Anatomy of a Bruise

“A bruise (medically referred to as a contusion) is caused when tiny blood vessels are damaged or broken as the result of a blow to the skin (be it bumping against something or hitting yourself with a hammer). The raised area of a bump or bruise results from blood leaking from these injured blood vessels into the tissues as well as from the body's response to the injury. A purplish, flat bruise that occurs when blood leaks out into the top layers of skin is referred to as an ecchymosis” (http://www.medicinenet.com/bruises/article.htm).

The day before I turned 45, I counted the bruises on my body.  No less than 26 that I could see.  I have received most of those since started training to drive a motor coach.  I’ve fallen down on ice, knocked traffic cones into my ankles while unloading them, and bumped my shins on the coach steps, run into interior parts of the coach with my thighs and calves.  And my hands and arms have been bashed when hitting tires with a hex bar, and checking between the duals.  A few have been caused by Jeff playfully poking me in the arm.

 They say that as one ages, the more prone to bruising he or she becomes, because of aging capillaries, and thinning skin.  It doesn’t look like my “fatty layer’ has changed…it’s still alive and well….

Oh well, I guess bruising is a fact of life with me.  It will continue to be as I age.  At least they are physical bruises, from “sticks and stones”…I haven’t received any to the heart.

“A torn jacket is soon mended, but hard words bruise the heart of a child”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow