Causes of Easy Bruising

A bruise occurs when a traumatic injury is caused to any of the soft muscle tissues. This injury results in the breakage of the capillaries and the leakage of red blood cells or bleeding. The medical term used to describe easy bruising is contusion and ecchymosis. It is a common phenomena of aging and usually does not require any treatment. At times, the bruise may not heal on its own and this is when medical intervention gets necessary. This kind of easy bruising may be a sign of an underlying serious medical condition. On the skin, easy bruising appears as a purplish blue discoloration and may cause some pain depending upon the severity.

Symptoms of Easy Bruising
The symptoms of easy bruising include development of bruises with no particular or known reason, bleeding of the gums and nose, skin rashes that look like injury to the blood vessels, swollen lymph nodes and bleeding after an injury that refuses to cease. The bruise may appear to be large and swollen, causing some amount of pain. Easy bruising may also be accompanied by other medical conditions like high blood pressure and fever or maybe noticed soon after the consumption of certain prescribed medications.

Causes of Easy Bruising
The causes of easy bruising vary from certain medical conditions to consumption of certain medications and aging. Here's a detailed list of the causes of easy bruising.

Medical Conditions
Medical conditions that can cause easy bruising include liver diseases like cirrhosis of the liver, hepatitis, platelet disorders, marfan syndrome, von willebrand's disease, bone marrow disorders, antibodies anti-FVIIIc syndrome and cushing's syndrome. Easy bruising may also be an indication of underlying medical conditions like blood cancer or leukemia.

Blood Clotting Abnormalities
Another cause of easy bruising can be attributed to blood clotting abnormalities, also known as hemophilia, that are mostly genetic in nature. For the blood to clot properly, a number of factors must work together. If any of these factors is missing, the blood does not clot and leads to easy bruising.

Medications
Medications that can cause easy bruising include blood, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, thinning drugs like warfarin, clopidogrel (Plavix) and aspirin, corticosteroids and dietary supplements like fish oil and ginkgo biloba. These blood thinning medications hamper the ability of the blood to clot. Therefore, when an injury occurs and bleeding starts from the capillaries, it takes a very long time to stop flowing out from the bruise.

Aging
An important cause of easy bruising is the age factor. As we age, the capillaries in our body also age which can cause easy bruising and bleeding. This is observed especially in older women. As we grow older, the tissues surrounding the capillaries weaken, making their walls very fragile and prone to rupture. The skin too, loses its protective fat layer and starts growing thinner. This makes the skin prone to injury and bleeding as the protective cushion is no longer available to prevent the capillaries from rupturing.

Easy Bruising Treatment
Easy bruising can be treated once it has been diagnosed and detected by your doctor. The doctor should also be able to diagnose the appropriate cause of easy bruising. Easy bruising caused due to medication will require that the treatment using those medicines be stopped or a substitute should be used for the medication. If the cause of easy bruising is a medical condition, then the treatment of the condition will help cure easy bruising as well. As far as age is concerned, consuming zinc and folic acid or vitamin C supplements may help prevent easy bruising.

Easy bruising should be taken note of and treated as soon as possible as the excessive bleeding that it causes may lead to various health hazards. Do not ignore the symptoms and consult a doctor immediately.