Understand my skin
Knocks and falls often leave a mark! A goose egg that appears in a few minutes or a large bruise that changes colours are signs that can help you evaluate how a contusion has impacted your skin and know the right thing to do.
A lesion can look different depending on how rough the knock and where it occurred. Cosmetic and surgical procedures can also cause skin lesions.
3 types of lesions
An ecchymosis occurs when small blood vessels in the skin rupture after an impact. Blood and red blood cells accumulate in neighbouring tissues and form a visible coloured spot on the skin’s surface. This bruise is often painful to the touch; the harder the knock, the more painful it is. The colour of an ecchymosis changes over time as the haemoglobin in the red blood cells is resorbed into the skin. The ecchymosis starts out red, then becomes black, blue and finally, green. At the end of the capillary repair process, it is yellow/brown and remains that colour for one to two weeks. But it can take longer if the lesion is large. The different colours correspond to the various stages the haemoglobin accumulated in the skin goes through as it breaks down.
An oedema — also called a bump — occurs when the skin swells at the place of impact. It can appear rapidly after the knock. It is triggered by a blood plasma effusion in the neighbouring tissues. Plasma is the fluid in which the red blood cells circulate inside the blood vessels.
A haematoma is the combination of an ecchymosis (bruise) and an oedema (bump). The first thing you should do is to apply compression and ice to the area impacted or to speed up elimination with targeted active ingredients before seeing a doctor, if necessary.
Protect the injured area according to your doctor’s instructions. He or she may also prescribe anti-inflammatories. If you have not seen a doctor, you can always apply ice to help reduce the oedema. Never put it directly on the skin, though. Special products made for bruises, knocks and bumps can also be applied preventatively before a cosmetic procedure, for example. Some people use them on dark circles because they contain decongestant and anti-ecchymosis ingredient.
The damaged area should be gently washed and then disinfected, if necessary.
Creams made specially for bruises, knocks and bumps are indicated for accelerating repair and reducing oedema. They contain effective active ingredients like arnica, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-oedema properties, as well as calming, pain relieving ingredients. You can start using these creams right away and continue applying them until lesions disappear.
