Skin bruise spots on arms--I found a solution! (dermatologist, arm, doctor)

[twinkletwinkle22]

I have to post this because such a rare thing happened to me I want to share it haha.

Saw my dermatologist recently and asked what non-invasive treatment I could do for facial age spots.
She RX'd me some lotion to put on overnight with tretinoin in it.

The next week while out of town I noticed my arm had bruises that appeared for no reason.
"Great, I thought. I don't want to pay for another dermo appt" so I looked this up with Dr. Google.
It's called "actinic purpura" no cure, no real danger, something older people get because their skin thins and ages.

But here's the good part--one post on internet said that using retinoin cream could help that condition.
So I gave it a try and OMG bruises disappeared in 3 days.

Bad part is you need an RX (I did) for the cream which means additional cost for doctor to write that. My visit was with PA not doctor and is covered by Medicare. RX is not covered by insurance but they did mail it to me at no charge for mailing.

[Submariner]

A few years ago, one of my friends was getting upset because his skin would tear very easily.

We discussed this and we agreed that for both of us, as we age our skin becomes thin and brittle. I suspect that our skin loses collagen.

Then I heard an internet Dr praising the effects of taking collagen supplements [of course that Dr was trying to market her brand of collagen]. I found a source of powdered collagen online much cheaper as a by-product of the meat packing industry [extracted from beef bones]. For a few months I was taking 2 Tbsp each day of their collagen powder mixed in a cup of beef broth. It was not bad tasting. But after two months I could not tell any difference in my skin thickness or elasticity.

[considerforamoment]

Bruises can also indicate low levels of Vitamin C, so supplementing or making your diet more Vitamin C rich will also help.

[gypsychic]

These "bruises" are common in us older folk. I have thin arms with thin skin (age 74) and get them at the slightest bump. Not much helps; I do buy the arnica cream which helps a little, but haven't really found much that keeps them at bay. When I get them I use a nice "concealer crayon" to make them "disappear."

[twinkletwinkle22]

I told my hubby about my discovery and he's been using it for 2 nights so I asked if it worked for him at all.
He said yes, he had some red spots on his chest and they went away pretty quickly.

Both of us take a multi-vitamin daily so we aren't deficient in any vitamins or minerals and we eat veggies and fruit daily.

I don't take aspirin any more but many years ago (much younger then) I noticed large bruises on my legs. My doctor said that aspirin can make this happen so I quit taking it and no bruises since then until this happened. Yes, mine is older skin but nice to know I have something to heal it quickly.