Also called: Contusion · Ecchymoses
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Bruises
A bruise is a mark on your skin caused by blood trapped under the surface. It happens when an injury crushes small blood vessels but does not break the skin. Those vessels break open and leak blood under the skin.
Bruises are often painful and swollen. You can get skin, muscle and bone bruises. Bone bruises are the most serious.
It can take months for a bruise to fade, but most last about two weeks. They start off a reddish color, and then turn bluish-purple and greenish-yellow before returning to normal. To reduce bruising, ice the injured area and elevate it above your heart. See your health care provider if you seem to bruise for no reason, or if the bruise appears to be infected.
It sits within Skin, Hair and Nails, Injuries and Wounds and Symptoms.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Bruises
95 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Effect of TXA on Reducing Bruising After Filler InjectionUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
- Trauma Molecular ProcessesMario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research
- Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) for Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)Nandan Lad, M.D., Ph.D.
- Baricitinib for Moderate and Severe Traumatic Intracerebral Hemorrhage/ContusionsTang-Du Hospital
- Residual Eccentric Strength Deficits and Deep Scar Tissue Thickness in Patients With Tennis LegAl Hayah University In Cairo
- Non-Invasive Dynamic Monitoring-Guided Oscillation and Lung Expansion for Airway Clearance in Severe Blunt Chest Trauma: A Clinical StudyPeking University People's Hospital
Research already completed
- Bridging the Healing Gap: A Single-Blind Clinical Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Carboxy-gel in Reducing Bruising and Pain Post-LiposuctionTotal Definer Research Group
- Assessment of Pain in Plantar Fasciitis Managed by HistotripsyGCS Ramsay Santé pour l'Enseignement et la Recherche
- Does Unilateral Compression Dressing Reduce Postoperative Swelling and Bruising After Upper Eyelid Blepharoplasty?Fatma Poslu Karademir
- Dermal Wound Closure Using Silkam®Aesculap AG
- Prospective Registry of Anterior Cruciate Ligament ReconstructionsState University of New York at Buffalo
- Phase III Trial to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of TK-254RX in Patients With ContusionsTeikoku Seiyaku Co., Ltd.
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- BruisesNemours Foundation
- Bruising Questions: The What, Why, and How of BruisesNational Institutes of Health
Treatments and Therapies
- Black Eye: First AidMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- Bruises, First AidVisualDX
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: ContusionsNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: HematomaNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Contusions. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Bruises, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.