DEAR DR. GOTT:
I am a 64-year-old male in reasonably good health for the life I have lived. But in the last five weeks or so, I have had three baseball-sized bruises on my thighs, midway up, for no apparent reason. The first was on the outside of my right thigh and about two weeks later, one appeared on the inside of my left thigh. Now I have one on the inside of my right thigh.
Do you have any idea as to the cause?
DEAR READER:
Bruising is generally the result of injury. Minor trauma such as hoisting a heavy box and resting it on your thighs. The process doesn’t appear to cause damage, yet it can be extreme enough for blood to clot beneath the surface of the skin and result in a bruise.
Aspirin, Advil, Naproxen, Motrin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories can also cause contusions, as can physician-prescribed corticosteroids and prednisone.
Recap your activity prior to the first bruising. Did you lean into a porch railing, over the hood of a car to work on it, or carry debris from your basement up a set of stairs? If so, you may have a harmless cause you can identify.
If you are on new medication, I recommend you ask your physician if it carries a side effect of bruising. If not and your bruising is spontaneous, speak with him or her about testing you for a blood workup. In this way, disorders such as von Willebrand’s disease or hemophilia can be ruled out. These hereditary disorders are marked by slow blood clotting that can result in nose bleeds, excessive bleeding of the gums and more.
Another possibility is the aging process. As we get older, our bodies take longer to heal, from even minor injuries. We also tend to have thinner skin which causes, what were once, trivial bumps and scrapes, to turn into larger, more serious cuts, bruises and tears. If your health checks out (as I suspect it will), you may simply need to be more cautious and try to avoid getting hurt.
To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report “Blood: Donations and Disorders”. Other readers who would like a copy should send a self-addressed, stamped, number 10 envelope and $12 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
About Dr. Gott