Bruise healing
Indications |
|
Bruises occur when blood vessels break, due to some kind of force, and leak blood into areas under the skin. The main symptoms of a bruise are pain, swelling, and skin discoloration. A bruise begins as a pinkish, red color that can be very tender to touch.
|
|
Healing, part 1 |
|
Within hours a bruise will turn into a dark blue or purple color. As the bruise begins to heal it changes colors. The color change is due to the biochemical breakdown of hemoglobin that is found in the blood. As the different components of the blood are broken down, different colors will appear in the bruise.
|
|
Healing, part 2 |
|
A bruise first begins as a pinkish, red color, changes to dark blue or purple, fades to violet, green, dark yellow, and turns a pale yellow until it completely disappears. A bruise will usually completely heal in 2 weeks.
|
|
|
Review Date:
4/27/2023
Reviewed By:
Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team. |
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
© 1997-
All rights reserved.