A few other medications can also cause bruises to rear their head more frequently, including corticosteroids like prednisone (taken for conditions such as asthma, arthritis, and autoimmune diseases), which can make skin thinner and more fragile, Dr. Young points out. Some antidepressants (including common SSRIs like Prozac and Zoloft) can also raise your risk of bleeding and bruising, she adds, because of their effects on platelets.
Youve changed your diet or alcohol consumption as of late.
Drinking alcohol comes with its fair share of well-known health warnings. It can mess with your cognitive function, wreak havoc on your liver, and up your risk for heart disease and cancer. But in some cases, alcohol use over time can also make you bruise more readily for a few different reasons, Dr. Young says. It can damage your bone marrow, affecting its ability to pump out enough platelets, and long-term, it can also interfere with your livers production of certain proteins that help prevent bleeding.
In the food realm, a drop-off in vitamin C intake could also increase your odds of easy bruising, Dr. Young adds. (Though deficiency is uncommon in developed countries like the US.) This vitamin is critical to the formation of collagen, which doesnt just give your skin bounce; it plumps and strengthens your blood vessels too. Without enough, they could be more prone to breakage and spillage. Cue: random bruises.
In rare cases, an underlying health condition could also prompt out-of-the-blue or frequent bruising.
There are a couple categories of conditions that can manifest with random bruisingthough they typically surface with other blood-related symptoms, like heavy periods, frequent or lasting nosebleeds, bloody pee or poop, and excess bleeding from minor cuts.
One group consists of things youre born with, like various bleeding disorders. These include genetic conditions (such as Von Willebrand Disease, Hemophilia A, and Hemophilia B) wherein your body doesnt make enough of one of the proteins necessary for your blood to clot effectively, Dr. Mueller says. There are also inherited disorders involving too few or defective platelets, which then cant stick together and plug up broken blood vessels. All of these typically show up during childhood, but milder forms might stay hidden into adulthood, Dr. Young points out.
The other category of conditions are things you can develop as an adult. In rare scenarios, you could acquire a bleeding disorderwhich can happen when your immune system mistakenly attacks certain clotting factors or even platelets. Its also unlikely but possible for an uptick in bruising to signal a form of liver disease, Dr. Mueller notes, given that the liver is responsible for producing many blood-clotting proteins. Though in this case youd almost certainly have other signs of liver issues (like yellowing of your skin, severe itching, leg swelling, and belly pain). And finally, lots of random bruising can be a sign of a blood cancer like lymphoma or leukemia, Dr. Young says, since these can tamper with the creation and function of platelets. But shed mainly be worried about that if you were also having other blood-cancer symptoms like the excessive bleeding noted above, as well as unexplained weight loss, fevers, and swollen lymph nodes.
When you should see a doctor for spontaneous bruises
Rest assured that most bruising isnt cause for concerneven if you dont recall exactly when you mightve acquired said bruise. If you feel like youve always bruised easily and you dont have any other symptoms, youre probably in the clear, Dr. Young says. Its also a good sign if your splotches tend to disappear within two weeks, Dr. Mueller says: The color usually goes from red [or brown or black, depending on your skin tone] to purple to a little bit bluish to green and finally to yellow, as your body breaks down the spilled blood and reabsorbs it.
