Why do I bruise so easily?
Thin skin bruises easily, and skin thins with age, sun damage and steroid creams or tablets. Aspirin, blood thinners, fish oil and alcohol all amplify ordinary knocks into visible bruises. Most easy bruising is this and nothing more.
The pattern that matters: bruises appearing without any remembered knock, unusually large or numerous ones, bruising with frequent nosebleeds or gum bleeding, or a new medication timeline.
That pattern deserves a blood count and clotting check, simple tests that quickly separate common from concerning.
Source: MedlinePlus, bruise
See a doctor promptly if
- Hemoglobin well below the normal range with breathlessness, chest pain, or dizziness on standing
- Potassium below 3.0 mmol/L or above 6.0 mmol/L. This needs same-day contact, not a routine appointment
- A sudden large rise in creatinine, or a new drop in eGFR, especially with reduced urine output
- Liver enzymes several times the upper limit with yellow eyes, dark urine, pale stools, or right upper abdominal pain
- Platelets under 50 x10^9/L, or a very high or very low white cell count with fever
What tends to be behind it
| Result | In short | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Age, and thin skin | Commonest by far | Skin and the vessels in it get more fragile with age and sun exposure. Forearms and the backs of the hands, purple, flat, no pain. Harmless, and it is called senile purpura. |
| Medicines | Check the list | Aspirin, clopidogrel, anticoagulants, and steroids including inhaled and cream forms. Fish oil and high-dose supplements add to it. Very common and usually explains the whole thing. |
| Being female, and weight | Normal variation | Women bruise more easily than men on average, and it is more visible where there is more subcutaneous fat. Not a problem. |
| Low platelets or clotting problems | Needs a blood test | Suspected when bruises appear without any knock, come with bleeding gums or nosebleeds, or sit alongside tiny red dots that do not blanch when pressed. |
| Low vitamin C, and liver disease | Less common | Both affect vessel walls or clotting. Usually there is other evidence, such as diet history, alcohol, or bleeding elsewhere. |
| Get it looked at when | Same week | Bruises with no injury, in unusual places such as the trunk or back, very large ones, or bruising with heavy periods, nosebleeds that will not stop, or feeling unwell. |
A change from your own normal matters more than the absolute number of bruises, and the medicine list explains more cases than any blood test does. Check it against the guidelines.
Look up another result
A result is rarely the only one on the page. Each of these gives the bands, in both unit systems, and what happens next.
- What counts as a good VO2 max, by age and sex12 bands
- What counts as normal, and what does not5 bands
- What each code and line on a hospital bill8 bands
- What each thyroid antibody6 bands
- What glucose on a urine dipstick5 bands
- What is worth doing, and how often6 bands
- What melatonin does, at what dose6 bands
- What tends to be driving them6 bands
- What the coating looks like, and what it usually is6 bands
- What the discharge looks like, and what it usually is6 bands
- What the evidence shows, by method6 bands
- What the node itself tells you9 bands
- What to carry, and what each one has to say7 bands
- Where to feel, and what each area drains6 bands
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
The one skin product doctors push
Broad-spectrum SPF 50, worn daily, does more against skin aging and skin cancer risk than any cream sold above it. The best sunscreen is the one you will actually wear every morning.
Buying through this link supports the free library with a small commission. It never changes a pick.
A spot, rash or mole of your own?
Upload up to three photos. A dermatologist replies in writing within 24 hours.
People also ask
Health education, not medical advice.