Bruising

Bruises are dark areas, normally black and blue coloured, of the skin where bleeding has occurred just under the top layer of the skin, meaning that small blood vessels under the skin have teared or ruptured. Bruises are often caused by knocking or bumping the skin. The bruise may be raised in the centre or slightly lumpy, if so, the area is called a 'hematoma'.

SKNITTY, 2008. Knitting the Classics. In: Sknitty. 6 August 2008 [4 October 2015].
Available from: https://sknitty.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/knitting-the-classics/

PARAMEDICA, 2014. Manual Lymphatic Drainage [4 October 2015]. 
Available from: http://paramedica.com.au/manual-lymphatic-drainage/

Stages of bruising

Day 1- When the bruise is most recent the it will be more red in colour, due to the recent bleeding just underneath the top layer of the skin. Another reason for the redness in colour can be due to the iron in the blood. The area around the bruised skin will become swollen and tender.

Day 2-5- The bruise may gain in size slightly due to the blood underneath the skin spreading over time. The bruise will also start to change colour to a more darker, purple or blue. The reason for this is because of the reduced amount of oxygen to the area of bruising, swelling can be one of the main reasons for the lack of oxygen. This process can last between 2-5 days.

Day 5-7- The greenish colour that occurs, is due to the body using biochemical breakdown on the ageing bruise. The high levels of biliverdin in this section of blood will result in the occurrence of green in the colour. This can last up to two days.

Day 7 Onwards- This is the final stage to bruising and the change of colour. The reason for yellow/brown colour is because of the increased amount of bilirubin. This colour change won't happen drastically, but as different shades of both colours appear the bruise will also start to fade away. The fading stage can take between 2-4 weeks depending on the area that the bruise accrued on the body. Areas like, thighs and arms will take the longest time to disappear. However the yellow/brown colour staging may only take a short time to clear or might not happen at all, this is due to formation of hematoma and the body deposits if calcium around the wounded area.

Resources:
HEMOPHILIA OF GEORGIA, 2015. Bruises [4 October 2015]. Available from: http://www.hog.org/handbook/article/3/33/bruises

ETOPICAL, 2015. Stages of Bruising Colours, Pictures and Chart [4 October 2015]. Available from: http://www.etopical.com/stages-of-bruising-colors-chart-healing-pictures/

SKNITTY, 2008. Knitting the Classics. In: Sknitty. 6 August 2008 [4 October 2015]. Available from: https://sknitty.wordpress.com/2008/08/06/knitting-the-classics/

PARAMEDICA, 2014. Manual Lymphatic Drainage [4 October 2015]. Available from: http://paramedica.com.au/manual-lymphatic-drainage/