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Summary
A bruise is a mark on your skin caused by blood trapped under the surface. It happens when an injury crushes small blood vessels but does not break the skin. Those vessels break open and leak blood under the skin.
Bruises are often painful and swollen. You can get skin, muscle and bone bruises. Bone bruises are the most serious.
It can take months for a bruise to fade, but most last about two weeks. They start off a reddish color, and then turn bluish-purple and greenish-yellow before returning to normal. To reduce bruising, ice the injured area and elevate it above your heart. See your health care provider if you seem to bruise for no reason, or if the bruise appears to be infected.
Treatments and Therapies
- Black Eye: First Aid (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Bruises, First Aid (Logical Images)
Specifics
- Black Eye (American Academy of Ophthalmology) Also in Spanish
- Bruising Hands and Arms (American Osteopathic College of Dermatology)
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Immune Thrombocytopenia
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
Images
- Bruise healing - slideshow (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Contusions
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Hematoma
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Children
- What's a Bruise? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Teenagers
- Quadriceps Contusion (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Seniors
- Easy Bruising: Common as You Age (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- Bleeding into the skin (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
- Bruise (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish