Warning - This is gross

[DachsieMom]

Wasn’t sure where to put this.....long story short, I tripped on a pothole while carrying my small dog on Sunday night. My dog is fine but I banged up both elbows, both knees and my hand (I think I cradled my dog so didn’t use my hands to break my fall). Nothing broken, just badly bruised. My one elbow was totally swollen like a giant egg was on it...swelling has gone way down, but my bruise is growing. I “google doc”ed and learned there is a sac near your elbow that can swell due to trauma. Pretty sure that this extensive bruising is normal due to Coumadin and aspirin I’m on, but it sure does look gross. It doesn’t hurt. It was just contained to my elbow yesterday, but this is what it looks like tonight. Gotta love Coumadin. My coumadin clinic called today about my inr results last week...I mentioned the fall in passing but I suppose I should have asked if it was okay. I know my bruises will turn all sorts of lovely colors over the next few weeks. I had surgery four years ago and have had the usual small bruises from the open dishwasher and my desk corner, but this is the worst. You can’t really tell from the picture, but it’s over half the length of my arm.

 

[pellicle]

man, you guys are so timid ... I come here looking for gross and all I see is a bruise. Pictures of nappy changes (and a whole bunch of other stuff qualifies ahead of this ... its not even top 100. Now this is gross.

I'm sure that the bruise was made worse by both Aspirin and Warfarin ... what's your INR at the moment? (about like ...)

Note in older posts this is "slightly graphic"
https://www.valvereplacement.org/th...and-injuries-eek-slightly-graphic-pics.43404/

 

[DachsieMom]

Ewww. That’s worse than mine. I didn’t think of taking inr test but can test tomorrow.

 

[pellicle]

Ewww. That’s worse than mine. I didn’t think of taking inr test but can test tomorrow.

just your last known INR (if it was in the last few days) ... if INR > 3 then brusing is usually worse. Its not important because ... well the bruise is already there ;-)

 

[Agian]

I was expecting alien cow mutilation.

That bruise will fade. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Protimenow]

I echo the others. It doesn't look like much to worry about. I've had much bigger, uglier, bruises. I'm carrying two on my left elbow now, both inside and outside -- stupidly, I carried a box under my arm (between elbow and arm), and when I tried to walk through a doorway that I go through all the time, the left side of my arm hit the outside of the doorway, pushing the box into my inner arm and ribs. The bruising is taking a while to show up.

Or, perhaps, dropping a 50 pound sheet of marble on my foot gave me a multi-colored bruise that lasted quite a while. A popped popliteal (Bakers) cyst can also produce a large, persistent bruise that makes yours look like child play.

It hurts now. It looks pretty bad. But I suspect that many on this forum have much 'grosser' war stories to present.

Give it a few weeks - it may spread, but will eventually disappear. I wouldn't worry much about the bruise.

 

[DachsieMom]

You are the best! Thank you. Last week my INR was 2.9.

 

[Superman]

Dropped an armoire on my foot once. My whole foot is usually the color of the tips of my toes. I was wearing hiking shoes and have permanent scars where the dark red is. Initially puffy, then very colorful.



Glad to hear you didn’t break anything and the dog is okay too!

 

[Enigmalady777]

Looks familiar. My entire left side from just under my collar bone down to my waist was looking that color and getting darker each day when I had my ICD/Defibrillator implanted two months ago. Took about a month for the bruising to go away. Make sure to let your Coumadin clinic know about it.

 

[thomas999]

It doesn't have to be the worst bruise ever to be noteworthy, I sure wouldn't want that to happen to me. Sorry D'mom that it happened to you! My INR is supposed to be between 2.5 - 3.5, and I bet no one has ever heard of this : My INR, for no apparent reason, jumped to 12.3. I started weeping blood out of my lower legs, nose, and spitting up blood. I had to go to the emergency and stayed there until my blood returned to required range. I had to have my lungs washed out, and had multiple tests. Doctors don't have any reasons why my INR jumped. Funny, when I was being tested when I was first admitted, the technician said the max the INR can reach is 10. I told her she is wrong because my last test determined it was 12.1, that's why I am here right now! She said her testing would prove me wrong, but came back and said, " you're right sir, your INR can go above 10 because yours is 12.3 right now!" lol, I told you so!

 

[Protimenow]

Wow, Thomas999. That's amazing...and scary. I've heard of clotting disorders (like liver disease), but I don't know if it's reflected in your INR. (They DID test liver function, didn't they?).

I'm really sorry that it happened -- it sounds like somehow, your warfarin wound up in an aspirin bottle - or something.

I'm glad you caught it before it did more damage than it did.

I hope that everything's back under control now.

 

[thomas999]

Yeah it's been under control since that time, it really didn't bother me that much, like scare me or something, I just took it all in stride. That was probably 10 years ago or so, and I have now had my SJ valve for 32 years.

 

[Superman]

Seems like a big risk just for an, “I told you so.” Might want to just let it go next time.

 

[pellicle]

... but came back and said, " you're right sir, your INR can go above 10 because yours is 12.3 right now!" lol, I told you so!

LOL ... that's a lovely story. I just love the way that clinicians who are barely more trained than a fingernail technician puff themselves up into experts (you watch, they won't do it in front of a Dr or a Surgeon mate ;-)

 

[Art O Ceitinn]

After hip replacement

 

[Protimenow]

I think we may have a winner here.

 

[charlottekaye]

I wish I had taken a picture of the spontaneous bruise on my leg that announced my incredibly out of range inr and subsequent brain bleed. This happened about 9 years ago. The bruise was about 6" before it started spreading. It actually Iooked more like a tattoo than a bruise - really dark and angular. The ER dr told me my INR was 14. I thought I'd misheard him. The cause of this bleed was my liberal use of salmon oil while taking warfarin. I had not been warned. I had a 4 day hospital stay, and I lost my ability to speak. 97% recovery took about a year

 

[pellicle]

After hip replacement

and if you ever watch that surgery you'll know why Art suffered this bruising...

 

[pellicle]

... getting back to @DachsieMom s original issue it occurs to me that people perhaps don't know that as we age its not just our exterior skin that becomes less flexible, sags and gets strech marks. This exact same process of degeneration occurs in the vascular system and indeed is why a fall and head injury for someone under 30 is just a mild concussion but for someone over 60 is probably fatal.

This totally unrelated to if you are or aren't on anticoagulants. ACT does not cause a bleed, it just makes it slower to stop one that has started.

I recommend at least a quick read through this:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563742/

There is an age related decline in various physiological processes. Vascular ageing is associated with changes in the mechanical and the structural properties of the vascular wall, which leads to the loss of arterial elasticity and reduced arterial compliance.

So a force which would just cause a vein to bend in a younger person results in a breach of that vein (capilary) in an older one. That's why we bruise more easily as we age.

Like all things this is actually an indicator for us (how easily we bruise) to consider moving away from contact sports and pursuits which increase the likelihood of impact related physical injuries (cuts are simple to treat).

 

[Protimenow]

Thanks, Pellicle. Isn't it fun getting old?