how are bruises formed? how do you get rid of them?
95485
bruises from when you break blood vessels under the skin. Since you never actually penetrate the skin, the blood simply pools a bit until it clots, leaving your skin the color of de-oxygenated blood. All you can do is wait until the blood disperses.
441697
Advil will actually help reduce swelling and reduce/remove the bruise faster. My friend injured her elbow and had a very large bruise from a fall. The doctor actually prescribed advil 2 at a time every 4-6 hours for 3-5 days to reduce swelling and bruising because it thins the blood a bit and helps break up the bruise faster.
781193
A bruise IS actually broken blood vessels under your skin...I'm sure you just had the bad luck of hitting the area right where the little blood vessel is that was just healing from your recent IV.   I would keep an eye on it --the bruised looking area should NOT keep getting larger now, if it does-you should probably have it looked at.  But if it's not "growing" --you could put a little ice pack on it to see if that helps the pain.  \n            Hope you heal quickly!
402966
Some help maybe... I would definately recommend seeing your doc about this, but I might suggest that you ask if this could be a side effect of taking birth control pills or any other prescriptions that might contain hormones (that is if you are). I at one point had bruise like markings on my shins and top of my feet. It started with one bigger marking that grew and my doctor at the time swore that I had bumped my shin and it was a bruise. A month later I had about 5 of them and they were growing or becoming more oblong. I finally got referred to a skin doctor, and we found out that I had an allergic reaction to a hormone in my birth control I was taking. I stopped taking the pills and the bruise like markings went away. Hope I am not way off base on this one by suggesting birth control or maybe any drugs that contain hormones in them, but go see your doctor. -Ve
151827
try using a warm rag on your bruises, hot pack. Vitmain e on brusies surface, lotion with vitmians\n\nTheres even this scar, brusie stuff you can buy in stores, in med section. works wonders!\n\neposons salts try it too! It works!
145745
It depends on the depth of the injury.  If you are injured very deep, the bruise may appear several days later and already appear to be fading to yellow.  If it is a shallow bruise it can appear almost immediately. The longer it takes for the blood to reach the outer surface the deeper the bruise. For the bruise to heal, the body must reabsorb all of that blood, which, depending on the severity could take days or weeks. A bruise is caused by the spillage of blood from the vessels. The colors have to do with the change in the blood as it's broken down and re-absorbed by the body. At first, bruises may appear red, then turn blue or dark purple within a few hours, then yellow or green as it heals.
262749
Thats an old wives tale. No, they don't.\n\nHickeys are blood drawn to the surface. It is like a bruise. If that were to cause cancer, then most of the worlds population would have cancer due to bruising.
666583
i also had this problem in high school. i constantly had bruises on my chins and had no clue how i was getting them. after a friend observed my behavior, i realized i had a habbit of sitting with my legs tucked under me, causing my chins to rub the edge of the seats. after consulting my physician, he recommended a multivitamin and also a B12 vitamin (for energy, not necessarily for bruising). he, too, said a lack of iron is the most common cause. it doesn't mean you are sickly or should worry; just add a vitamin to your regime and you should be as good as new!
317549
There are a few variables at play when it comes to bruising.  Probably the most important is the iron level in your blood.  Eating red meat and other iron-rich foods like peanut butter or certain other nuts/legumes can increase the iron in your blood.  Clams, beef liver, and parsley are exceptionally good sources of iron.  You can also take iron supplements, but these are less effective than natural sources of iron.  Supplements aren't a bad option since it is difficult to cause Iron Toxicity, but it can happen.  \n\nAs mentioned above, iron deficiency, aka anemia, is common in girls and women, since they loose blood/iron in the menstrual cycle.  Women have an RDA of 18mg/day for iron.  If you're vegetarian or on a diet, broccoli and tomato juice have high iron:calorie ratios, making them ideal meat substitutes.\n\nIncreasing your activity level (jogging, cardio, etc) will help your body in two ways: first, it will actually help you retain more iron; second, it increases your circulation, which aids in flushing away the dead (necrotic) cells that you see in bruising.
501632
A bruise is what happens when you get bumped really hard. \nAnd the skin changes color because of the broken capillaries and it goes a yellow color after wards because of the iron that is left behind once the bruise has gone down
1179389
You can't remove a hickey, which is actually a bruise...only time can make it go away.  A bruise is blood that has leaked into the tissues and it has to be absorbed.  Now you can speed the absorption buy applying some heat a few times a day but, in the end, it will require time.\n\nYou can cover it with a makeup called dermablend which is designed to cover birthmarks.  It is pricey but hides even the most severe of birthmarks (port wine stain) so will easily cover a bruise.
607299
The bruises should fade.  If you think they happened due to you rubbing too hard, you might want to check with your physician to see if you are anemic.\n\nIf you did not rub too hard, see your physician and take the product you used with you so that he can see it.  In the meantime, don't use the product again!
529121
a bruised bone takes a while to heal.  i really don't know anything that will healing up.  but as far as it not coming back, don't do what caused it to bruise in the first place, or find a way that it dosen't cause trauma to the bones.
338002
I get bruised from the massage chairs also. I use a large fluffy towel between me and the chair to soften the "massage".
700851
It's a fairly recent bruise.  Red is most recent, then it turns blue..   As the bruise ages, it will fade to light purple-ish green and finally yellow.
642591
Unfortunately, bruising is a potential side effect of acupuncture, and your acupuncturist should have discussed that with you.  If you normally bruise easily or are taking blood thinners, then your chances for bruising from acupuncture will be greater.  When I perform acupuncture, I rarely create bruises.  Some practitioners are more gentle, and some feel that they need to be more vigorous.  \n\nYou can put a cube of ice over the bruise. Tell the therapist that you are getting a lot of bruising so that they can adjust their technique.  If the bruises are really bad, I would find a different therapist.  There is variation among practitioners in other fields, too.  I have been to rough and gentle dentists, chiropractors, etc.  Find someone you like.
968604
This is NOT a joke - rub butter or margarine on it.  I was taught this years ago when my mother used to use it for my bruises and now I do the same with my kids!!