years (also 3 bouts of skin cancer on his legs). His purpura will sometimes start bleeding for no reason - a fairly large amount running down his leg and onto the floor. Usually he isn't aware of it until he sees the blood - therefore no pain.
He does have a low blood count. Same thing will happen on his arms.

Doctors don't seem concerned about it and haven't mentioned any treatment, just say it is part of aging. While at one doctor appointment one of the spots on his leg started bleeding so the doctor got to see rather than just have it reported on. He bandaged him up and that was that.

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alohamelanie | @alohamelanie | Dec 1, 2022

I used to buy expensive arm protectors to wear when gardening. I live in Hawaii so it is too hot to wear a thick enough long sleeve shirt all the time. Now I take an old tube sock or any thick sock and cut off the toe portion and then slip it on my arm from my wrist to my elbow. Problem solved! For red spots that I get from bumping into things in the house, when my arms are not protected, I do use make up to cover them when I have to go out in public. But mostly I just ignore them. I am 74 years old and not that vain anymore!

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JK | @contentandwell | Dec 2, 2022
In reply to @liene "Did the Tretinoin work for you? I was using it for a while, and my bruising..." + (show)
@liene

Did the Tretinoin work for you? I was using it for a while, and my bruising improved, but then it stopped working. I am using DermEnd also, but it doesn’t seem to help. But thanks for the tip about using Dermablend, I may have to try it.

Jump to this post

@liene Tretinoin did help with the purpura. It did not totally eliminate it but it did make it less noticeable and I had fewer spots. Currently I am not using anything but I do have fewer spots for some reason.

I did not get Dermablend for my son's wedding, I just got a dress with long sleeves.
JK

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