Bruises

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Bruises

You look great in purple shirts, purple suits and purple socks. Purple skin, though, is quite another matter.

Bruises may look nasty and hurt like crazy, but they’re really no big deal. Any time you bump into something sharp or take a fall, you’re likely to develop one. They get their telltale color from blood that pools under the skin after you break a blood vessel.

We’re more likely to develop bruises as we get older, since our skin grows thinner and less able to absorb punishment. Too much exposure to the sun weakens skin, too. And some types of medication can make you bruise more easily.

The natural remedies in this chapter, used with your doctor’s approval, may help reduce the pain and discomfort of a bruise and speed the healing process, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When... You develop unexplained bruises. You notice more serious bruising than usual.

Aromatherapy

Treat bruises with compresses soaked in cool water that has been spiked with four drops of the essential oil helichrysum (also known as immortelle or everlast), recommends Los Angeles aromatic consultant John Steele. “Helichrysum reduces swelling, controls bleeding under the skin and has anti-inflammatory properties,” says Steele. Lavender oil can be substituted for the helichrysum, he adds. He says to use the compresses once or twice a day, leaving them in place for about ten minutes each time.

For severe bruises, apply several drops of undiluted helichrysum directly to the bruise several times a day, suggests Steele. He says to follow this with a cold water compress containing eight to ten drops of helichrysum, leaving the compress on for about ten minutes. Finally, he says, wrap ice cubes in a towel and apply to the bruise. Yarrow, hyssop or lavender essential oil can be substituted for helichrysum, Steele says.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Food Therapy

Eat more peppers, citrus fruits or any other food that’s rich in vitamin C, advises Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition. Vitamin C builds collagen—skin tissue—around blood vessels in the skin, he explains. The quicker collagen is formed, the shorter the healing time of bruises. (For more food sources of vitamin C, see “Getting What You Need” on page 142.)

Herbal Therapy

Try a cream or tincture made from Arnica to help heal a bruise, suggests Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. (These products are available in most health food stores.) According to Dr. Tyler, the dried flower heads of this plant contain chemical compounds that promote healing. For best results, he says, apply the cream or tincture directly to the injured area three or four times a day.

Homeopathy

A dose of Arnica montana is the first remedy most homeopaths would suggest to heal a bruise, says Mitchell Fleisher, M.D., a family practice physician and homeopath in Colleen, Virginia. He suggests taking a 6C dose four to six times a day, a 12C dose three or four times a day or a 30C dose once or twice a day until you begin to see improvement (usually in about two to three days).

If you have a deep bruise in the pelvic area or in the breast, try a 6C dose of Bellis perennis every 20 minutes until you see your doctor, says John G. Collins, N.D., a naturopathic physician and associate professor at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon. If the bruise is not serious, he says, you can continue taking this remedy four times a day for no longer than four days, decreasing the dosage as the bruise begins to heal.

Arnica montana and Bellis perennis can be purchased in many health food stores. To purchase homeopathic remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Hydrotherapy

Clean the bruise with soap and water, then apply a warm compress, suggests Agatha Thrash, M.D., a medical pathologist and co-founder and co-director of Uchee Pines Institute, a natural healing center in Seale, Alabama. Applying a sage tea compress for an hour to overnight speeds the healing of many bruises, according to Dr. Thrash.

To make the compress, Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, suggests soaking gauze in a strong sage tea (available in most health food stores). Wring out the compress and apply it to the bruise, leaving it in place until it cools down. Then resoak the gauze and reapply it to the bruise. Dr. Tyler says to repeat the application for 30 minutes, three times a day.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

“To speed up the healing process, I recommend taking 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C at the earliest sign of a bruise,” says Richard Gerson, Ph.D., author of The Right Vitamins. Daily supplements of 400 international units of vitamin E and 10,000 international units of vitamin A can also help rebuild skin tissue and heal the bruise, says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition.