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Original poster

EXTREME BRUISING after blood test?

17 replies

Happymum73058 · 27/11/2021 15:56

Hey everyone I had my bloods taken on Monday by the midwife (experiences midwife of over 10 years) she's brilliant, she did everything as normal the whole keeping the pressure on where the needle entered etc, and it didn't hurt at all. The next day the bruising was really bad, and he's been getting gradually worse since! It's not 5 days post blood tests, and the bruise looks horrendous (I will attach pic)

Does anybody else get this? Going on Wednesday for bloods alongside 12 weeks scan, so will ask the nurse there what she thinks too.

P.s - pic is from today

OP posts:

LakeShoreD · 27/11/2021 15:59

Yep I had this. Child I was pregnant with at the time is now 4 and I still can’t have blood taken from that arm as all the veins are crap! Supposedly an experienced midwife too, no idea what she did.

tintodeverano2 · 27/11/2021 16:05

I get this nearly every time I have bloods done! No rhyme or reason to why.

bookworm1982 · 27/11/2021 21:57

Yes, this happens a lot to me. Alarmed the first time I saw it but not bothered the last few times as I know it's nothing to worry about xx

Icequeen01 · 27/11/2021 22:06

My poor mum gets this every time she has bloods taken or has an injection. You should have seen the state of her arm after her Covid booster!

alaisnskakak · 27/11/2021 22:12

I get this too, nothing to worry about and seems to happen at random when I have blood taken. I had three lots of blood taken from different places on Thursday, one is horrendously bruised and the other two are fine. All done in the same way.

Lils11 · 27/11/2021 22:15

Did you bend your elbow afterwards? I did the first time my midwife took my blood and she told me not to because it would bruise and true enough, I had a massive bruise the next day.
Might just be coincidental though?

Melroses · 27/11/2021 22:18

This happens to me every time they use the arm with the nice obvious veins, so I always give them the other one now.

So far it seems to have worked .

Luckingfovely · 27/11/2021 22:27

Just keep an eye on it - draw round it so that you can monitor how far it is spreading.

If it keeps getting larger you need medical help - I had this once, the bruise spread from wrist to shoulder and I ended up with blood poisoning.

I bruise every time I have blood taken anyway, but it should stop spreading within a day.

TheBareTree · 27/11/2021 22:37

I don’t think that is extreme bruising. I get that every time, my mum and dad do too. I don’t think it’s uncommon.

AurevoirLesEnfants · 27/11/2021 22:39

Yes, I've had worse than that. Also while pregnant. The marks went all the way up my arm to about my armpit. The mw who took mine was inexperienced though, and it did hurt a little bit.

takemetomars · 27/11/2021 22:39

@Happymum73058

Does anybody else get this? Going on Wednesday for bloods alongside 12 weeks scan, so will ask the nurse there what she thinks too.

P.s - pic is from today

That's not particularly extreme. Next time, no bending your arm up after the test even if you are pressing on the cotton wool. Keep arm straight and press for at least 5 mins. You can keep pressing outside of the room if she doesn't want you to stay in there

mineofuselessinformation · 27/11/2021 22:40

The nurse blew the vein when they drew your blood.
In layman's terms, that means when they inserted or withdrew the needle, they tore the vein, which bled into the surrounding tissue. That's why you have the bruise you do (which looks like it's healing).
In the grand scheme of things, it's not serious. But, if you are likely to need a lot of blood tests, you might want to ask for someone who is more experienced.
Before anyone shoots me down, I have a DC who had a very serious autoimmune disease (thankfully in remission, but they now have a lesser one which still seriously impacts their life). We learnt very quickly (because DC had so many blood tests, the record was set at 17 separate vials and so their veins got scarred quite soon), that some medical practitioners are very skilled at taking blood, others not so much so.
I am also a 'good bleeder' and can very quickly tell the difference between a good phlebotomy practitioner and a bad one.

HalloHello · 27/11/2021 22:41

I wouldn't be too worried although it is a nasty bruise! Sometimes the bleeding stops coming out the hole but continues into the tissues, especially if the needle went right through the other side of the vein if you see what I mean. It will settle eventually.

Try not to bend your arm straight after your blood test, that can help reduce bruising.

RainBow725 · 27/11/2021 22:43

Ask to go to the phlebotomists next time. I wouldn't let the midwives do it after the first couple when I looked like that. Some people just have tricky veins.

SquigglePigs · 27/11/2021 22:45

I did that pretty much every time when I had blood taken when I was pregnant. Lots of different nurses. My veins are really hard to get to. Took three of them once! It heals though. They got the anaesthetist to do it when I went in for my section!

Glinsk · 27/11/2021 22:53

I've had that. It's often down to who did it. A phlebotomist who takes blood all day is much less likely to make a mess of it than a nurse or doctor who only does it occasionally.

baroqueandblue · 29/11/2021 20:58

That looks grim, OP. I learned years ago that dabbing neat (good quality, organic if possible) tea tree oil on the puncture site after the test works wonders to reduce bruising. Do it as soon after as you can, and reapply every 3 or 4 hours for a day or so. And if you want to make extra sure, take a dose of arnica before your test and doses every 2 or 3 hours afterwards for a day or so. It works. But the tea tree oil on its own is often enough.

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