A healthy living blog from Marshfield Clinic Health System

6 signs unexplained bruising may be worrisome

Woman holding her arm - Unexplained bruising

Unexplained bruising usually isn’t something to worry about. Bruises that are odd looking or in unusual places could be cause for concern.

A bruise (also called ecchymosis) can bother us for days, either because they’re painful or we don’t know how they got there.

“The good news is that most bruises aren’t a big deal even if you can’t explain them,” said Shannon Jahn, a Marshfield Clinic Health System Oncology/Hematology Nurse Practitioner.

Unexplained bruising usually appears on the arms and lower legs. Sometimes only a slight bump results in random bruises. They are typically red in color at first, then blue or dark purple and finally, yellow or green after a few days as it is healing.

“If you think a bruise is trauma-related, using an ice pack and elevating the affected area can help to decrease swelling in the first 24 hours,” Jahn said. “After that, a warm compress can help recirculate blood.”

Family history, medications may be to blame

“People who have a history of bleeding more than normal during medical procedures and women who get heavy periods may notice they bruise easily as well,” Jahn said. “This may be concerning for a possible underlying bleeding disorder and should be reported. Anyone with a family member who has a bleeding disorder who also bleeds or bruises easily should discuss this with his or her health care provider.”

Prescription and over-the-counter medications and nutrition supplements can make you bruise more easily. Some medications and supplements associated with bruising include:

  • NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen)
  • Antidepressants
  • Blood thinners
  • Some steroids
  • Vitamin E
  • Fish oil

Bring a list of your medications and how long you’ve been taking them if you plan to see a doctor about random bruises.

Older adults bruise more easily because their skin is thinner and they tend to have less muscle and fat to cushion their blood vessels from injury. Women tend to see more bruises than men and people who have fair skin often bruise more easily. Drinking alcohol can make you more prone to easy bruising and bumping into things.

Bruising occasionally indicates a more serious medical condition. Vitamin C or K deficiency, bleeding disorders such as hemophilia or Von Willebrand disease, or cancer can cause bruising.

Six reasons to see a doctor about unexplained bruising

Bruising easily usually isn’t a serious problem, but Jahn recommends calling your health care provider if any of these descriptions apply to your bruises.

  1. You have systemic symptoms such as fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes or unintentional weight loss along with unexplained bruising.
  2. Bruises look like big purple spots with clear edges, and you’re younger than 65. These spots, called purpura, are common in older adults but may be a sign of inflamed blood vessels in younger people.
  3. Bruises look like tiny red dots. These bruises are called petechiae and appear when tiny blood vessels called capillaries break. They’re common on the neck and chest after prolonged straining from vomiting or childbirth. They also can appear on the lower legs. These bruises may be an early sign of problems with platelets, the blood cells involved in clotting. If you haven’t had a recent straining event, they may indicate a more serious medical condition.
  4. Bruises are getting larger with time. The bruise may be a hematoma that could continue to bleed if you take blood thinners or have a bleeding disorder.
  5. You notice a lot more bruises than normal, bruises in unusual places or bruises not healing after about two weeks. Bruises on your back, abdomen and upper thighs may be concerning because most people don’t frequently bump those body parts. Bleeding into the joints that causes swelling or bruising may be a sign of a bleeding disorder.
  6. Bruising occurs along with other bleeding, swelling, extreme pain, especially if taking a blood thinner. Bruising accompanied by frequent nosebleeds that are hard to stop or blood in the urine or stool should be also investigated.

Your primary care provider will refer you to a hematologist if you have continued significant bruising larger than one centimeter with no known trauma.

For questions regarding bruising, talk to a Marshfield Clinic Health System provider.

Schedule appointment Message your provider

Related Shine365 articles

What happens when you tear a m­uscle?

Learn the signs of low blood cell counts

7 first aid kit must-haves for kids

 

494 Comments
  1. Dec 23, 2023
  2. Aug 4, 2023
  3. Jan 28, 2023
  4. Dec 4, 2022
  5. Dec 1, 2022
  6. Jan 11, 2022
  7. Jul 2, 2021
  8. Jun 27, 2021
  9. Apr 27, 2021
  10. Apr 21, 2021
  11. Apr 12, 2021
  12. Feb 6, 2021
  13. Jan 17, 2021
    • Jan 18, 2021
  14. Jan 1, 2021
  15. Dec 27, 2020
    • Jan 4, 2021
  16. Oct 22, 2020
    • Oct 26, 2020
      • Oct 26, 2020
  17. Oct 21, 2020
    • Oct 21, 2020
  18. Oct 18, 2020
    • Oct 25, 2020
  19. Oct 13, 2020
  20. Oct 9, 2020
    • Oct 9, 2020
    • Oct 13, 2020
  21. Sep 21, 2020
    • Sep 21, 2020
    • Oct 3, 2020
  22. Sep 1, 2020
    • Sep 1, 2020
      • Sep 25, 2020
      • Sep 29, 2020
  23. Aug 30, 2020
  24. Aug 28, 2020
    • Aug 28, 2020
  25. Aug 23, 2020
    • Aug 24, 2020
  26. Aug 19, 2020
    • Aug 19, 2020
  27. Aug 14, 2020
    • Sep 7, 2020
  28. Jul 25, 2020
    • Jul 27, 2020
      • Aug 1, 2020
      • Aug 12, 2020
      • Aug 13, 2020
      • Aug 22, 2020
      • Aug 24, 2020
  29. Jul 24, 2020
    • Jul 27, 2020
  30. Jul 16, 2020
    • Jul 17, 2020
  31. Jul 7, 2020
    • Jul 8, 2020
    • Jul 14, 2020
  32. Jun 27, 2020
    • Jun 29, 2020
      • Aug 2, 2020
      • Aug 4, 2020
    • Jun 30, 2020
      • Jun 30, 2020
      • Jul 11, 2020
    • Jul 4, 2020
    • Jul 10, 2020
    • Aug 5, 2020
  33. Jun 18, 2020
    • Jun 18, 2020
  34. Jun 18, 2020
    • Jun 18, 2020
    • Jun 23, 2020
  35. Jun 13, 2020
  36. Jun 3, 2020
    • Jun 4, 2020
      • Jun 6, 2020
      • Jun 8, 2020
  37. Jun 1, 2020
  38. May 29, 2020
    • Jun 1, 2020
    • Jun 1, 2020
      • Jun 2, 2020
    • Jun 9, 2020
    • Jun 28, 2020
      • Jun 29, 2020
  39. Apr 19, 2020
    • Apr 23, 2020
      • May 18, 2020
      • May 19, 2020
  40. Apr 13, 2020
    • Apr 13, 2020
      • Jun 1, 2020
    • May 19, 2020
  41. Feb 28, 2020
    • Mar 2, 2020
    • Mar 28, 2020
      • Mar 30, 2020
      • Apr 16, 2020
      • Apr 17, 2020
  42. Feb 22, 2020
    • Feb 26, 2020
      • Apr 16, 2020
      • Apr 16, 2020
    • Mar 3, 2020
    • May 16, 2020
    • May 30, 2020
      • Jun 1, 2020
  43. Feb 6, 2020
    • Feb 7, 2020
    • Feb 22, 2020
  44. Jan 19, 2020
    • Jan 20, 2020
  45. Dec 16, 2019
    • Dec 16, 2019
      • Jun 6, 2020
      • Jun 8, 2020
  46. Nov 27, 2019
  47. Nov 21, 2019
    • Nov 22, 2019
    • Nov 26, 2019
      • Jan 24, 2020
      • Mar 1, 2020
      • Jun 12, 2020
  48. Nov 20, 2019
    • Nov 21, 2019
    • Jan 27, 2020
  49. Nov 20, 2019
    • Nov 20, 2019
    • Jul 23, 2020
  50. Nov 14, 2019
    • Nov 15, 2019
  51. Nov 4, 2019
  52. Oct 25, 2019
    • Oct 25, 2019
    • Oct 26, 2019
      • Oct 28, 2019
    • Nov 29, 2019
  53. Aug 15, 2019
    • Jan 16, 2020
    • Mar 10, 2020
  54. Jul 14, 2019
  55. Jul 5, 2019
    • Jul 5, 2019
      • Jul 9, 2019
      • Jul 10, 2019
    • Jul 13, 2019
      • Jul 15, 2019
      • Aug 26, 2019
    • Jul 15, 2019
      • Jul 16, 2019
      • Sep 29, 2019
      • Nov 22, 2019
      • Nov 22, 2019
    • Aug 23, 2019
    • Oct 20, 2019
    • Nov 10, 2019
    • Feb 25, 2020
  56. Jun 25, 2019
    • Jun 26, 2019
      • Nov 17, 2019
      • Nov 18, 2019
  57. Jun 16, 2019
    • Jun 17, 2019
      • Jun 21, 2019
      • Jun 24, 2019
  58. Jun 13, 2019
    • Jun 13, 2019
  59. May 31, 2019
    • May 31, 2019
      • May 31, 2019
    • Aug 25, 2020
  60. May 30, 2019
    • May 31, 2019
  61. May 25, 2019
    • May 28, 2019
    • Jun 14, 2019
      • Jun 14, 2019
  62. May 23, 2019
    • May 23, 2019
    • May 29, 2019
    • Oct 4, 2019
      • Oct 4, 2019
  63. May 14, 2019
    • May 14, 2019
  64. May 14, 2019
    • May 14, 2019
    • May 21, 2019
  65. May 12, 2019
    • May 13, 2019
    • May 22, 2019
      • May 27, 2019
    • Dec 12, 2019
      • Dec 13, 2019
  66. May 11, 2019
    • May 13, 2019
  67. May 5, 2019
    • May 6, 2019
    • May 12, 2019
      • May 13, 2019
      • May 13, 2019
  68. Mar 27, 2019
    • Mar 28, 2019
    • Jun 16, 2019
  69. Mar 24, 2019
    • Apr 26, 2019
    • May 9, 2019
      • May 9, 2019
      • May 9, 2019
  70. Mar 22, 2019
    • Apr 27, 2019
  71. Mar 16, 2019
  72. Mar 12, 2019
    • Mar 12, 2019
  73. Mar 10, 2019
    • Mar 11, 2019
    • Apr 8, 2019
      • Apr 8, 2019
      • Dec 29, 2019
  74. Mar 2, 2019
    • Mar 4, 2019
      • Mar 11, 2019
      • Mar 11, 2019
      • May 4, 2019
      • May 7, 2019
  75. Mar 2, 2019
    • Mar 4, 2019
    • Aug 25, 2019
      • Nov 12, 2019
      • Nov 13, 2019
  76. Mar 1, 2019
  77. Feb 25, 2019
    • Mar 4, 2019
    • Mar 21, 2019
  78. Feb 20, 2019
    • Feb 20, 2019
    • Feb 23, 2019
    • Mar 1, 2019
    • Mar 16, 2019
  79. Feb 19, 2019
    • May 9, 2019
      • May 9, 2019
  80. Feb 17, 2019
    • Feb 18, 2019
  81. Feb 17, 2019
    • Mar 4, 2019
  82. Feb 14, 2019
    • Feb 14, 2019
  83. Feb 12, 2019
    • Feb 13, 2019
      • Feb 13, 2019
    • Feb 22, 2019
  84. Feb 12, 2019
  85. Feb 11, 2019
    • Feb 11, 2019
  86. Feb 9, 2019
    • Feb 11, 2019
  87. Feb 7, 2019
    • Feb 11, 2019
  88. Feb 2, 2019
    • Feb 4, 2019
  89. Jan 31, 2019
  90. Jan 27, 2019
    • Jan 28, 2019
    • Jan 29, 2019
  91. Jan 25, 2019
  92. Jan 24, 2019
    • Jan 24, 2019
  93. Jan 23, 2019
    • Jan 24, 2019
  94. Jan 23, 2019
    • May 4, 2019
  95. Jan 22, 2019
    • Jan 23, 2019
  96. Jan 19, 2019
  97. Jan 18, 2019
  98. Jan 15, 2019
    • Jan 16, 2019
      • Jan 16, 2019
    • Feb 3, 2019
  99. Jan 13, 2019
    • Jan 14, 2019
  100. Dec 26, 2018
    • Jan 2, 2019
  101. Dec 17, 2018
    • Jan 4, 2019
      • Jan 15, 2019
  102. Dec 12, 2018
    • Dec 12, 2018
    • Dec 19, 2018
  103. Dec 11, 2018
    • Dec 12, 2018
  104. Dec 8, 2018
  105. Dec 6, 2018
    • Dec 7, 2018
  106. Dec 6, 2018
    • Dec 7, 2018
  107. Dec 2, 2018
    • Dec 3, 2018
      • Dec 5, 2018
      • Dec 6, 2018
  108. Dec 1, 2018
    • Dec 3, 2018
      • Apr 4, 2019
      • Apr 8, 2019
    • Dec 3, 2018
    • Dec 31, 2018
  109. Nov 29, 2018
    • Nov 30, 2018
    • Dec 9, 2018
  110. Nov 26, 2018
  111. Nov 26, 2018
  112. Nov 20, 2018
    • Nov 21, 2018
  113. Nov 16, 2018
    • Nov 19, 2018
    • Nov 27, 2018
  114. Nov 16, 2018
    • Nov 19, 2018
    • Nov 19, 2018
  115. Nov 11, 2018
    • Nov 12, 2018
      • Nov 25, 2018
    • Nov 30, 2018
  116. Nov 10, 2018
    • Nov 12, 2018
  117. Nov 9, 2018
    • Nov 12, 2018
    • Jan 25, 2019
  118. Nov 3, 2018
    • Nov 5, 2018
    • Nov 22, 2018
  119. Nov 2, 2018
    • Nov 5, 2018
  120. Nov 2, 2018
    • Nov 2, 2018
  121. Nov 1, 2018
    • Nov 1, 2018
  122. Oct 30, 2018
    • Oct 30, 2018
    • Nov 1, 2018
    • Nov 11, 2018
      • Jan 1, 2019
  123. Oct 16, 2018
    • Oct 17, 2018
    • Oct 21, 2018
      • Nov 3, 2018
      • Jan 28, 2019
    • Oct 25, 2018
  124. Oct 10, 2018
  125. Oct 7, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
      • Oct 26, 2018
    • Nov 15, 2018
  126. Oct 7, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
  127. Oct 6, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
  128. Oct 6, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
  129. Oct 6, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
  130. Oct 5, 2018
    • Oct 8, 2018
  131. Oct 5, 2018
    • Oct 5, 2018
  132. Oct 1, 2018
    • Oct 2, 2018
  133. Sep 30, 2018
    • Oct 1, 2018
  134. Sep 24, 2018
    • Sep 24, 2018
    • Sep 27, 2018
  135. Sep 16, 2018
    • Sep 17, 2018
  136. Sep 12, 2018
    • Sep 13, 2018
    • Sep 13, 2018
  137. Sep 8, 2018
    • Sep 10, 2018
  138. Sep 8, 2018
  139. Sep 3, 2018
    • Sep 4, 2018
    • Sep 7, 2018
      • Oct 7, 2018
  140. Aug 30, 2018
    • Aug 31, 2018
  141. Jul 24, 2018
    • Jul 24, 2018
    • Aug 22, 2018
      • Aug 28, 2018
    • Sep 2, 2018
  142. Jul 22, 2018
    • Jul 23, 2018
  143. Jul 21, 2018
    • Jul 23, 2018
      • Sep 1, 2018
      • Sep 4, 2018
  144. Jul 19, 2018
    • Jul 19, 2018
    • Sep 7, 2018
  145. Jul 15, 2018
  146. Jul 14, 2018
    • Jul 16, 2018
  147. Jul 11, 2018
    • Jul 12, 2018
  148. Jul 11, 2018
    • Jul 11, 2018
      • Jul 23, 2018
      • Jul 23, 2018
  149. Jul 9, 2018
    • Jul 11, 2018
  150. Jul 3, 2018
  151. Jun 29, 2018
    • Jul 1, 2018
      • Jul 2, 2018
  152. Jun 19, 2018
  153. Jun 14, 2018
    • Jun 23, 2018
  154. Jun 11, 2018
    • Jun 12, 2018
  155. Jun 5, 2018
    • Jun 6, 2018
    • Jun 8, 2018
    • Jul 8, 2018
  156. Jun 4, 2018
    • Jun 4, 2018
    • Jun 10, 2018
  157. Jun 3, 2018
  158. May 31, 2018
    • May 31, 2018
    • Jun 1, 2018
      • Jun 4, 2018
    • Jun 27, 2018
    • Jun 28, 2018
  159. May 29, 2018
  160. May 28, 2018
    • May 29, 2018
  161. May 19, 2018
    • May 23, 2018
  162. May 17, 2018
    • May 17, 2018
  163. May 14, 2018
  164. May 11, 2018
    • May 11, 2018
    • May 15, 2018
    • Jun 11, 2018
    • Jul 11, 2018
  165. May 6, 2018
    • May 7, 2018
  166. May 3, 2018
    • May 3, 2018
      • May 7, 2018
  167. May 1, 2018
    • May 1, 2018
  168. Apr 30, 2018
    • May 1, 2018
  169. Apr 30, 2018
    • Apr 30, 2018
  170. Apr 28, 2018
    • Apr 30, 2018
  171. Apr 23, 2018
    • Apr 24, 2018
  172. Apr 11, 2018
    • Apr 13, 2018
  173. Apr 5, 2018
    • Apr 10, 2018
      • Apr 10, 2018
      • Apr 10, 2018
  174. Mar 28, 2018
    • Mar 28, 2018
    • Apr 8, 2018
      • Apr 20, 2018
  175. Mar 18, 2018
    • Mar 27, 2018
    • Mar 27, 2018
    • Apr 12, 2018
    • Apr 14, 2018
  176. Mar 1, 2018
    • Mar 1, 2018
  177. Feb 12, 2018
    • Feb 13, 2018
      • Aug 26, 2018
    • Feb 23, 2018
  178. Feb 5, 2018
    • Feb 6, 2018
  179. Jan 7, 2018
    • Jan 8, 2018
      • Sep 3, 2019
      • Sep 4, 2019

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

View our comment policy