Bruises, we all get them. It seems like every time I go in to see the doctor I tell her to ignore the bruises, I am not abused -well, not unwillingly at least. You ever get a really good one? One so large or dark that you want to ask the fighter who gave it to you to autograph it?
A bruise forms when a blow breaks blood vessels near your skin's
surface, allowing a small (or large) amount of blood to leak into the tissues under
your skin. The trapped blood causes a bruise that at first looks
like a black-and-blue mark and then changes color as it heals. Blood, while necessary to keep on living, is treated as a foreign substance once it leaks into the damaged tissue. There are a few things we can do to help reduce the severity of the bruise and increases the rate it heals.
- Elevate the injured area. This reduces the blood flow to the damaged area, the less blood going to the area, then the less there is to leak into the tissue.
- Apply an ice pack wrapped in a towel or a cloth dampened with
cold water. Do this for about 10 minutes. Repeat several times a day for
a day or two after the injury as needed. Again this will reduce blood flow, the cold constricts the blood vessels.
- Rest the bruised area, if possible.
- Consider acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) for pain relief, or
ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) for pain relief and to reduce
swelling.
I have a small lunch box cooler filled with ice packs already wrapped in cloth. I keep the whole cooler in my chest freezer in the garage. I grab it on my way out the door to practice and toss it in the car with my gear. That way if we need an ice pack I can grab one out of the car and get it on the bruise asap. The quicker you can get cold on it, the less blood leaks into the tissue and therefore faster the bruise heals. The quicker it heals then the faster we are back to fighting 100%.
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