To be worried about my (male) friend's bruise?

[TheFlyingFauxPas]

My lovely friend showed me this bruise on his upper arm. He has no idea how he got it. It doesn't hurt when he presses it. No DV or anything like that. Does anyone have any idea why he would bruise like this with no obvious cause? I'm rather worried about him. He's pretty chilled about it but gave me permission to share with the wise folk on here.

Has he been ceilidh dancing? (serious question!)

I doubt it @mawbroon but thanks for the reply.

Any signs of a puncture wound/bite?

Does he normally bruise easily?

Archery?
I got a beauty just there when I misfired my bow and the string hit my arm. It went aubergine

Has he given blood recently?

Dh ended up with a whopper once, and as it only appeared a few days after he donated we didn't immediately make the link.

If not, I think he needs to man up and go and have some blood tests. Could be nothing, might be something.

Paint Balling?

If it's a once off, it's probably just one of those things where your body has reacted harder than expected to some impact you don't even remember.

If he finds he bruises a lot more frequently than he used to, a GP visit is in order. He could have something like low platelets or another disorder that could potentially be serious. So maybe be watchful for more bruising in the coming days/weeks, but otherwise I suspect it's one of life's mysteries.

It looks exactly like a bruise I got from playing Wii tennis when an overenthusiastic partner accidentally walloped my arm with the remote control.

Looks like a contraceptive implant bruise.

Unlikely on a bloke tho, obviously.

I had ones like that on my thighs. I was scratching an itchy leg, looked down and saw these huge bruises coming up before my eyes. The helpful pharmacist suggested septecemia but it was nothing. The only other time I had one like that was on my backside when I got whacked with a squash ball. Oh and on my foot when I broke me to, back when I fell over a balcony, forehead when I tripped over a dog, knee when I tripped over the kerb, cheek when I ran around a corner and whacked straight into someone's head...

I'm very accident prone...

First thing I said was doors - I'm always hurting myself on doors :-(

Could be a bite from a spider or similar.

My dad for a spectacular bruise on his ankle years ago (though his was painful) saw the GP who looked at it and said it was a spider bite - showed him the puncture marks with the magnifying glass. Honestly, you would not believe the amount of bruising causes by a relatively small spider - happened in the UK by the way - no where exotic!

Very pretty. Looks like some kind of nebula in space. Maybe aliens are showing us where they live by creating maps on him?

One bruise and I'd say 'shit happens'. Another bruise and I'd be at the doctors sharpish.

I was also going to suggest the low platelet thing. My sister realised a few years back that she was getting a lot of bruises for no reason, big nasty ones at that. It turns out she has a condition that I think Is caused by a virus. If he starts to notice them regularly he should make a go appointment

If there's no pain or swelling I wouldn't be overly concerned - if unexplained bruises become a regular occurrence then I'd visit a GP.

I wouldn't over-react to one bruise. I'm forever banging against the furniture and stuff, and getting fantastic bruises.

If it became a regular occurrence, though, and he can't remember how he did any of them, I'd consult a GP.

If I were your friend I would go to the doctor.

I can see a smiling face with an aura of yellow and purple around it, surely a sign of good things to come.

Has he been inebriated recently?

That's an unusual pattern bruise.

Unless he's had blood taken recently, I think he should pop along to the GP.

Is he on steroids?

I had one almost exactly like that, but bigger, in about the same place last year. I knocked against the kind of cornice thing in the hall as I walked in the living room door, thought, ow, then got the shock of my life the next day. It must have just been the way it caught me. It was last summer, so short-sleeve time, and I can remember my DP being really embarrassed when the man serving in the Co-op was giving him serious side eye.

Has he been walking in a forest where there could be ticks? It's not very likely, but a chance of Lyme's disease??? If he gets a fever or other symptoms, I would go to the GP or OOH.

Does he ever sleepwalk?

Lyme disease presents in the very beginning as a bullseye type rash around the site of a tick bite and is very distinctive.

This, is a bruise.

It looks like it could be a few bruises joined together because of the colours ,I used to be a dementia care nurse and bruises change colour over the days some parts look newish and some parts look a few days older.