Rest, cold compresses, and time help bruising fade.
Surgery is great in changing your body shape, but the skin right after operation is often left looking just like a battlefield with many colors. Post-surgical bruising (also called ecchymosis) is a totally normal physiological reaction to tissue damage. When capillaries break during a surgical cut or liposuction, red blood cells leak into the soft tissues around, which is why you get those purplish and blue spots that can really give you quite a surprise if you see them in a mirror. For a lot of people, bruising is so socially restricting that it becomes worse than the physical surgery itself, and they have to cover themselves with long clothes or stay home even if physically they are ready to go out.
Luckily you are not powerless. Even though the body naturally breaks down the blood which is trapped there over a certain period of time, there are clinical methods that are proven to be effective in accelerating this process. Bruise treatment is basically about controlling blood flow, i.e., first, constricting the blood vessels to stop the leak and then dilating them to remove the debris. Once you understand the biology of hemoglobin breakdown, you will be able to take active measures that will cut down your recovery by days or weeks, thus turning the purple spot into a slightly yellow one much before time.
Thermal Strategy: How to Use Ice and Heat Properly
The best weapon in your fight against bruising is temperature but it is very important to use it at the right time. At the very beginning, that is for 48 to 72 hours after surgery, Cold Therapy is the only thing you should be doing. It is the stage when blood vessels are very delicate and likely to leak again. It is for this reason that vasoconstriction, i.e., the shrinking of capillaries caused by the application of ice packs, leading to the clotting effect, happens. In other words, a dam is built on the river that limits the overflow of blood to the tissue. If you do not make use of ice during the first couple of days, the bruise will definitely spread quite significantly as the force of gravity draws the blood downwards.
That said, the day after you have passed the 72-hour point, you can turn over the page in the book of therapy and do Warm Therapy. There is no more fresh bleeding by this time and the blood is in fact dead “waste” trapped under your skin. The gentle warmth that you can get from a warm compress or a heating pad (set to the lowest level) results in vasodilation. This means that the blood vessels are opened and that blood flow to the area is increased which is the same as if it was cleaned by a street sweeper. The increased blood carries along oxygen and white blood cells (macrophages) that eat up the old red blood cells and remove their pigment. Those patients who keep on using ice for seven days only will probably experience that their bruises are there a bit longer than usual as they are freezing the waste instead of flushing it out.
Chemical Warfare: Arnica and Bromelain Effects
Besides the temperature element of the physical, you can bombard the bruising from the inside by your gut through the compounds you take that promote anti-inflammation and proteolysis. In plastic surgery, the top drug of the list is Arnica Montana which comes from the homeopathic plant called leopard’s bane. The way Arnica works is by ‘helping’ white blood cells to ‘release’ leaked blood and water from the injury thus reducing the swelling that traps the bruising. This bruise reduction process of arnica is at its most potent when you take it by mouth in pellet form or when you apply it in a gel mode at high concentration directly to the skin surrounding (but not on) the incision.
Bromelain, an enzyme extract that is found in pineapple stems, plays the role of a good assistant to arnica. Bromelain is a proteolytic enzyme in the sense that it lyses proteins. Because the clotting agents and cell debris that hold the bruises together are protein-based, bromelain is like a biological jackhammer that breaks up the complex structures (down) so that they can be reabsorbed by the lymphatic system easily. Eating pineapple slices is pretty much the last thing on a patient’s mind when they want to benefit from a therapeutic dose; therefore, we advise them to take high-strength supplements up to two weeks post-op while continuing pre-operative usage for a couple of days (of course, only if an anesthesiologist gives the go-ahead) so that the clearance rate is maximum.
Topical Solutions: Creams and Gels That Actually Do the Job
Topical treatments, unlike oral supplements which work systemically, deal directly with discoloration through the skin. Vitamin K oxide creams are very popular among dermatologists because vitamin K plays a major part in the clotting system of the body. Thus, this cream has the effect when you put it on a bruise of strengthening capillary walls so that less blood can leak out, and in the meantime, it also accelerates the breakdown of the brown pigment caused by hemosiderin. The bruise to dermis color transition will be facilitated by constant application of the cream.
A different, potent topical agent is Hirudoid cream (mucopolysaccharide polysulfate). This cream is a medical-class one with antithrombotic and anti-inflammatory effects proven by clinical studies. Besides preventing the formation of surface-level blood clots, it also improves the blood flow through the capillaries. When the cream is rubbed gently on the bruised part of the skin (except for an open wound), the metabolism of the local tissue is boosted which allows the scavengers to pick the blood cells without any difficulties. This is extremely beneficial to the hardened, at times extremely painful, bruises that are a result of liposuction as it not only makes the skin feel softer but also fades the color of the bruises at the same time.
Lifestyle Hazards: What to Avoid So As Not to Get Re-Bleeding
When you unknowingly do things that worsen your condition, the little that you do to a bruise will be simply wasted. The most undesired factor for bruises turning healthy again is blood-thinning agents. Alcohol works as an intense vasodilator; so if you drink a glass of wine, the blood vessels in your body will open up even your healing ones, and if it’s the first week after surgery, it may cause micro-bleeding and thus a bruised spot that is falling apart can become new, strong purple again. On the other hand, things like Vitamin E, Fish Oil, and Gingko Biloba supplements, which generally are very healthy, act as blood thinners; hence, they must definitely be avoided until the bruising disappears.
Another thing that most people underestimate but is really very important is the impact of the sun’s rays. If a bruise that has just been formed is left bare for the sun’s rays (UV, tanning beds) then it matters that the iron in the blood cell can cause a permanent discoloration to the skin. This is a medical condition called hemosiderin hyperpigmentation and it manifests as a brownish, shadow-like mark which can last for years or even be permanent. For this reason, wearing clothes over your bruises or using high-SPF sunscreen is a must. And since your body uses water to flush out all the rubbish through the lymphatic system, it’s also very important to stay well hydrated. For sure the one who drinks plenty of water will heal faster due to bruise clearing as compared to a dehydrated patient.
Lin Health Europe Clinic: Lymphatic Acceleration
We at Lin Europe Clinic in Turkey don’t separate bruise management from post-operative patient care because we understand that a fast social recovery is what most of our patients want. Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) massage is what we mostly use and it is our standard procedure. The therapists here specialize in performing the pumping motions that manually move the fluid that has stagnated and the blood cells that are trapped towards the lymph nodes hence providing mechanical assistance to the process of the body’s natural cleaning. This often visibly decreases the bruising after the session, sometimes quite dramatically.
Besides, we offer our “Recovery Kit” to the patients which includes pharmaceutical-grade Arnica and the type of topical treatments specifically tailored to the surgery that they’ve undergone. Also, we guide patients on how and when to use compression garments, checking that they’re neither too tight to restrict the tissue and cause bleeding nor too loose that they can hardly prevent the bleeding. We combine the surgical technique (that drastically reduces the trauma) with this post-op bruising protocol in such an aggressive way that we don’t want to leave you counting the days until the colors die down on their own, but get you ready for the camera in record time.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bruising Treatment
No, this is a movie myth. Applying raw meat to a wound is likely to get the skin infected as it introduces bacteria. The only upside was the coldness of the meat, so the use of a clean ice pack is a much safer and more effective method for bruising treatment.
It is not right to apply creams directly onto an incision that is open or unhealed. You may use Hirudoid or Vitamin K cream on the purple skin around the bruising treatment area, but the wound itself should be kept clean and dry until the scab falls off.
Alcohol thins the blood and dilates the capillaries which may lead to bleeding under the skin. To ensure the success of bruising treatment, alcohol should be avoided for at least 2 weeks so that the discoloration doesn’t get worse.
Of course. Lymphatic massage helps to move the fluid, which contains dead blood cells, towards the lymph nodes. This type of bruising treatment can be considered as the fastest method of healing and thus also significantly reducing the associated swelling.
If you follow a good ice, heat, Arnica, and Bromelain protocol, you will be able to reduce the healing time drastically. Major discoloration due to bruising can be dramatically improved by effective bruising treatment in 10-14 days, while bruises that have not been treated may last 3-4 weeks.
Seeley, B. M., et al. (2006). Effect of homeopathic Arnica montana on bruising in face-lifts: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.
Ghavimi, M. A., et al. (2012). The effect of bromelain on edema and ecchymosis after surgical tooth extraction. Journal of Dentistry.
Cohen, J. L., et al. (2009). The treatment of bruising after aesthetic procedures. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.
