So I had to do blood work today for some tests my doctor wanted to run. Well I looked at my arm today and I had a bruise where they drew blood. You may say "Oh that happens all the time, it's normal," but the thing is, I haven't had a bruise since I was a little kid.

I've crashed motorcycles and racing ATV's while jumping them (and hospitalized because of it), played contact sports, fallen out of trees, broken bones, run into various objects with all parts of my body, been hit in the shin with metal carts at work, slammed doors on my fingers, fallen from about 10 feet and smacked my head on a concrete slab (had about an inch of rubber on it), and various other things that would normally lead to bruising. However not once have I even got the slightest hint of a bruise. Even the one I got today from giving blood is barely noticeable. I had to look for a good 3 minutes to see it.

I was wondering if anyone else here doesn't get bruises, or if anyone knows why I don't get them? Is it some kind of medical condition?

Well, the only reason why you would get bruises is if you ruptured blood vessels. Your doctor was drawing blood from you, so it is only natural that a few blood vessels be ruptured to cause your bruising.

As for the other incidents as to why you never bruised, I guess the susceptibility to bruising and rupturing blood vessels varies from person to person. I have a mate who I played punch to punch with on occasion, and I remember this one time when I punched him not too hard in the arm, he bruised all over, and me when I was punched in the arm by him, I did not even get the slightest sign of bruising.

So I wouldn't say it was a medical condition, but don't take my word for it since I'm not a medical professional just yet. I'd also guess the thickness of your skin has some part to do with it, as having thicker layers would logically mean more insulation from any impact force that would rupture blood vessels that causes bruising.

Hmm I guess.

Maybe since I'm a track athlete, we're required to stay in good physical condition, my blood vessels are in better shape then most. Running really hypes up your blood pressure so I guess that would cause my vessels to be stronger?

i know the lighter your skin the easier it is to notice bruises. I also tend to have teh opposite than you, i constantly get bruised or cut, and the never really fade away, i've gotten scars from cardboard cuts :/

I get a lot of scars, but that's mostly because I tend to get cut badly with knives and other sharp things. I like to go outdoors a lot and when me and my friends are in the woods we have an assortment of hatchets, axes, machetes, and knives.

congratulations your bruce willis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-waJsBs0eBQ

except your weakness is needles and not water.

There's that - you don't even have to be all that dark (a light tan) to make light bruises fairly hard to notice/see.

My larger veins when I was younger were so deep and my skin was somewhat tan, so nurses could never find the vein in the hand to put IV's in, or in my arm to take blood tests. They'd jab & twist, jab & twist & start cursing "where is it??" to themselves and I'd end up with big puncture bruises. But impact injury bruises were rare. The older I get the "thinner" my skin is becoming, and the easier I bruise from impacts.

Mostly, just sounds like good genetics & health re: bruise damage potential.

Looks like you're cruisin' for a bruisin'... now if only I could effectively say that to someone in real life.

haha


I'm rather lean and muscular so my veins pop out pretty far in my arms.They one they normally take from is in my right elbow and is just about as big around as my pinky finger, so they never have any trouble finding mine.

When I went to the ER for that ATV crash they actually stuck one in the top of my forearm since the vein there was so prominent. It let me move around a lot more comfortable when I had to instead of being in my hand.

My skin is somewhat tan due to the fact that I live in Florida and I'm always outside, but even things that should have bruised me heavily didn't. For instance I was chopping wood with an axe and it bounced off a knot of lighter wood, the blunt end smacked me in the shin so hard it took me about 5 minutes to stand back up. Split the skin but no bruise

Next to "white boy" in the dictionary, they have my picture. My legs haven't seen the sun in decades and are so white they glow in the dark. I am also 55. I do not bruise.

If I suffer a bruise-worthy event, I may go through the yellow/green stage several days later, but I never seem to have the early purple stage.

I had all my blood vessels replaced with carbon nanotubes years ago.

Damn!

I'd say it probably has to do with genes and how in-shape your body is. Personally, I haven't had a bruise since I was a little kid... but then again, I never get into bruise-making situations.

You broke bones and didn't bruise? That... that shouldn't be possible. I thought that bones were generally a bit tougher than blood vessels.

It's probably a combination of tan skin, quick healing, robust blood vessels from running, and some sort of mutant metabolic over-response to bruising. As far as I am aware, an absence of bruising isn't the sign of any disease, but you might want to be a bit more vigilant for diseases which are often discovered through the abnormal bruising they cause. Your peculiar robustness could mask the early warning signs of such a condition.

the only bruises i've ever had were from using a water balloon slingshot that had a cup on it that would 100% guaranteed hit you on the knuckle

I've broken multiple fingers and toes, my nose, and my Ulna at the wrist. All of them swelled up a tad bit but never turned purple, yellow, blue, or any other color associated with bruising.

I get bruises now and then but I've stopped doing much of the things that cause them, office job, sitting in a chair gaming....I think the most dangerous stuff I do is running with the dog or chasing the bus.
I fell once chasing the bus and running with the dog but I never suffered any bruises just scraqes and cuts

Yeah, if they swelled than I'm pretty sure that still counts as bruising.

I was the opposite as a kid - apparently as a baby I had a blood disorder that meant I bruised at everything.

The only people I've ever seen bruises on were several of my ex girlfriends, and they always seem to fall down the stairs or hit themselves in the face with the door so people always look at me weird when I'm with one in public. Especially if they ask what happened. Those are deadlock excuses that people just don't believe these days.
It's pretty embarrassing, really.

Edit: I once had to explain that to a cop at the local park. Needless to say they kept contacting my girlfriend afterwards because they thought I was being abusive.

Aren't bruising and swelling different things though?

I bruise really easily. But then I do have Scottish (near transluscent) skin....

After they draw blood from your arm you're supposed to apply pressure on the wound for about 5-10 minutes. If you don't it will bruise, which is entirely normal and very common.
Could be that you didn't apply pressure long enough. Either way the bruises tend to disappear quickly.

Yeah, the thing was though I hadn't gotten a bruise for a good 9 or 10 years until then. I had even given blood on multiple occasions, took a ton more than they did with the tests, and never bruised even without applying pressure afterward.

I was surprised since I had thought I was impervious to bruising