Any suggestions to help with blood bruising on arms?

Posted by anne4u @anne4u, Jun 22, 2024

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

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Aging Well Support Group.

@pb50

I just began to use it. You get a roll on or a balm or straight essential oil you can mix with what is termed a carrier oil - i use sweet almond oil but olive oil is fine too.
I didn't have to wait long to test it - I turned into a door frame the next day carrying towels from the dryer and banged my forearm.
I mix it in a little plastic container with a lid intended for condiments. I try to mix a solution that is maybe 3 teaspoons all together - 2 tsps of carrier oil and one dropper of the essential oil. That is based on reading a lot about strengths. A lot of people report they just do full strength and i may work up to that.
You should test it on your arm - I put some in the crook of my elbow because it is less likely to get inadvertently wiped off there. Give it a while to make sure you don’t get hives or itchy, etc.

I am going to show two pics - one the day it happened and one four days later. I don't know how fast anyone else heals, but this event would typically take four weeks to fade. This seems significantly faster. One time is not proof and it isn’t magic but it is better than Arnica.

Jump to this post

Thanks for the tip! I just purchased some. I’m pretty happy with Arnica but if this works faster to heal, I’m in!

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.