From this article you will find out: what diseases can the bruises on legs show without a cause in women and men. What to do if you have bruises( or, in other words, bruises) without blows. To what doctor to address, how diagnostics and treatment will be carried out.
Causes of
Causes of
Bruising without injuries to the legs and other parts of the body appear due to the weakness of the vascular walls, increased permeability or excessive blood thinning and impaired coagulation.
The causes of bruising without strikes are the same in both women and men. However, more often they can appear in women who are fond of wearing high-heeled shoes, as this provokes excessive tension in the legs, stagnation of blood in them and associated weakening of the vessels and varicose veins. Also, the strength of the vessels can decrease during menopause.
With problems with blood vessels and blood, bruises appear more often on the legs, as these parts of the body are most affected by stress in everyday life. Microtrauma, which in the pathology of blood vessels and blood are bruised, can arise from a long walk, from jumping and so on.
Hematomas without strokes are a very disturbing symptom. If you have started without a reason to appear bruises on your legs or on other parts of your body, contact the therapist immediately. Depending on the result of the tests, it can refer you to the hematologist, angiologist, phlebologist, hepatologist or gynecologist for further diagnosis and treatment.
Causes of bruises on the legs
There can be hematomas for one of two reasons:
- Vascular problems( increased permeability of the vessel walls, weakening and decreased elasticity of the vascular walls).
- Blood problems( abnormal blood platelet level decrease, clotting disorders, leukemia).
In such cases, bruises arise from the average force of pressing on the skin or from pressing clothes on it or for no apparent reason at all.
The initial stage of vascular weakness manifests itself in the fact that a large bruise appears from a light stroke, which does not last long.
The causes of such problems with blood vessels and blood can be very diverse. Sometimes this indicates a lack of certain substances in the body, and sometimes serious diseases of the cardiovascular system or blood.
What can cause unjustified bruising on the legs and on other parts of the body:
- Lack of vitamin C or vitamin P - with their deficiency, the strength and elasticity of the vascular walls decreases, the fragility of the capillaries increases.
- Thrombocytopenia is a decreased level of platelets, which leads to a violation of blood clotting and the spontaneous appearance of bruising. Thrombocytopenia can be a side effect of medications, a symptom of infectious mononucleosis, hepatitis, herpes, HIV and even a complication of the flu.
- Hepatic insufficiency - severe liver function disorders cause thrombocytopenia.
- Alcoholism. Alcohol abuse causes thrombocytopenia.
- Varicose veins. This is a very common reason why bruises appear on the legs. With this disease, the superficial veins become fragile and brittle, which can lead to bruising.
- Menopause. With insufficient level of estrogen, the strength of the vessels decreases.
- Leukemia.
- Congenital disorders of blood clotting( hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, etc.) - in this case the symptoms begin to manifest themselves from childhood.
Even if the fragility of the vessels is provoked by a lack of vitamins, the risk of internal bleeding and hemorrhage in the brain, especially in hypertensive patients, increases. Therefore, take the problem seriously.
Varicose veins can cause bruising on the legs Accompanying symptoms
With increased vascular permeability and blood clotting disorders, not only bruises on the body, but also:
- frequent bleeding from the nose;
- bleeding from the mucous membranes of the mouth, bleeding gums;
- a long blood stop even with minor cuts;
- for certain diseases - blood in the urine, spotting from the vagina outside the critical days.
These symptoms are not observed with bruises on the legs caused by varicose veins. With this disease, hematomas can appear only on the legs. Also characteristic are vascular "nets" and "stars", swelling of the legs, discomfort and pain in the lower extremities.
Diagnosis
First of all, a general blood test is taken from a patient who has treated this problem. The greatest clinical significance in this case is the level of platelets.
Blood platelet count:
| Adult women | 150-320 * 109 / L |
|---|---|
| Adult men | 200-400 * 109 / L |
| Pregnant women | 150-380 * 109 / L |
| Newborn children | 100-400 * 109 / L |
| Children over 1 year old | 180-320 * 109 / L |
| Adolescents 10-15 years old | 180-450 * 109 / L |
| Boys and girls 15-18 years old | 180-420 * 109 / L |
A slight deviation from the norm may beprovoked by stress or wrong way of life, but the drop in platelet levels below 100 * 109 / l can already be called thrombocytopenia.
If it was identified, immediately begin to find out its cause.
Often thrombocytopenia is a side effect of such medications:
- diuretics;
- Quinidine, Quinine;
- antirheumatic drugs;
- antibiotics( sulfonamides, Biseptol, Levomycetin, Ampicillin, Rifampicin, Gentamicin);
- cytostatics( antitumor drugs);
- Anti-inflammatory( Indomethacin, Paracetamol, Benoxaprofen)
- Heparin;
- Allopurinol;
- Chloropropamide;
- Digoxin;
- Amitriptyline;
- Doxepine;
- Carbamazepine;
- Cimetidine and others.
Drugs that can cause thrombocytopenia and, subsequently, bruises on the legs Especially this side effect affects people over 50 years and under 20 years. If you have taken any medications at the time of hematoma, tell your doctor promptly and stop taking it. Symptoms usually go away a few weeks after drugs are discontinued.
If at the time of lowering the platelet level in the blood, you did not take any medications, a comprehensive examination of the body is performed: ultrasound of the liver, blood tests for HIV, herpes, and hepatitis.
Also on the analysis of blood can be suspected of leukemia. With blood cancer, the level of platelets, erythrocytes and hemoglobin falls sharply, the number of leukocytes increases. If the doctors suspected leukemia, a bone marrow examination is performed to confirm the diagnosis.
If the general blood test is normal, a blood test for vitamins and trace elements is prescribed. With it, you can identify hypo- or avitaminosis C or P.
If you have varicose veins of the legs, you will be given a duplex scan of the veins for a detailed examination.
Women during the menopause are also prescribed a blood test for sex hormones.
Genetic disorders of blood coagulability can be detected with a clotting test and a detailed blood test for specific proteins( clotting factors).
Treatment and prognosis
Treatment consists in eliminating the cause of bruising.
In case of hypovitaminosis
If the fragility of the vessels is caused by a lack of vitamin C or vitamin P( routine), prescribe the intake of ascorbic acid, Ascorutinum or combined vitamin complexes. You can also include in the diet products with a high content of these vitamins.
| Products containing ascorbic acid | Products rich in routine( vitamin P) |
|---|---|
| Rosehip, citrus, sweet pepper, currant, sea buckthorn, kiwi, mountain ash, cabbage Brussels and white cabbage, spinach, parsley, strawberry. | Citrus fruits( especially in peel and zest), greens, wild rose, aronia blackberry, currant, apricots, sweet cherry. |
With thrombocytopenia
In this case, the drug that provoked it is canceled, or the underlying disease affecting the blood composition is treated. If the decrease in platelet levels was triggered by medication, recovery occurs 1-3 weeks after discontinuation of their intake. The same applies to alcoholism - the composition of blood comes back to normal within a few weeks after parting with a bad habit( but only if alcoholism has not yet led to serious problems with the liver).If thrombocytopenia is caused by disease, then the treatment will be very time-consuming, and sometimes lifelong( for example, with HIV).
With varicose veins
The situation can be corrected through surgical treatment( sclerotherapy of veins or phlebectomy).Recovery comes a few weeks after the intervention.
With menopause
Assign hormonal replacement therapy to normalize the level of estrogen in the body. You can supplement it with folk remedies to improve women's health. Before their use, consult a gynecologist.
The most effective folk remedy for menopause, especially if there are vascular problems, is red clover. It is rich in phytoestrogens - plant substances, similar to female sex hormones, as well as vitamin C, which will help strengthen the vessels.2 tablespoons dry clover pour 200 ml of boiling water and insist 8 hours in a thermos. Drink 50 ml for half an hour before meals.
Also useful in menopause dill. Pour 1.5 tablespoons of seeds with a glass of boiling water, insist in a thermos for one hour. Then dilute another glass of water. Drink 100 ml 3-4 times a day after half an hour after a meal. Dill is contraindicated under reduced pressure.
You can also add foods rich in phytoestrogens to the diet. These are soybeans, flax seeds, red grapes.
With leukemia
If leukemia was detected, the prognosis is disappointing. Complete recovery is possible only after a bone marrow transplant.
Symptomatic treatment of the bruise
To quickly pass the already appeared bruise, use special ointments:
- Heparin;
- Troxevasin;
- Indovazin;
- ointments containing arnica;
Note that most ointments for bruising are contraindicated for bleeding disorders. They can be used only if bruises are provoked by hypovitaminosis, varicose veins or menopausal changes in the body. Before use, consult with your doctor.
