Have you had a bruise or a hickey that you could not hide? They seem to be always where people will see them. “Ah what happened to you they say?”

You can always try to wear extra layers of clothing, or try a makeup concealer, but reducing the bruise or hickey in the first place is a good start.

Most of the time bruises are from accidental bumps and banging into things. Anyone can get bruises, but some people bruise easier than others. Some health conditions make people more susceptible to bruises like diseases, medication and old age.

Check out this video for tips on getting rid of bruises.

With bruises, the initial pain of the injury is bad enough then the giant bruise appears. A bruise is called a contusion, when a part of our body is struck the muscle fibres and tissue is crushed and the skin does not to break.

The small blood vessels, capillaries rupture and blood leaks to the skins surface, when there is nowhere for the blood to run it creates a red or purplish bruise on the skins surface.

They are usually very sore to touch and tender for a few days.

Over time your bruise will change colour, the body will be fixing the bruise by breaking it down and reabsorbing the blood. First it will be reddish, then the second day it may go blackish, blue or purplish.

After about five to ten days the bruise may turn yellow or greenish after about two weeks depending how bad the bruise is it should have disappeared.

If you do have an accident, to help an injury apply something cold, this will help slow down the blood flow and stop the amount of blood from spreading to form the bruise. Also helps to keep swelling down and inflammation.

Try to hold something cold on your injury for about half an hour to an hour after the accident. Sometimes for the next few days after also.

If you are experiencing a bruise which sounds like the following below, it is best to consult with a doctor, as you may be experiencing other health concerns.

• Is not going away after about two weeks.
• You bruise even if you haven’t injured yourself, and bruises appear for no reason.
• Your bruise is getting more painful and is starting to swell
• You are having trouble moving the body part where you had the injury

Bruises are sometimes hard to avoid, if you are an active person and play a lot of sport, sometimes those injuries just occur. If possible in your chosen sport wear protect clothing to save yourself a nasty injury.

HowOMG.com