What causes bruising, swelling & pain?
Whether you bang your arm into a wall, twist your ankle or undergo facial plastic surgery, tiny capillaries in the affected area rupture. Blood, which escapes into the surrounding tissue, shows up on the surface of the skin in shades of purple, red and blue and is referred to as ecchymosis or a bruise. As the blood is reabsorbed and the area heals, the discoloration changes to a greenish-yellow hue. This type of bruising should not be confused with senile purpura, the kind that affects the elderly. As we age, our skin becomes thinner, making us more susceptible to getting bruises from even minor contact. This type of bruising often shows up in the forearms and backs of the hands and can often takes months to heal in an elderly person. Swelling and inflammation is the result of injury or surgery that causes an excessive amount of blood to stretch the walls of the capillaries. Fluid and white blood cells escape from the capillaries into the spaces between cells in the surrounding area. T
