Are these bruises excessive in a sporty active 12 year old?

[pharmachameleon]

My 12 year old DS is super active, sporty but clumsy and often has bruises on his legs. He was at scout camp this weekend and when he was going into the bath tonight I was shocked with the state of his legs. They are completely covered in bruises but they are a reddish colour too. Should I be worried? They are only on the bottom of his legs and nowhere else on his body.
I'm trying to put the thought out of my head and not think about awful blood diseases. Anyone else have a child with so many bruises? I should add he's blonde and really pale usually.

My legs looked like that after doing a tough mudder…which is probably similar to a scout camp! Never any harm in raising it to the GP but some people do just bruise more easily/visibly then others.

Thanks everyone. The photos of his camp were shared and it looks as if it was super active. In one photo they are wading through fast flowing water with massive big boulders (I presume this is ghyll scrambling) and in another they are climbing up huge logs suspended in the air from ropes. All bruise inducing I think.
He's definitely not being bullied. I know all the kids he's away with and they are all really good friends. He's been involved in fights before once or twice and has told me straight away. He would fight back 100% if anyone kicked him or punched him.

My legs used to be like this. My mum took me to the GP and it checked out fine.
I would take him to the GP to be sure, they will just do some blood tests. But it is probably just normal bruising.

Ah, the description of the activities would certainly correlate with that kind of bruising IMO. Take lots of photos and save them. Just keep an eye on him, maybe photos every week at the same time for a few weeks? See if there's a pattern?

They look exactly the same as my 12 year old sons shins! Constantly covered in bruises and he never knows what from. If you're worried get it checked but I think they look like a normal regular pattern of "boy bruises". Sinister bruising is in odd places.

That’s a lot of bruises OP! But if they’re just on his legs and nowhere else I think you’re ok, my DD3 has leukaemia and her legs looked like that just before she was diagnosed but so did everywhere else - they were popping up all over her practically as I watched with no explanation and she also had petichiae (pinprick rash). I’d take him to be checked just in case but if it’s localised and explainable then I think he’s probably fine!

Id put money on the fact he got them ghyll scrambling, possibly crawling through a section hence the tiny pebble shaped ones. I was covered in bruises when I did it.

I would keep an eye on them but brush these ones off as caused by an active weekend. If he plays rugby he is likely to have frequent bruises too, DD is regularly covered on knees and legs from tackling and accidently being 'studded'.

I'd agree most likely ghyll scrambling. If he's been crawling across rocks that would explain symmetrical bruises just below the knees.
Also any of those high ropes/assault course things they do could have similar symmetrical impacts.

Or girl bruises. My legs were the same at his age.

Thanks everyone. You've put my mind at rest and I'll keep a good eye on them. @fuckwhatshouldido hope your DD is doing ok-so sorry for her and your family.

As a scout leader I would be mortified if I sent a child home with bruising like that! We do activities that are physically challenging but imo we shouldn't be damaging children!

My dd bruises easily (just her, no underlying medical issues) and she's never come home from camp like that!

If it was my child I think I would be contacting the GP to get some blood tests done just to be sure nothing else was going on

I would get checked out at the Dr just in case, but not panic because most likely it was just a tough and tumble trip. Always always always better to be safe than sorry though.

@whojamaflip aww I really don't blame anyone, especially the scout leaders. My DS is completely fearless and accident prone so not a good combination! He's always covered in bruises but they don't look so bad somehow when he has a bit of a suntan on his legs. He's not had shorts on for a month or so so his legs are white just now.

Climbing suspended logs would do that. Haul yourself up, kneel on it before getting you footing (straight bruise), lose your footing, land on knees on log, fall off, log swings and whacks you across the shins. Can you tell I've done this

Does he or either one of his parents bruise easily or bleed longer than expected?

@StamppotAndGravy ouch!! I'd never do that activity as an adult 😂 Good for you.
I bruise like a peach. I'm chalk white and if I brush past something I bruise. Gah! It's rubbish!

Never hurts to get him checked out. Some people just bruise easily.

While you have a plausible cause given his camp activities, I would still follow up. Does he feel pain in a normal way? I might also just check his pain receptors that usually help keep us from getting too banged up are fully functional.

So take a look at this. It's very specific to get diagnosed and often GPs don't order the correct test or dismiss it (my dad had to pay for tests, that then triggered the NHS diagnosing the rest of us).

www.nhs.uk/conditions/von-willebrand-disease/

I would definitely ask the GP about this. The bruises in the picture do look excessive to me, even for an energetic / roughish activity.
The reason I am saying this is because my husband always bruised very easily. He would often come back from rugby on a Saturday afternoon completely battered with marks all over him. Of course, we didn't think much of it 'because rugby'!
He recently went for the check you are invited to by our surgery at age 40. His blood tests revealed he has low platelets. He's been referred to Hematology as the cause cannot be determined at present. Sometimes they do not know what causes it and it's just the way you are. However, if they are too low, if you have a bad injury, it is very dangerous. You can be bleeding internally and not know.
The good thing is that children can "grow out" of this condition. If it appears in adulthood, it is more likely to be chronic.
I don't mean to sound dramatic but I think it is worth a doctors visit. The condition would only be dangerous if you didn't actually know, so better to confirm.
Just generally though, medical conditions aside, I think 12 years old is a bit young to come back from an activity looking like this. Prior to the low platelets discovery, I didn't think anything when my husband had these type of bruises and injuries from sport, but I wouldn't be comfortable with my young sons (10 and 6) coming home like this.

@OneFrenchEgg interesting. Thanks for linking. He gets nosebleeds fairly often too. In fact he often doesn't tell me about nosebleeds and just deals with them on his own as he's so used to getting them. I'll call the GP and ask for bloods I think.

I would make very clear what test you want - my dad was stalled with one okay result and had to pay for the correct test privately. We are all under the haemophilia centre just because it sits in that group (much less severe obviously) of conditions.

Von Willebrand to some degree is thought to be a reasonably common disease that is often undiagnosed. But there is no treatment.
It is why though dentists now ask you if you have a history of bleeding for a while say after a tooth has been removed, or if you bruise easily. They need to know.
For most people with this it causes no issues. It is the kind of thing to mention before surgery or other medical treatment where you could bleed. And especially mention it if you are pregnant. But it is more so they can keep a bit of any eye on you.
I suspect I had this. I frequently had legs like your sons and very frequent nosebleeds as well/ My father was the same. But it got better as I grew into an adult.

I read up on Von Willebrand and decided there was no point seeking a diagnosis by the way. As there is no treatment.

Wow they look excessive. I have 3 sporty boys and they always end up covered in bruises but not this much.

I think you need to get him a blood test just to make sure that is all good. Does he bruise easy all his life?

This is not true.
I have treatment as do my children.