The formation of blood clots relies on good nutrition, a healthy liver, and healthy bone marrow. If any of these factors are slightly off, bruising can occur more easily. Examples include liver problems caused by heavy drinking or certain types of cancer. It can also be a sign of a rare problem like an inherited bleeding disorder.

Bruises After Drinking FAQs

The liver makes proteins that the blood needs for clotting, so if it’s not doing its does alcohol make you bruise easily job, you may bleed or bruise more easily. It could be a sign that you’ve got a condition called cirrhosis, which is scarring of the liver. Your body uses vitamin C to make collagen, a protein that is the substructure of your blood vessels. It’s rare to have extremely low levels of vitamin C, but when you do, your blood vessels may be weaker.

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If you’re on a blood thinner such as Plavix or Coumadin, you might notice you’re bruising more easily than before starting the medication. The symptoms of hemophilia can be mild or severe, depending on how much clotting factor is present in the affected person’s blood. Depending on the severity and type of hemophilia, bleeding may occur spontaneously (without injury) or after trauma or surgery. Easy bruising can be a sign of an underlying condition and a higher risk of bleeding overall. Risk factors for easy bruising include older age and taking blood-thinning medications. People with hemophilia don’t make much of several blood clotting factors, such as factor VIII and factor IX.

Do older adults bruise more easily?

• Some herbs and supplements can cause you to bleed more easily, either when used alone or in combination with other medications.
• Alcohol is a major contributing factor to liver disease, but the condition can also result from cancer and other health issues.
• Heavy drinking can cause risky sexual behavior and unintended pregnancy.
• A bone marrow biopsy may be needed if doctors suspect a bone marrow disorder.

But some people who develop large bruises, multiple bruises at the same time, or bruises (also called contusions) that happen without a known cause, may have an underlying medical condition. Taking certain medications (aspirin, steroids) and drinking alcohol can also encourage this type of bruising to form. Bruising easily can happen to anyone at any age, but people assigned female at birth are generally at higher risk. Von Willebrand disease, the most prevalent bleeding disorder, affects about 1% of the population. A person with this condition has little or no von Willebrand protein, which is important for blood Sober living home clotting. Synthetic hormone treatment can improve blood clotting in people with the condition.

• Defects in blood vessels usually cause red or purple spots and patches on light skin and brown or dark patches on dark skin, rather than bleeding.
• These conditions can cause organ damage, so if you suspect you have vasculitis, you should go see your doctor.
• People with von Willebrand disease (about 1%-2% of the population have this) make little or no von Willebrand protein, which is important for blood clotting.
• When you bump against an object, your body normally responds by forming clots to stop the bleeding, which prevents bruising.
• Call your doctor if you’re bruising more frequently than usual and if bruising is accompanied by bleeding from anywhere else.
• Put simply, a bruise is a collection of blood underneath the skin, says Tania Elliott, M.D., a clinical instructor of medicine at NYU Langone Health.

If you experience easy bruising with alcohol consumption and there is no apparent cause of the bruising, it’s important to seek medical attention, because you may be experiencing liver disease. Long-term alcohol misuse can lead to numerous health problems. It increases the risk of various types of cancer, as well as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. Another health-related risk linked to chronic alcohol misuse is liver disease, which is often the cause of bruising from alcohol. Almost any medication has the potential to change the way platelets work in the body, López says. Platelets are tiny, disc-shaped cells that play an important role in helping your blood clot.

When to seek medical advice

A doctor can perform tests to see whether a person has a vitamin deficiency. In other cases, an underlying health condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease, may need addressing. In this case, you should go see your doctor to find out what’s going on. On darker skin tones, you may not notice redness at the time of injury. Instead, you may feel a bump under your skin and it may be tender.