Bruises

My hands bruise now if I clap too much. I would quite like to do 'jazz hands' instead!

The answer is; yes we do bruise more easily as we get older. Partly it is because, regardless of weight our skin gets much thinner and, if you are thin, and many very elderly people are, there is no padding of fat between the thinning skin and the structure underneath.

My 90 year old aunt fell out of bed one night when she had an ITA. It was a low divan and she was tangled up with bed clothes, so more of a roll than a fall, yet one arm was quite literally black with huge bruises from wrist to shoulder. They took months to disappear.

There was a recent thread about this:
www.gransnet.com/forums/health/1253359-Senile-Purpura
I have the same problem. Thinning skin.

Certainly dh gets really nasty bruising without registering he has knocked himself. HD them checked out and was told they are normal for his age (71) but might be worth getting yours looked at by a doctor, or do as we did and take a photo so you have an example to show him/her if you were bruise free at the time you see them, they seem to go as quickly as they appear.

Oh joy! Something else to go with wrinkles & fading hair colour. I thought it would at least hold off until I got to about 70!
Many thanks both.

I get this too, i try to avoid catching my lower arms as they look so unsightly.I mentioned it to a nurse once who said that some people as they age have thinning skin and this is the reason why we get these horrible purple bruises.

I also bruise easily craftycat but then I always have. Mr C has developed this type of bruising, GP said age related. As it’s new I think it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, perhaps with a nurse at the surgery? It would put your mind at rest at least.