A bruise can quickly develop, especially in the elderly, athletes or children playing. An accident can happen quickly, and a bruise can sometimes be quite painful. How does healing proceed, how long does it take and how can healing be accelerated?

What causes a bruise?

A bruise on the skin is caused by a hard fall or bump. A bruise is also sometimes called a bruise or hematoma. Falling or bumping causes subcutaneous bleeding. Small blood vessels under the skin tear or break due to a hard fall or impact. The blood leaks from the blood vessels.Older people bruise more easily. This is because the blood vessels are less strong, but also because protective fatty tissue decreases with age. People who bruise easily for no apparent reason may also have an underlying condition such as hemophilia, leukemia, vitamin C deficiency, but medication can also sometimes cause subcutaneous bleeding. But they can also simply have thin blood vessel walls, which causes the blood vessels to tear or break more quickly than normal.

Healing a bruise

After a hard fall or impact, which causes subcutaneous bleeding, it will quickly turn into a blue-red spot. The spot is strongly delimited and can be small to very large. This depends on the amount of blood leaked from ruptured blood vessels. The blue-red spot will then change color, usually to purple, sometimes first to black and then to purple. The color change is caused by the cleanup of the leaked blood.After the purple color, a yellow color appears, but it is also possible that a green color appears first. In general, the more blood leaked, the more colors appear. A light bruise can skip many colors and change from blue-red to yellow. The yellow color is the final phase of the clean-up: after this the yellow spot disappears and everything looks normal again.From bruise to normal skin takes several days to several weeks. The more blood that has leaked, the longer the body spends cleaning up.

A bruise can be painful

A bruise that causes a bruise can be very painful. Sometimes there is pressure pain when the area is pressed, but sometimes also pain by the touch. A simple touch can be quite painful. This also depends on the size and depth of the bruise. The more damage under the skin, the more painful this is. People with thin skin also seem to feel pain from a bruise more often.Cooling after a fall or impact can reduce swelling and ensure that less blood leaks. The cooling causes the blood vessels to contract, causing less blood to flow away.A large bruise can sometimes feel very lumpy and spongy. This is due to the large amount of blood leaked under the skin. The body needs time to clear this away.Sometimes a bruise can sink due to gravity: the bruise is then lower than the affected area. This is mainly seen on body parts that are normally vertical : face, torso and legs.

Accelerate healing

It is best to cool the skin immediately after a fall or bump: this reduces swelling and the leakage of blood. The pain can be reduced by cooling the area at the time of pain using a frozen, wet sanitary towel surrounded by a washcloth. A cold pack can also be used. Paracetamol can sometimes provide relief from severe pain. It is best not to put any strain on the bruise. However, this is not always possible: for example when the bruise is on the buttocks. Then sit on a soft cushion so that there is as little strain on the area as possible.Speeding up healing is not really possible. Make sure you get enough vitamin C in your diet: this increases the production of white blood cells and strengthens the blood vessel walls. Using a cooling gel also provides relief. Other ointments are unnecessary: they will not heal a bruise faster.In general, a bruise on the face heals faster than on the legs. In general, it can be said: the lower the bruise on the body, the slower it heals. Bruises above the heart level experience less swelling and blood leakage than places lower than the heart. For this reason, it is sometimes an option to place the affected area above heart level to prevent a lot of blood from leaking out. However, don’t sit back and relax: walking around with a bruise for a week longer is not an absolute disaster.