Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Bogle Bomb And if you're anything like me
Speaker 1: and absent blindedly attempt to walk through solid objects instead
Speaker 1: of around them, you're familiar with bruises. They can be
Speaker 1: embarrassing reminders of less than graceful moments, or, perhaps for
Speaker 1: an athlete with hard one marks from a vigorous workout,
Speaker 1: a mark of profound pride. But however you choose to
Speaker 1: view bruises, they're pretty fascinating. The variety of colorful patterns
Speaker 1: they create on the skin is reason enough to want
Speaker 1: to learn more about these weird and sometimes painful spots
Speaker 1: that everyone is coped with at one point or another.
Speaker 1: Otherwise known as a contusion, a bruise is a mark
Speaker 1: that appears when blood is trapped underneath the surface of
Speaker 1: the skin. Bruises occur when some type of trauma or
Speaker 1: injury crushes tiny blood vessels known as capillaries, but doesn't
Speaker 1: break the skin. As a result of the injury, the
Speaker 1: broken capillaries leak out red blood cells, which get trapped
Speaker 1: under the skin, collecting in a pool that forms the blue, purple, red,
Speaker 1: black blemish. Bruises can feel tender when they first form
Speaker 1: and can be accompanied by some swelling. They usually take
Speaker 1: about two weeks to heal, but some bruises can last months.
Speaker 1: During the healing period, the body breaks down and reabsorbs
Speaker 1: the pooled blood that produced the mark. As this happens,
Speaker 1: the color of the bruises can fade from dark to
Speaker 1: light and take on all kinds of interesting hues along
Speaker 1: the way. When a bruise first forms, it's usually some
Speaker 1: shade of red thanks to the fresh blood just below
Speaker 1: the skin surface. After about a day or two, the
Speaker 1: hemoglobin in the blood cells starts losing its oxygen, which
Speaker 1: is what gives blood its red color in the first place.
Speaker 1: Hemoglobin is the protein that transports oxygen to cells, so
Speaker 1: as it's broken down by the body, it loses that
Speaker 1: oxygen it was carrying, and its red tone darkens and
Speaker 1: shifts to blue, purple, and blackish tones. After a few
Speaker 1: more days, the mark usually fades to green or yellow,
Speaker 1: before being hit with a hint of brown and then
Speaker 1: fading away completely. This color change occurs as the body
Speaker 1: uses the iron in the hemoglobin to form new red
Speaker 1: blood cells. The unused decomposed hemoglobin transforms into a green
Speaker 1: pigment called billa verden, which then converts into a yellow
Speaker 1: or light brown tinged compound called bilirubin. As all these
Speaker 1: products are either reabsorbed or purged from the body, the
Speaker 1: mark fades and disappears. Just About everyone gets bruises, but
Speaker 1: some people are more prone to them than others. Elderly people,
Speaker 1: for example, may be more likely to bruise to too
Speaker 1: thinner skin and softer tissue. Other factors like certain diseases,
Speaker 1: medical conditions, and medications can also increase a person's risk
Speaker 1: for bruising. So what do you do when you get
Speaker 1: a hickey, a shiner, or any other form of contusion.
Speaker 1: The usually time really does heal all wounds. Eventually, a
Speaker 1: serious bruise can develop clots that take months to resolve,
Speaker 1: but will usually go away on their own. And while
Speaker 1: there are plenty of urban myths and tails about how
Speaker 1: to magically banish bruises in a snap, the only legit
Speaker 1: healing method is to chill, literally and figuratively. Doctors recommend
Speaker 1: applying ice right after the injury occurs, and then resting
Speaker 1: the injured area as much as you can for the
Speaker 1: next few days. After that, you can try applying mild
Speaker 1: heat to increase blood flow, which might speed the healing
Speaker 1: process up a little bit. By the way, if you
Speaker 1: find yourself constantly battling bruises, you might want to talk
Speaker 1: to a doctor to investigate whether you have a nutrient deficiency.
Speaker 1: Because your blood requires vitamin K o'clock properly. If you
Speaker 1: don't have enough, you might bruise more easily. Vitamin C
Speaker 1: is also important to protect your blood vessels. Today's episode
Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler. Playing
Speaker 1: for moundness and lots of other tender topics, visit our
Speaker 1: home planet, how stuff works dot com