Bruise help
 

Hey, I find that I'm getting bruises on my legs all the time. I'm sure it has to do with my dancing (heh). Plus I'm more than a little clutzy. The irritating thing is that they take *forever* to fade. I actually have had to wear body makeup on my legs (just for shows) since I got back from Egypt, because that was a physically demanding trip for several reasons.

Can a topical ointment actually really help fade bruises and the like more quickly? If so, gimme names/recipies!
Or is there a suppliment I can use? A friend mentioned that perhaps I have low blood iron (?). I don't think so, but hey, I'll give it a go.

Thanks in advance.

Arnica gel. Amazing stuff. Topical... can fade a black eye in two days. Please don't ask how I know this. :lol:

Ruta and Arnica homeopathic little ball-y things (available at any heath food store). You just dissolve them under your tongue a couple of times a day.

I take GNC Bioflavanoids complex whenever I start to bruise a lot. It got so bad once I had 60 something bruises on me and my hemoglobin, hematocrit, anc and platelets were fine. Of course, my doctor sat me down and asked if I needed to talk to someone from the DV place.

Taking a multivitamin will help with healing in general, you can't go take one to treat individual injuries but once you've been taking them regularly then you will find you heal faster.

My doctor a few years ago, after I spent about 45 minutes convincing him that i wasn't being abused by anyone... said that if you bruise pretty easily (I did and still do) it's generally caused by a potassium deficiency. he suggested eating a banana a day to help with that.

I personally don't like the smell of bananas so I passed on that.. and still bruise very easily...

Ohhh, that makes sense, I'm always dealing with potassium deficiency...to the point I ended up in an emergency room some years ago.

I don't much care for bananas either...I wonder if there's a potassium supp. I can take instead.

I'm totally looking into that Arnica stuff, too.

Thanks guys!!!

And if you're in to eastern herbal medicine, try dit da jow. It works very well on some people, and not at all on others.

Available at your nearest martial arts supply store.

Am I the only one who sees that the cure for bruising easily is to eat a fruit that bruises easily?

Wow.. after reading this and being on a healthy kick where I eat a bannana with breakfast... I've realized that I've been bruising less. Hum!

However, you might want to talk to a doctor and have some blood tests run. A friend of mine who is anemic found that out (after having blood tests run) because she bruised grotesquely for the smallest things.

If you do use it, it'll hurt like hell (but what's new with Eastern medicine?). To use it properly you have to vigorously massage it into the bruise.

I find it quite useful, and the pain is almost worth the results.

LOL! Good thing to let me know ahead of time! :lol:

I have a very high tolerance for pain. If it gives results, I'm in.
Thanks for the heads-up!

A few things I've learned about bruises, cause it seems I get them frequently within the two weeks prior to my monthly visitor (ahem..)..ice packs or even a cold steak will help..also, keeping your legs elevated usually helps and anythin warm applied to the bruise will help to increase bloodflow to the 'injured' area..

I used to complain about all the bruises I used to get and so I looked up how to alleviate 'em..found this a while ago so hope it helps..

Wait...ice packs or warm stuff?

Thanks for your input!

I have always used an ointment called Lasonil, which is sold over the counter in the UK

http://encyc.bmezine.com/?Lasonil

It has the effect of bringing the bruise out (Makes it go dark quickly) and speeds up the recovery. It works good for me on soccer or hockey bruises.

I have not been able to buy it in Canada, a pharamcist here once told me that the active ingredient is not approved in Canada. Don't know if it is available where you are. I pick mine up on trips to Britain.

There's an alternate technique that works well for me. You don't have to rub hard. You rub in one or two drops at a time, always rubbing toward the heart. Repeat a LOT. It won't hurt and it generally works just as well.

well initially you'd use a cold compress, then after a day or two, use the warm. But so far, I've read some pretty interesting things about these topical ointments so maybe try and give those a whirl !

I know I came to this thread late but wanted to add my own experience with Arnica. Just another plug for that one.

When I broke my foot this past March I started using the Arnica on it before it even started to show bruising. When I put it on I put it all across the arch and around to the sole of the foot. I missed the back of the heal because I didn't expect any bruising there and it was not painful there. When the bruising began to develop I ONLY bruised on the back of my heal where I had not put Arnica. The Dr was completely amazed when he saw my foot a week after it had been broken and could only find that one small bruise out of the whole foot. I believe in the stuff now more than ever.

Potatoes?

named for potassium, I think. And who doesn't like eating more french fries?!

heh, nice. :)

Picked up some arnica gel yesterday, will post results as I achieve them.

Thanks much!

If you're using ice, I just started using a neat mixture I read about. Take 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup rubbing alcohol and freeze in a zip lock bag - maybe even a double bag. You can keep in in the freezer and it is always mushy so it will mold to whatever.

Didn't have long to wait, LOL! I'm using the arnica on a bruise I inflicted yesterday, only saw it this morn, and it's already about 40% faded, in a matter of hours (which is great, I have a show tonight, and the stupid bruise is on my fore-arm, difficult to hide).

YAY!