My husband had a bruise the size of a silver dollar on the back of his hand between his thumb and forefinger. It started turning green the next day and the reddish purple appeared on either side of it. The next day, the green expanded to where the reddish purple had been, and new reddish purple appeared. Now, 3/4 of the back of his hand is a bluish green and the reddish purple is appearing on his palm.
Now I figure that a small vein might have been damaged somehow (we have no idea what he might have hit it against when no one was looking), but the fact that this started last Tuesday and is still slowing growing is concerning us.
Have any of your spouses experienced this? If so, what did you do? (By the way, the Hospice nurse saw it last Wednesday, and like us figured it was a normal bruise and would heal. She's due back on Wednesday.)
He sits in his recliner all day, except to go to the bathroom, or when we take him out with us to the store, or to eat or to the movies. He's watched by one of three people all of the time. I don't think he's re-injuring it.
Mary, my DH has very thin skin and his arms and hands are covered with purple spots. It looks like somebody is holding him down and bruising him. He insist on sleeping with his watch on and I think that causes some of it.
Mary, I had something similar but not as big. I did it by trying to open a Gatoraide bottle. Their caps are so tight that I often have to get the plyers out. I still have my grip but my skin is tissue thin and I think I just broke a little vessel gripping so hard. Hope he gets better. bill
Not sure what it could be mary. could he have bruised it on the seat at the movies? i have gotten my hand caught between the seat and it smarts. watch it and ask the nurse on wed. if it gets seriously worse take him in to the dr. it could be a small vein hes pinched. just keep an eye on him. and check him over when you can to see his whole body. DH does have thin skin too and mottles easily as well. always some bruising. divvi
Regular dosing of aspirin, even baby aspirin (as a heart attack preventative) will cause the blood to be so thin that it will "leak" out of the capillaries into the skin. Looks like bruising. Seems to be more common on hands, arms and legs. My husband has varying degrees of colours as the bruises heal.
Bingo, the blood thinners and then a repetative action. Is he sticking his hand into the recliner and then pulling it out or as my DH does he turns his hand over and rubbs it back and forth real hard on the edge of the chair arm. The other think is he might be placing that part of his hand in his mouth and chewing on it???
I get these bruises even if I slightly brush against a hard edge. From what a former doctor told me it was a combination of skin thinning as we get older and the BP's meds I'm on. Most times I wear long or 3/4 sleeves so people won't think I'm being bet up.lol
I get these red spots on my hands and arms that turn to purple and green. I have very thin skin and most of the time do not remember any cause of this bruising.
I love purple and blue - it's the yellowish green I don't care for! <grin>
Thank you all - the nurse is coming in the morning, and I feel that from what you all have said that it is probably just a bruise with his thin skin and taking an aspirin a day to thin his blood didn't help the bruising.
"Symptoms of senile purpura include purple bruises with small red patches on the skin, which fade to a permanent brown pigmented area over a span of a few weeks. There is no treatment for senile purpura, unless it is caused by certain drugs. If so, the medications may be altered to reduce the senile purpura. Otherwise, the therapy of full explanation and reassurance may be the best treatment for senile purpura."
The nurse visited, and checked his hand, and we talked, and she called the doctor, and this was what was decided. Since he is weak and has started falling and reaches out to grab things and is having bruises, that should he take a hard tumble and have internal bleeding that might not be visible, and serious problems could result, and that his cholesterol is under control, so that the chances of a heart attack are not strong, that not giving the aspirins is more advisable. So, since I'm a fence sitter, I'm going to give him one every other day...compromise....flexibility....and prayer. For now.