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Bumping your hip into the corner of a table or hitting your oral sex on a down in the mouth ceiling can leave you with a bruise , but the campaign of bruising is sometimes less obvious — in fact , some masses are more prone to offend than others , and in uncommon cases , their bruise seem to appear for no reason at all .
So what , exactly , causes a contusion ?
What causes a bruise, and why do they change color over time?
A bruise , known as a " bruise " in medical speak , is the dead body ’s response to roue - vessel injury . contusion that are not triggered by blunt force or trauma to the body can be an indication of an underlying health condition , such as a blood disorderliness , Terry Foster , a decisive - care clinical nurse specialist and the 2023 chairperson of the Emergency Nurses Association , narrate Live Science by email . For this reason , those who develop closed book bruises should be evaluated by a health care professional , he sound out .
Bruises appear when an injury leaves the skin integral but damages the belittled blood vessels that lie beneath , cause the vessels to leak out blood into the surrounding tissues , according to the National Library of Medicine ’s medical resourceMedlinePlus . Even once the haemorrhage itself stops , the blood that has already flow out gets trapped under the skin . These patch of pooled ancestry ab initio look reddish , and they later turn bluish - purple and greenish - yellow , although bruises ' appearance can vary with multitude ’s skin tones .
touch : If blood is red , why do veins look bluish ?
A contusion changes colour due to the components in the pooled blood breaking down , Foster allege .
line gets its color from Hb , the protein that carries oxygen in red descent cell in the blood stream . On its own , haemoglobin is colored red , but its vividness change when it binds certain mote . For example , hemoglobin is promising red when it carries oxygen but rick cherry - loss when it ship the waste gas carbon dioxide .
When a bruise forms and rip from the damaged parentage vas flows into nearby tissues , the hemoglobin in the bloodline begins to sink its atomic number 8 and capture carbon paper dioxide instead . The haemoglobin itself then commence to break down , first transforming into a drab - brown phase of the protein called methemoglobin and then into yellow pigment call in biliverdin and bilirubin , according to a 2021 recap published in the journalHeliyon .
contusion mostly fade within two weeks , but occasionally , they can last longer than a calendar month , consort to MedlinePlus .
Besides forcible injury or injury , bruise can happen for a number of other reasons . These include allergic response or profligate - clotting conditions , according toMedlinePlus . These condition includethrombocytopenia , in which a individual has a scurvy level of platelets , the cells that form roue clots ; the condition can be inherited or take on through chemical exposures , alcohol utilisation , certain medications , or as an effect of other wellness condition .
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" individual on sealed types of medications might also be more prone to hurt not flat make by injury , " Foster noted . Some medication — such as over - the - return pain pill , like acetylsalicylic acid and Motrin , and blood - thinning medications , including warfarin — lift the risk of exposure of bruising by diminish the lineage ’s ability to clot . sure antibiotic drug , antidepressant and dietary addendum , such as ginkgo biloba , can also contribute to bloodline - clotting problem , consort toMayo Clinic .
Thankfully , most nonaged bruises conclude on their own and do n’t pose a significant hazard to someone ’s wellness — but they may just help as a reminder to be careful around the pointy piece of furniture in your home .
This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to volunteer medical advice .
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