Ask Dr. Gott » spontaneous bruising http://askdrgottmd.com Ask Dr Gott MD's Website Sun, 12 Dec 2010 05:01:29 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Cause For Bruising Needs To Be Identified http://askdrgottmd.com/cause-for-bruising-needs-to-be-identified/ http://askdrgottmd.com/cause-for-bruising-needs-to-be-identified/#comments Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:00:01 +0000 Dr. Gott http://askdrgottmd.dreamhosters.com/wp/?p=1038 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.

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Daily Column http://askdrgottmd.com/daily-column-172/ http://askdrgottmd.com/daily-column-172/#comments Fri, 11 Apr 2008 05:00:09 +0000 Dr. Gott http://askdrgottmd.dreamhosters.com/wp/?p=1187 DEAR DR. GOTT:
I enjoy your column and want to respond to the person with bruise-looking blotches. I, too, had the condition. I went to a health food store where I was told to take 1000 mg vitamin C complex or grape seed capsules. I take the complex twice daily and have not had a problem since, unless I fall or hit something hard.

DEAR READER:
Spontaneous bruising, a common consequence of aging and vitamin C deficiency, should be medically evaluated with appropriate blood tests to check clotting factors. This is a relatively inexpensive procedure and, in some patients, will show a clotting deficiency. While your bruising responded to vitamin C, I recommend you speak with your primary care physician for his opinion.

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