What causes abnormal or easy bruising?
A bruise appears when there is bleeding under the top layer of the skin. Bleeding under the skin usually occurs when small blood vessels tear at the site of an injury. Causes for easy bruising include the following: • Taking blood thinners such as heparin or warfarin. • Drinking large amounts of alcohol. • Too little vitamin C in the diet. • Certain liver and kidney diseases. • Not enough platelet cells in the blood, or platelet cells that don’t work normally. • Some prescription medications, over the counter medications (including aspirin and ibuprofen), and herbal remedies can make you bruise more easily because they interfere with normal platelet function. • Blood vessels become fragile and break more easily as people age. • Persons with inherited bleeding disorders such as hemophilia or von Willebrand’s disease often bruise easily because they don’t have normal amounts of one or more of the proteins necessary for normal blood clotting.
