No one is surprised by the bruises on their legs, resulting from a fall, bruise or other mechanical effect.
However, it also happens that these ugly spots appear after a harmless foot massage and even without any pressure on the fabric. So why bruises appear on the legs? The causes of this phenomenon, which is essentially a hematoma, vary widely.
Bruises on the legs: the main reasons
Hematoma (bruise) - is a limited accumulation of blood that occurs when tissue damage and rupture of small blood vessels. As a result, a cavity is formed, which contains liquid or coagulated blood. Often a bruise is not an independent disease, but is a manifestation or symptom of other pathologies of the body.
Most often, bruises on the legs appear as a result of impact or pressure on the skin and tissue. At the same time, tiny blood vessels are damaged (lose their integrity) or are pressed down. A bruise acquires its characteristic purple-purple hue as a result of blood leakage from the vessels into the thickness of the tissue. A fresh hematoma is often called a bruise. This name fully reflects the nature of this phenomenon.
In childhood, bruises occur much less frequently than in the elderly, despite the fact that as a result of physical activity, children are more susceptible to injuries and bruises. This is explained quite simply: with age, blood vessels become fragile. In older people, bruises on their legs can appear even without injuries and bruises.
Bruises on the legs appear more often than on other parts of the body due to the fact that the lower extremities have weaker blood flow in the blood vessels. Our heart needs a lot of effort to pump heavy venous blood from the bottom up. Bruises can occur in people of different builds. They are, both in full and in skinny. At the same time, this phenomenon is observed in women more often than in men.
Some people have bruises on their legs more often than others. This is due to the individual characteristics of the structure of the blood vessels. As a rule, people with frequent bruises, there is an increased fragility of blood vessels due to various diseases or lack of substances necessary for the body. To thinning of the walls of blood vessels and their fragility lead following factors:
• lack of vitamins C and K;
• age changes;
• low content in the body of trace elements responsible for the elasticity and strength of blood vessels (cobalt, calcium, selenium, zinc).
Superficial bruises that are formed in the skin are caused by bumps or bruises. Hematomas that affect deeper tissues are provoked by a shortage or excess of any substances or various diseases.
What kind of medicine contributes to the appearance of bruises on the legs
Why else may appear bruises on his legs? The cause of hematomas can be taking medications that prevent blood clotting. As a result of long-term use of such drugs, severe bleeding can occur in the skin tissue and muscles.
Very often, bruises on the legs appear after taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat arthritis (Ibuprofen, naproxen).
Bruising in the tissues can provoke drugs such as Aspirin and Warfarin. These drugs are prescribed to prevent blood clotting in people who have been found to have blood clots (blood clots) in blood vessels or there is a risk of a heart attack.
If hematomas appear, you should consult with your doctor who prescribed this drug. Warfarin causes especially bruises on the legs, especially when its concentration in the blood rises.
A cortisone medication like Prednisone (prescribed for rheumatism, arthritis, hepatitis, allergies, dermatitis, eczema, itching and other diseases), also contributes to the appearance of bruises on the legs. This hormonal drug contributes to the fragility of small blood vessels, so it must be taken under the strict supervision of a doctor.
Why bruises appear on the legs without a reason
In some cases, the person finds bruises on his legs and other parts of the body, but at the same time he knows for sure that he has not received any bruises, blows and injuries. Where do they come from? Bruises on the legs without a cause occur in people with such a serious hereditary disease as hemophilia. They disrupt the coagulation process (blood coagulation), which often leads to hemorrhages in the muscles and internal organs.
Often, bruises on the legs without a reason are observed in people with acquired bleeding disorders. They can occur with various liver diseases, such as cirrhosis. At the same time, extensive bruising appears on the legs and body. Often they are so large-scale that they pose a threat to human life.
The following are other factors that cause people to get bruises on their legs for no reason:
• Close proximity of blood vessels under the skin.
• Blood disorders associated with abnormal platelet levels. Such pathologies can be identified only after the completion of clinical analysis and coagulation of blood.
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system.
• Varicose veins, often accompanied by the formation of hematomas of different sizes.
• Disruption of the endocrine system.
• Kidney disease, rheumatism, hypertension.
• Lack of vitamins such as ascorbic acid (C), rutin (P), vitamin K. They all play an important role in the processes of blood circulation. So ascorbic acid is responsible for the strength of blood vessels. Rutin improves the permeability of blood vessels and prevents their fragility. Vitamin K provides a normal level of coagulation.
Metamorphosis of bruises on the legs
The bruise on the legs and other parts of the body changes its color over time. On it you can quite easily determine how many days this hematoma. In the first 1-2 days after injury or bruise, the bruise has a reddish-purple hue. It is caused by the color of fresh blood that has penetrated from damaged vessels into the tissue and thickness of the skin. At the same time, an increased number of defense cells called leukocytes is observed near the hematoma. They destroy the blood cells that have leaked from the vessels and facilitate their removal from the body.
After a couple of days the hematoma acquires a bluish-purple hue. When blood cells are destroyed, biliverdin is formed, which is a greenish substance and bilirubin, which has a yellow color. That is why for 6-7 days the bruise becomes greenish, and after 8-9 days - yellow-brown. In a person with normal health, bruises completely disappear in 10-14 days. Over time, the skin takes on its normal appearance.
Bruising on the legs
In some cases, the bruise on the legs does not pass even after 3-4 weeks. At the same time consolidation of a hematoma and its increase in sizes is often noted. Often there are pain in the bruise. As a rule, this condition can be caused by two reasons:
• Significant amount of blood leaked from burst blood vessels. As a result, the body is not able to quickly clean the tissue from spilled blood.
• Increased amount of calcium in the tissues, which begins to deposit in the area of injury. At the same time this place becomes elastic and painful. This pathological process is called heterotopic ossification or myositis. Radiography is used to diagnose it, so a person with such a bruise needs to see a doctor.
Diagnosis of the causes of bruises on his legs
In addition to visual inspection of the patient's lower limbs, laboratory blood tests may be needed to establish the cause of bruising. In some cases, a complete diagnosis of the patient’s health condition is performed. When different pathologies are carried out various hardware studies:
• for injuries and bruises, radiography is necessary to help determine the extent of damage to bones, joints and blood vessels;
• With varicose veins, an ultrasound of the vessels of the legs is prescribed, which will show whether bruises are the result of venous disease.
How to get rid of bruises on his legs
How to get rid of bruises on my legs? Treatment of such hemorrhages must be approached seriously. This is especially true in cases where a person is completely sure that he did not get a bruise or injury. For the correct treatment of hematomas, it may be necessary to consult not one, but several specialists. First of all, when a bruise appears, it is necessary to turn to a traumatologist who can not only establish the cause of the bruise, but also find out if there is a fracture of the bones, dislocation of the joint or other serious injury requiring urgent treatment.
In the absence of injuries, you should contact the therapist, who, after examining and conducting general tests, depending on the suspicion of any disease, will refer the patient to the appropriate doctor. If you have bruises on your legs, you may need to consult a hematologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, a hepatologist. In the presence of varicose veins can not do without a visit to a phlebologist. Only an experienced specialist in his field of medicine can determine the cause of bruises on his legs and prescribe the correct treatment. Self-treatment in this case is fraught with health hazardous consequences.
With conventional bruises and injuries, various means are used that can speed up the healing process of hematomas. Most of them are made on the basis of heparin (anticoagulant, which prevents blood clotting) and badyagi (freshwater silicon sponge). Their composition may include nicotinic acid (vitamin PP) and benzocaine (local anesthetic).
Heparin has a blood thinning effect. Thanks to him, bruises dissolve faster and swelling of tissues decreases. Vitamin PP (aka B3) promotes the expansion of blood vessels. Anesthetic benzocaine reduces pain and reduces skin sensitivity. The most effective are drugs, which include most of the above substances.
Another of the most effective means in the fight against bruising is badyaga. A medicinal powder is made from it, which is capable of exerting a local irritant effect. Due to this, the blood vessels are dilated, which contributes to a more rapid treatment of hematomas. It is not recommended to use preparations containing badyuga in the case when there are open wounds or scratches in the place of bruises.
Today, pharmacies offer many different expensive foreign drugs for the treatment of hemorrhages, but in the opinion of many specialists and patients, the most effective are not expensive ointments of domestic production. These include:
• Heparin ointment, which is used to treat all types of bruises and hematomas.
• Ointment "Badyag", contributing to the expansion of blood vessels and the rapid removal of blood streamed into the thickness of the tissues.
• Gel "Troxevasin", which contains derivatives of rutin. It helps in the treatment of even extensive bruises. This tool is able to eliminate pain and a feeling of spreading in the area of hematoma. Gel "Troxevasin" when used immediately after a bruise can prevent the appearance of a bruise.
• Cream with vitamin K improves blood clotting and prevents the appearance of new bruises.
• Healing ointment, which quickly resolves hematomas and has no allergenic effect. It can be used to treat adults and children.
Among other effective external remedies against bruises should be highlighted:
• Gels Lioton, Lavenum, Trombless, whose action is based on the antithrombotic effect of heparin.
• Ointment Indovazin which differs in efficiency, but at the same time has a pungent smell.
• Gel Dolobene, perfectly coping with bruises, swelling and other injuries.
• Gels based on ketoprofen (Fastumgel, Ketonal), ibuprofen (Nutrofen-gel), diclofenac (Ortofen, Voltaren).
• Warming gels and ointments (Apizatron, Finalgon, Efkamon, Viprosal).
It helps very well with hematomas badyagi powder, diluted with water in a 2: 1 ratio. The resulting mixture is applied to the skin for 15 minutes, 2 times a day. Do not worry: it burns almost like a mustard plaster, as it should be. Wash the badyagu with warm water. Every time you need to use a new batch of powder.
Since bruises on the legs are often caused by the lack of any necessary body substances, for their treatment and prevention of education in the future it is necessary to fill the lack of vitamins and minerals. So with a shortage of vitamin C, you should not only take vitamin preparations sold at the pharmacy, but also include citrus fruits, currants, gooseberries, bell peppers, sea buckthorn drinks from the hips and rowan, as well as other fruits and vegetables containing this vitamin.
Lack of fat-soluble vitamin K can be filled with green leafy vegetables (spinach, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower), wheat bran and other grains, pumpkin, avocado, kiwi, bananas, milk, soy, eggs, olive oil. They are rich in such medicinal herbs as stinging nettle and smoke.
The source of the routine is buckwheat, citrus fruits, apples, black tea, plums, grapes, green vegetables. If there is a shortage of various mineral substances, their amount can be replenished with the help of various pharmaceutical preparations, which include a complete set of micro and macro elements necessary for a person.
Folk remedies for bruises
When bruised or injured the lower limb to prevent the appearance of large bruises, it is necessary to apply ice wrapped in a towel to the sore spot. When cooled, the vessels narrow and emit less blood into the tissue. The damaged place is cooled no more than 15 minutes. This procedure is performed only on the first day after injury. In the future, to speed up the restoration of the state of tissues and blood vessels, heat is needed. For heating use rubber heating pads or bottles with warm water, as well as heated salt, wrapped in cloth. Heat the damaged area 15 minutes 2-3 times a day.
To speed up the process of resorption of bruises on the legs, various compresses are used from:
• cut aloe along the leaf;
• grated raw potatoes;
• chopped parsley;
• white cabbage juice.
Such compresses are fixed on a damaged place overnight with a bandage bandage or adhesive plaster.
Known to many "mesh" from a solution of iodine, applied to the area of the hematoma contributes to its rapid resorption and acceleration of metabolic processes.
Prevention of bruises on the legs
For the prevention of bruises on the legs, a variety of means are used, ranging from drugs used inside and to various health procedures. One of the most effective means of strengthening blood vessels and improving the coagulation properties of blood are:
• Pineapple enzyme Bromelain, which promotes the breakdown of proteins responsible for inflammatory processes in tissues (150 mg of the drug per day).
• Homeopathic remedy Arnica (Arnica), made from natural ingredients. It is taken in one dose 1-2 times a day.
• Ascorutin, which contains rutin and vitamin C. It perfectly strengthens the capillaries and activates the metabolic processes that affect the speed of healing of bruises.
• Regular consumption of marine fish, currants, citrus fruits, bell peppers, greens improves the condition of blood vessels and reduces the incidence of bruises.
• Contrasting bath or foot shower is an excellent procedure for strengthening capillaries. When they receive alternate cold and hot water. Such procedures must be done daily in the evenings.
• Physical activity (walking, gymnastics, fitness).
• Massage and self-massage of the lower extremities.
• Wearing comfortable shoes with low heels.
• Healthy food and proper drinking regimen.
Self-healing of bruises on the legs can only be practiced if the bruise or tissue injury was minor. In other cases, it is necessary to contact a medical institution, where specialists will determine the exact cause of their occurrence and prescribe appropriate treatment not only for hematomas, but also for the pathologies that caused them.
