What causes subcutaneous bleeding? Causes of subcutaneous bleeding

Many people have had this experience: a purple spot suddenly appears on the leg or arm without knowing the reason. In fact, this is a sign of subcutaneous hemorrhage. The main reason is that the blood vessel wall is damaged, causing blood to seep out of the blood vessel. The diameter of the bleeding spot is 3-5 mm.

1. Subcutaneous hemorrhage

In daily life, we often find "black and blue patches" on the body surface, which are called purpura by medical students. This is a sign of subcutaneous bleeding. This bleeding can be like a pinhole, called petechiae; or it can be a large area, which is the overflow of blood in the blood vessels. The color is bright red at first, and turns into yellow-brown old bleeding after 2-3 days. Petechiae, purpura and ecchymosis all indicate subcutaneous bleeding, but the amount of bleeding and the size of the bleeding range are different. If subcutaneous bleeding is accompanied by significant swelling of the skin, it is called hematoma.

The main cause of subcutaneous bleeding is damage to the blood vessel wall, which causes blood to seep out of the blood vessel. The diameter of the bleeding spot is 3-5 mm, which is called purpura. Diseases that cause purpura include allergic purpura, allergic purpura caused by sulfa drugs, and allergic purpura after insect bites is also common. The elasticity of blood vessels in the elderly decreases and their fragility increases, so even a slight collision will cause subcutaneous bleeding.

Young women often have purpura, which disappears on its own without treatment. The cause of purpura is unknown. Any other factors that increase the fragility of blood vessel walls can cause subcutaneous bleeding, such as bacterial or viral infection, malnutrition, vitamin C deficiency, and rare hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. In addition to the above-mentioned vascular damage factors, it is also related to thrombocytopenia or poor platelet quality.

Many diseases, such as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, can also cause pathological changes in bone marrow hematopoietic cells, such as aplastic anemia, leukemia, myeloma, etc. Physical and chemical factors destroy platelet macrophages, such as radiation, cancer chemotherapy, etc.

When subcutaneous bleeding occurs, you should pay attention to whether there is bleeding gums, nose bleeding, menorrhagia, fever, anemia, etc. You should go to the hospital for further diagnosis and treatment, including platelet count, clotting time, capillary fragility test, etc. The doctor will make corresponding treatment based on the results. If it is simple purpura, it will disappear on its own after a few days and no special treatment is needed.

2. How to deal with local congestion and swelling

External force impacting the human body may cause damage to organs and tissues and cause subcutaneous bleeding. The so-called subcutaneous bleeding means that the epidermis is not damaged. But the blood vessels under the skin ruptured and bled. If subcutaneous bleeding occurs in an area with loose tissue, the bleeding will easily spread to the surrounding loose tissue and will not be easy to stop, thus forming a hematoma locally. There are many parts of the human body where hematomas are easily formed, including the scalp, eye sockets, vulva, etc.

As soon as possible, you can apply cold compress with ice wrapped in a towel (do not apply hot compress within 24 hours to avoid tissue fluid seepage and worsening of the condition); after 24 hours, apply hot compress or use blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing drugs for internal and external treatment.