Hideous bruise from blood test

[TheMithrasDirective]

This isn't normal, is it?! I normally just have a small mark.

Why would this happen? Was the person doing it just not very good at it maybe?

I've had that happen occasionally when having blood taken, several times when I've done all the right things - I just have deep veins that sometimes don't give up the goods easily!

I'd think it was a quite normal reaction to having blood taken 😊

Yes - can happen if the person doing it is bad! I had a massive bruise when the trainee midwife did my bloods.

Yep, sometimes they're not very good. It can also make it worse if you bend your arm afterwards. It's not a problem though, just a bit awkward if you want to wear short sleeves for the next few days!

It's the skill or lack of the phlebotomist. I have lots of blood tests. Sometimes you can hardly see a mark but occaisionally it looks like that and can take 3 weeks to fade.

I had one like that once, the Nurse really poked around before taking blood. I mentioned it to her the next time, so maybe she would be more considerate to both myself and others.

Oh, right. Thanks, all, was slightly worried there was something wrong with me bc it's never done that before!

Long sleeves it is, then

I get that kind of bruise nearly every time!
Once they did the top of my foot and the bruising was spectacular! Even the phlebotomist has given me a bruise bigger than a 50p
( I think phlebotomist is the correct term she was a specialist and was called to do it, when nobody else could last time I was in hospital)

I had this once when I had a student nurse doing it - 3 attempts on one side, 2 on the other. Bruising like your both sides. But she had to learn somewhere.

It can also happen when giving blood - I've had it a couple of times with over 50 donations.

It will clear. It's not something to worry about unless you have any other symptoms. (Faintness, swelling, lots of pain, that sort of thing.)

Were you hydrated- that can make a difference.

i have the Worlds Worst Veins . I will always warn anyone who goes near me with a needle that they will struggle Some see it as a challenge, but I don’t want anyone getting flustered when they try and inevitably fail.

When I was in hospital with many blood tests I looked like I’d been duffed up .
I ended up with a carotid cánula 😯

I had to have blood taken two months running. The first month I went, I had a bruise even worse than yours - it was like a huge black olive on my arm. When I went back a month later it was still there - less black, of course, but really dark. I got the same nurse who huffed and said, "Who on earth did this last time?"

I've had a bruise like that; some people are better at taking blood than others.

I think if you apply pressure to the needle site as soon as the blood is drawn, this bruising is minimised.
It’s unsightly, but not a big issue

I would say that's fairly normal!

Combination of skill and luck. It's not as simple as "bruise = crap person." I'm a consultant anaesthetist. I'm very good at taking blood and getting cannulas in whether others have failed. Sometimes still get a bruise. Something to do with the exact angle the needle hits the vein, the amount of fiddling I have to do to get there, the strength of that particular vessel, how much pressure I/they are able to put on it after. It's less common now than when I was training, but my skill on the person who does get a bruise is no less than on those who don't.

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I very much hope not in the carotid artery! External jugular, maybe.

Mine are always like that as I have terrible veins, really hard to get at. It’s nothing to worry about.

I've still got a mark from a blood test I had in April!

Wow! I have exactly the same and was wondering why too. It's never happened me before.

Sometimes it just happens -nothing to worry about

I once had one like that but it went from inside elbow nearly to my wrist. I think they had to place it a few times and it was sore at the time came out with a bruise and get worse and worse. Took nearly a week to go away. Its never happened again since even when they've had to put it in more than once 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ha. Probably not . I know it was in my neck and had to be done by a surgeon when I was in theatre.

it has 5 tubes coming from it , I jingled 😂

Ah yeah, that'd be a central line - most likely in your internal jugular vein!

Wow, twinsies 😀

Yeah, I probably wasn't very hydrated, actually, think I'd only had a coffee at that point.