Bruises and contusions - And how to treat them
Bruises
Skin becomes decolorized as the result of damaging trauma. Adjacent blood vessel ruptures, leaking blood into the surrounding skin tissue
Symptoms in damaged area:
- Becomes red with a bluish hue
- Swelling/bump
- Localized pain
Home remedies are effective healing mechanisms. Usually speeding up the healing process, but still may take months to heal bruised bones
Contusions (Bone bruises)
A bone bruise is damage to a bone. Usually consequential to blunt trauma or injury; similar to a fracture or soft tissue bruise.
- A bone bruise heals more slowly than a regular bruise
- Can be diagnosed by X-ray and MRI
Treatments for bruises and contusions ("Bone bruises")
Treatment choices for any type of bruise
Treatment goal is to reduce inflammation / pain and promote healing:
- Apply cold compresses ASAP E.g. ice cubes or a package of frozen peas wrapped in a towel applied as soon as possible after injury will quickly reduce swelling and pain
- DMSO (Topical). Reduces inflammation
- Vitamin C (oral) Strengthens blood vessel connective tissue, treats internal hemorrhaging; Take a daily supplement of at least 500 mg. or better still do the Rath-Pauling therapy for promoting collagen throughout the body
- Arnica (oral; topical gel).
- Take bromelain (an enzyme found in pineapple) for serious bruising or deeper soft-tissue injuries. Speeds healing, possibly by assisting in clearing metabolic waste from injury. Take 200-400 mg of bromelain 3 times / day 1 ½ hours before or 3 hours after eating.
- Comfrey leaf poultice (see below)
- Lavender Oil (topical) For pain relief.
- Lemon slices (topical) Provide healing vitamin C.
- Raw onion slices (topical). Only if skin is not broken!
- Witch Hazel (topical) Well-known for reducing swelling in tissue.
- Any other anti-inflammatory tactics
Treatments for acute inflammation
An Example Bruise Compress “Recipe”Kathi Keville (Author of Herbs for Health and Healing; Rodale, 1996) mentions the following bruise compress “recipe”:
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Treatments for bone bruises (Contusions)
- Apply ice pack. To help reduce swelling by constricting blood vessels; the quicker you do this, the less swelling is likely to occur
- Manganese contained in fresh pineapple drink helps speed the healing of broken bones. Manganese is a cofactor for bone-healing enzymes; additionally, pineapple is a good source of vitamin C and the natural anti-inflammatory bromelain.
- Comfrey leaf poultice. An extremely effective, time-tested method for healing contusions. See recipe for poultice at Comfrey – “Knitbone or Boneset”
- Rub in comfrey oil
- Avoid stress on the bruised areaIf close to a joint you may need a brace.
- Take NSAID pain medication. E.g. aspirin, ibuprofen to reduce pain / inflammation / swelling
- No tobacco / nicotine. A good blood flow is needed for healing, nicotine constricts blood vessels
