HOW did this even happen 😭 and the strangest thing was, this was the least painful blood drawing i’ve ever had. (this is around 9 hours after) i hope i don’t need to be concerned…
All I can say is shit happens. Sorry to sound flippant, I'm not being that. I am a really hard stick, time to break out the ultrasound to find a vein. Sometimes a tiny bit a blood leakage & bruising looks horrific. It'll go away, just don't look for a week or 3. Hope it heals fast!
Perhaps they went through the vein and out the other side or something, hmm. Definitely don't think it's an issue but kinda strange it happened like that
i had this happen to me when the nurse missed my vein twice. i had to tell her what vein worked best last time so i didnt keep getting popped like a balloon.
They blew your vein when they stuck you with the needle. So it was leaking into your tissues while they were (I guess) still getting some out into the vials.
I need blood work every 3 months. I was going to a LabCorp for a while, but after the third hematoma in like 5 visits, I switched labs. Haven't had one since. There's clearly some skill involved, and not everyone "qualified" to draw blood necessarily has it.
It’s not bad at all really. It just means that the needle has gone through the other side of the vein, making another exit point for your blood. So you have blood being “siphoned” from the needle, as well as some leaking out into your tissues, which causes the bruise. But it’s not dangerous, it doesn’t really hurt, even the bruise itself didn’t hurt in my case. Just was there lol. Still was a successful donation and wasn’t anything to be worried about. It did take a while for the bruise to go away though, it lingered 😂
This type of bruising happened to me (well, slightly worse cause the bruise extended to the other side too) when a nurse destroyed my vein and rammed the needle into my muscle. I started asking for someone experienced after that incident cause they had to poke me twice that day 🙃
That would be my guess without knowing anything about it. Does that mean they poked it multiple times or moved it while it was in making the hole too wide or went out the back?
They could have gone through the other side and then backed it out a little bit to be back in the vein which is why it leaked from that side but you'd still get blood into the vials. I thought this was a blood draw, it might have been a donation. I wasn't paying attention
Internal bleed. Whoops. I had abdominal surgery and received two units of blood the next day. I was still crazy anemic after but they let me go home. The next day navel to groin was completely this shade of purple. You'll be fine!
now that i think about it i don’t think it was long at all; i was super distracted because i was about to have oral surgery so my memory is foggy but yeah i don’t think they put pressure on it long enough 😖
That might explain the bruising actually. Ibuprofen messes with your platelets a bit. Not to the same degree as most “blood thinners,” but maybe enough to explain this
Agree. This can “just happen” from blood draws without other factors (from what I’ve seen, usually not such a big bruise though, but I am NOT a medical professional—only someone who sees a lot of doctors and specialists and has had a million and one tests done). But blood thinning meds like ibuprofen are a big reason in the absence of other reasons. Just keep in mind to get checked out if things worsen or feel painful or hot, OP!
Omg, you poor kid! That happens to me a lot bc I have deep rolling veins. Some plebotomists just can't find a decent vein even using the butterfly needle. I give them 3 chances, no more. Then I tell them to get another nurse!! By the time I go home I am blck and blue and purple all over the place! It's awful. You should always ice it down wjen you get home!
I got a bruise like this from internal bleeding from a sprained ankle once, i didnt even know until after i took my cast off 1 month later and half my foot was purple. My mom freaked out but it didnt hurt and we knew it was from the sprained ligament leaking blood around. Guess it really stains for a while, it took another 3 weeks for it to be fully gone
Just a blown vein. Usually nothing to worry about.
Blood thinners, ASA. Ibuprofen, etc., can cause this. Also, not pressing down hard or long enough after they pull the needle as well.
As long as it doesn't continue to grow in size it will be fine. Even with larger needes (like butterfly) it is rare that it will become a concern. If it hurt a lot during and after, then you should.
Good call; it honestly doesn't look bad for a bruise from a blown vein. If I had to bet on it, this will be gone in 2-3 weeks (depending on your long you'll be taking ibuprofen).
Just chill with the arm, don't stress it much for the first couple of days to let those platelets seal up the walls of the vein, and slowly introduce activities you normally would do.
They blew a vein. It happens. As a textile artist, I have to say it’s tempting to save this photo so I can try to find matching spinning fiber, yarn or fabric because the colors are gorgeous. It’s not going to look so gorgeous as it heals, unfortunately. I really hope it doesn’t hurt.
Reminds me of the last time i donated doubles. Vein stopped giving halfway through and the lady just starts grinding the damn needle around like someone fumbling their keys trying to find the keyhole in the dark. Just really digging that needle around till it started going again.
Ended up with a awful black bruise that went up at least 6 or 7 inches from the stick point.
The vein got breached, meaning the needle went all the way through. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it shows… basically a bunch of blood from the vein pools under your skin
You’ll be fine. It appears that they just blew a vein when drawing your blood. You can try applying an ice pack with a cloth wrapped around for 10-15 minutes for the next couple days. Then switch to heat after a couple days. But it should heal just fine,
Lmfao I've had this happen to me only once . The nurse tried to give me the IV like 4 different times . Ended up leaving a perfect oval tho which was interesting .
this happened to me but on a more mild scale. when my old boss didn’t believe me when I took the day off (bc I was so dizzy I couldn’t even really walk) I came into work that friday and he asked what happened. I told him it was bc I got my blood taken and he said he thought I had just used that to get a day or two off. lol
When I get blood draw, they keep pressure on for 5 min to avoid this, sometime I am told sit and hold it and I have to wait. This time no bruise but my kiddo who didnt push hard enough has minor bruise,
They steal 20 viles of blood from me per year, so I am used to it.
quite a few years ago I had to go in for a procedure and be under general anaesthetic... the nurse trying to inject into the back of my hands wasn't very good at all (especially considering I have fairly pronounced veins on my hands), ended up going through both sides of the veins MULTIPLE times, swapped hands and did exactly the same thing - both of the backs of my hands ended up looking like I'd been punching the wall for 30 minutes solid
sometimes you get a nurse who just CANNOT find veins well, and you end up with a "bruise" larger than you could imagine!
This happened to me this year too, twice, done by the same person. The first poke made me wince, and my arm looked like yours. It was really sore for at least a week. I told my doctor, and he said to ask for a butterfly needle. I asked for one at the second draw (same person) and she said ‘you don’t need, it’ll be fine”. It wasn’t. Just had another draw by a different person, didn’t feel a thing, and not a hint of a spot was left.
Don't worry, OP, it looks scary but is purely a cosmetic issue! When I was a teenager I was diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic. During my week long stay at the hospital they had to draw blood so often that after I got discharged the undersides of my forearms were purple from the wrist to the elbow for like a month.
Don't forget old people. I see old people with IV bruises all the time.
I'm female and 85% of the time I get an IV, I get about 3 bruises that look like this (they usually have to stick me 2 or 3 times because they don't listen to me and blow my veins). It took a little bit, but me and my infusion nurse have finally got the routine down.
I've had the same thing happen to me. Internal bleeding as someone has said already. Usually that can happen if directly after blood was drawn, the patient doesn't press or doesn't press long enough with a cotton swab against the spot where they drew blood. Doctors and nurses usually say that but sometime they or patients forget.
I'm guessing that's the problem, at least that was for me when I had the same thing, but there could be a different explanation.
Damn, every time I see people experiencing that I suddenly feel really glad I have very easy to access veins for drawing blood. Hope it heals quickly for you op.
I got the worst bruise of my life (not quite as gnarly as yours) from a routine blood draw in April. And here's something for you to maybe look forward to -- it left a permanent discoloration. Or I guess it remains to be seen if it's permanent, but it's still there eight months on and hasn't changed in appearance in about seven months.
When you were having your blood drawn, did u see what type of red color ur blood was on the bag? Bright red or brownish red? If it was a bright red they must’ve hit an artery instead of the vein, which might explain that type of bruising
I had something similar but it spread across my whole forearm. Initially it was a huge lump maybe the size of a bouncy ball that had been squished. The next day I had swim class and felt a pop that didn’t hurt. That day it spread down my forearm. Over the next couple weeks it changed from purple to yellow as bruises do. I was a waiter at the time and didn’t cover it right away. Some customers were mortified. I would have been too. Kinda gross.
They went through your vein. But even then the bruises normally are not that big. Did they do a lot of sticks or was there a lack of pressure applied afterwards?
A long time ago I had a blood draw that left me with a bruise from halfway to my wrist to halfway to my armpit. I had to put on long sleeves to stop people from staring. But it did go away and nothing like that ever happened again.
This happened to me during a medical study except mine went from halfway from my armpit to my wrist. I don’t know what the nurse was doing but she was having a hell of a time . The amount of times I had to say I wasn’t a crackhead was higher than I liked.
Ah man I had this happen to me multiple times when I did a medical trial for $$$. I’ve had a fear of needles ever since (so I always ask for a sticker)
Did you take any aspirin based pain relief or regularly take any blood thinning medication at all. If the bruise thickens and it becomes very painful or more difficult to bend that bend that arm go get a medical opinion.
If you are concerned can you show said bruise to a pharmacist to get their opinion. It might be worth using arnica bruise cream of you can find it.
Am blood/needle phobic bit had to go for regular blood tests a few years ago. Definitely prefer going to the hospital blood clinic with a blood test form than get a blood test done by the nurses at the surgery. Less pain and bruising but am lucky in living next to a bus route that can take me with one bus change direct to the hospital car park.
Wait until you meet doctor who really can’t take bloods so he has to start poking around the other arm. I was going around with two arms like that. I looked like a heroin addict
It happens, the punctured vessel keeps a slow bleed or keeps opening up. A hint as you get older it happens more. You also get that from IV'S. Experience here, plus my wife 71, mother 92.
Been there. Had a flourescein scan done once. Dark room so they see the monitor better I guess. IV cath popped out of the vein, shoved most of a huge syringe of dye under my skin..looked like a small egg. It went ; "that hurts" ... "Yeah, it stings a little going in" ... "No, it hurts like hell".. flashlight " oh my God I'm sorry". Looked that bad or worse for a week or two, more yellow than that lovely purple and blue you have, jealous.
There is no need to be concerned. It only appears that no one applied even a little bit of pressure to the area after removing the needle. Applying little pressure for even a short time will usually stop the bleeding quick. If you don't apply pressure and then add a lot of arm movement it will bleed quite a lot. It's simply a big bruise. It'll go away soon. If you take any kind of anticoagulation tho, and it keeps spreading.... Then you have reason for concern.
I have had the same they say I have rolling small rolling Viens it looks bad non of the medical team was concerned you can use to to get sympathy or to show how tough you are
That happened to me a few weeks ago at the hospital except it was the most painful blood draw I’ve ever had 😅 it hurt for like a week I couldn’t straighten my arm
Sometimes the bevel of the needle is not quite perfectly sitting in the vein and some blood leaks out around it (not much we can do about that, it's just bad luck), but firm pressure on the site, even after a GOOD blood draw can significantly reduce bruising.
Also, avoid doing a lot of activity that would bring blood flow to the area afterwards (like heavy lifting).
I once gave platelets and this happened to me. I’ve given blood on many occasions, but this was the first time giving, (and last) I don’t know if my huge bruising happened when they replaces the red cells, but I was not happy. It went all the way over the edge of my arm.
It happens sometimes. the needle goes through the vein, there's not enough pressure applied after the needle is removed, or sometimes "just because." Neither the fault of you or your phlebotomist.
Recently had this with an IV, the bruise is going to get super tender in the next couple days. I found iceing it for a few mins on and off throughout the day seemed to help.
My veins are extremely difficult to spot, so every time they have to get a sample of my blood they never hit a vein from the first time, and I end up with internal bleeding like this 💀
This happened to me. The guy was new. He tried in each warm l arm, couldn't get enough blood, and I was about to pass out from anxiety so they had me lay down and got another guy to do it right. I had two huge bruises on my forearms after that. I was terrified to get blood drawn for a long time after, but thankfully I've always had good experiences since then.
It looks like they went through a vein instead of in it. I had blood drawn 3-ish months ago at the emergency room and this happened to me. It took forever for it to look mostly normal again, it's now just a tiny bit of a darker shade than my normal skin tone.
Just in case I'm asked, the emergency visit was for lots of chest pressure that wouldn't go away. Everything turned out fine.
Last time I had blood drawn, as she repeatedly couldn’t find that inner elbow vein I said “why can’t it be taken from here?”, pointing to the big fat obvious vein in my hand. She said “well, I could” and proceeded to effortlessly draw three vials. I feel like people aren’t really encouraged to think outside the box in medicine.
Did they run out of needles and have to beat it out of you?
LOL somehow this was only from one needle
Are you ok?
I had this happen this year, too. My veins have been blown like a balloon so many times.
Please be careful
yes! it hasn’t hurt at all since i got it ; tysm!!
🙏 😘
All I can say is shit happens. Sorry to sound flippant, I'm not being that. I am a really hard stick, time to break out the ultrasound to find a vein. Sometimes a tiny bit a blood leakage & bruising looks horrific. It'll go away, just don't look for a week or 3. Hope it heals fast!
When the 'vatmobile' creates the problem
Perhaps they went through the vein and out the other side or something, hmm. Definitely don't think it's an issue but kinda strange it happened like that
i had this happen to me when the nurse missed my vein twice. i had to tell her what vein worked best last time so i didnt keep getting popped like a balloon.
Aw shit we’re out of needles… shame. Puts on boxing gloves.
Gloves are too soft. takes out hammer
They blew your vein when they stuck you with the needle. So it was leaking into your tissues while they were (I guess) still getting some out into the vials.
This. I donate blood frequently and this type of bruise has only happened once because they’d blown a vein.
I need blood work every 3 months. I was going to a LabCorp for a while, but after the third hematoma in like 5 visits, I switched labs. Haven't had one since. There's clearly some skill involved, and not everyone "qualified" to draw blood necessarily has it.
So how bad is this?
It’s not bad at all really. It just means that the needle has gone through the other side of the vein, making another exit point for your blood. So you have blood being “siphoned” from the needle, as well as some leaking out into your tissues, which causes the bruise. But it’s not dangerous, it doesn’t really hurt, even the bruise itself didn’t hurt in my case. Just was there lol. Still was a successful donation and wasn’t anything to be worried about. It did take a while for the bruise to go away though, it lingered 😂
Oh "blowing a vein" makes it sound so terrifying while it's all just a puncture
not bad per se but fuck is it unpleasant to feel and look at
This type of bruising happened to me (well, slightly worse cause the bruise extended to the other side too) when a nurse destroyed my vein and rammed the needle into my muscle. I started asking for someone experienced after that incident cause they had to poke me twice that day 🙃
Dude I have hemophilia and I don’t get bruises like that unless I hit myself with a bat.
That would be my guess without knowing anything about it. Does that mean they poked it multiple times or moved it while it was in making the hole too wide or went out the back?
They could have gone through the other side and then backed it out a little bit to be back in the vein which is why it leaked from that side but you'd still get blood into the vials. I thought this was a blood draw, it might have been a donation. I wasn't paying attention
Internal bleed. Whoops. I had abdominal surgery and received two units of blood the next day. I was still crazy anemic after but they let me go home. The next day navel to groin was completely this shade of purple. You'll be fine!
OH NO i’m glad everything turned out okay 😭 and it’s relieving to know i’ll be ok too!
How long did you keep putting pressure there after the blood draw?
Next time I'd make sure it's a bit longer lol
now that i think about it i don’t think it was long at all; i was super distracted because i was about to have oral surgery so my memory is foggy but yeah i don’t think they put pressure on it long enough 😖
No length of pressure would have prevented this lol. They did you dirty 😂
Hope you'll get through the surgery without any problems mate!
But yeah, generally the nurse/phlebotomist will instruct patients to keep pressure there for 5 minutes or so and most just...don't.
However, it's also possible/likely that they could have poked the other side of the vein.
Probably both, but don't worry, this is a purely cosmetic issue. It will gradually fade away.
Pressure wouldn't have helped at that point, the nurse blew the vein.
I have my blood drawn every 3 months and I don't think I've ever applied pressure longer than 15seconds. I didn't even know this was a possibility.
thats where the blood is supposed to be duh
it looks like a new galaxy born
Literally came here to congratulate OP on his sweet space tattoo.
Armdromeda
Its called infiltration the needle went through your vein. Hence the excess bleeding.
[removed]
i think mosquitoes do that to me whenever i go out in the summer
That so rough, I literally thought it was a shitty tattoo while scrolling until I saw the post. You ok homie???
i’m ok! it doesn’t even hurt! (but that might also be because i’m on 800mg of ibuprofen because i got a dental extraction + implant today)
That might explain the bruising actually. Ibuprofen messes with your platelets a bit. Not to the same degree as most “blood thinners,” but maybe enough to explain this
ohh even if i took the ibuprofen two hours after the procedure? i thought the vein would’ve been healed/clotted by then
Idk, did the bruising start before or after you took it?
before! here’s a pic from earlier
https://preview.redd.it/rc52za8wdb6g1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fadb2c3cf87d07762a1cd8e3dd210d390e22a356
Hatchi matchi, I’m not sure, dude. Hope that ibuprofen is helping with the dental pain
ty, it is! my mouth is actually feeling super okay rn :}
Agree. This can “just happen” from blood draws without other factors (from what I’ve seen, usually not such a big bruise though, but I am NOT a medical professional—only someone who sees a lot of doctors and specialists and has had a million and one tests done). But blood thinning meds like ibuprofen are a big reason in the absence of other reasons. Just keep in mind to get checked out if things worsen or feel painful or hot, OP!
mhmm. especially with the stress of a procedure taking resources away to the mouth.
Omg, you poor kid! That happens to me a lot bc I have deep rolling veins. Some plebotomists just can't find a decent vein even using the butterfly needle. I give them 3 chances, no more. Then I tell them to get another nurse!! By the time I go home I am blck and blue and purple all over the place! It's awful. You should always ice it down wjen you get home!
ohh i didn’t know about icing it! thank you so much for the advice 🥺
Oh you are most welcome 💖
Oh man, mine always hurt the few days before they go yellow.
The last time my veins were blown it took like 10 or 11 days for the bruise to finally fade. I have an album full of blown veins
https://preview.redd.it/pjhsa8modb6g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=15a766774e8fe49673969829061d4a0215b2c03e
AH i hope that doesn’t hurt omg :’( we’re in the crazy bruising club
https://preview.redd.it/ie52gmxscb6g1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=690eff50124cffd7854deb71b579917a62cde1db
Same here man
I got a bruise like this from internal bleeding from a sprained ankle once, i didnt even know until after i took my cast off 1 month later and half my foot was purple. My mom freaked out but it didnt hurt and we knew it was from the sprained ligament leaking blood around. Guess it really stains for a while, it took another 3 weeks for it to be fully gone
Whoever drew this is a terrible artist. Doesn't look like vials at all
Just a blown vein. Usually nothing to worry about.
Blood thinners, ASA. Ibuprofen, etc., can cause this. Also, not pressing down hard or long enough after they pull the needle as well.
As long as it doesn't continue to grow in size it will be fine. Even with larger needes (like butterfly) it is rare that it will become a concern. If it hurt a lot during and after, then you should.
thank you sm!! i drew some marks around the perimeter with a thin sharpie; i’ll see if it changes!
Good call; it honestly doesn't look bad for a bruise from a blown vein. If I had to bet on it, this will be gone in 2-3 weeks (depending on your long you'll be taking ibuprofen).
Just chill with the arm, don't stress it much for the first couple of days to let those platelets seal up the walls of the vein, and slowly introduce activities you normally would do.
Is it still getting bigger?
i don’t think so, but i’ll look at it in a few hours and compare to this pic 🤔
If you ever need to know that, outline it with a pen and write the time next to that line.
Going to say the same!
What did they draw it with a vampire?
https://preview.redd.it/su1992ocqb6g1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1beb57b052710440b7eaa406c49f28cd3d8ef336
They blew a vein. It happens. As a textile artist, I have to say it’s tempting to save this photo so I can try to find matching spinning fiber, yarn or fabric because the colors are gorgeous. It’s not going to look so gorgeous as it heals, unfortunately. I really hope it doesn’t hurt.
OMG wait i love that idea , please feel free to use the pic!! that color combo does sound super pretty for fabric
Reminds me of the last time i donated doubles. Vein stopped giving halfway through and the lady just starts grinding the damn needle around like someone fumbling their keys trying to find the keyhole in the dark. Just really digging that needle around till it started going again.
Ended up with a awful black bruise that went up at least 6 or 7 inches from the stick point.
AUUGH that sounds so painful omg .. im glad you survived that :’) and somehow this happened to my arm even though there was no digging around ❕❔
I see the back end of a bulldog who is looking a bit to the left. That white spot with the dot is...
The vein got breached, meaning the needle went all the way through. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it shows… basically a bunch of blood from the vein pools under your skin
ooo interesting! is it anything to be concerned with?
No, it’ll go away! The area might just be sore for a while
Cold compress for the first 24 hrs, warm compress beyond 24 hrs.
Unfortunately, the bruising happens with some frequency.
You’ll be fine. It appears that they just blew a vein when drawing your blood. You can try applying an ice pack with a cloth wrapped around for 10-15 minutes for the next couple days. Then switch to heat after a couple days. But it should heal just fine,
Did you have a vampire draw the blood?
Once the nurse couldn't find my vein, it took 5 tries and my arm looked like this afterwards.
Looks like 1-2 viles leaked under the skin
Lmfao I've had this happen to me only once . The nurse tried to give me the IV like 4 different times . Ended up leaving a perfect oval tho which was interesting .
DAM! Was Darren Aronofsky the technician?
Looks like something out of Requiem for a Dream.
Hope you ok!
They're drawn alright, across the surface of your arm!
this happened to me but on a more mild scale. when my old boss didn’t believe me when I took the day off (bc I was so dizzy I couldn’t even really walk) I came into work that friday and he asked what happened. I told him it was bc I got my blood taken and he said he thought I had just used that to get a day or two off. lol
more mild??! that sounds more extreme to me!! i’m glad you didn’t get hurt or anything worse
They punctured a vein.
that sucks, hope it doesn’t hurt too much.
Internal bleeding, probably pierced through the other side of your vein.
Blood drawn with what? A fucking ballpeen hammer?
Did you get your blood pressure checked afterwards using that arm? The pressure of the cuff can cause internal bleeding after blood draws
WTF, OP. Did they use a dull pickaxe?
Mine does this with an inept phlebotomist. Vein blows, blood pools underneath. I ask for a butterfly and go in the hand.
It happens! It will pass.
That's a whole extra vial spilled right into your arm
beautiful Andromeda galaxy tattoo
When I get blood draw, they keep pressure on for 5 min to avoid this, sometime I am told sit and hold it and I have to wait. This time no bruise but my kiddo who didnt push hard enough has minor bruise,
They steal 20 viles of blood from me per year, so I am used to it.
The sign Dr. Dracula on the door should have warned you.
Did they suck it out from you or what?
A nurse once couldn’t find a vein in my arm so decided to take the blood from my thigh. This happened, but about double the size. I wasn’t impressed.
The nurse in question:
https://i.redd.it/247cs9e60d6g1.gif
You were butchered.
quite a few years ago I had to go in for a procedure and be under general anaesthetic... the nurse trying to inject into the back of my hands wasn't very good at all (especially considering I have fairly pronounced veins on my hands), ended up going through both sides of the veins MULTIPLE times, swapped hands and did exactly the same thing - both of the backs of my hands ended up looking like I'd been punching the wall for 30 minutes solid
sometimes you get a nurse who just CANNOT find veins well, and you end up with a "bruise" larger than you could imagine!
I’ve actually had this before
This happened to me this year too, twice, done by the same person. The first poke made me wince, and my arm looked like yours. It was really sore for at least a week. I told my doctor, and he said to ask for a butterfly needle. I asked for one at the second draw (same person) and she said ‘you don’t need, it’ll be fine”. It wasn’t. Just had another draw by a different person, didn’t feel a thing, and not a hint of a spot was left.
Don't worry, OP, it looks scary but is purely a cosmetic issue! When I was a teenager I was diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic. During my week long stay at the hospital they had to draw blood so often that after I got discharged the undersides of my forearms were purple from the wrist to the elbow for like a month.
Dmn!
I've only ever seen this happen to females.
That, and easily being bruised
Don't forget old people. I see old people with IV bruises all the time.
I'm female and 85% of the time I get an IV, I get about 3 bruises that look like this (they usually have to stick me 2 or 3 times because they don't listen to me and blow my veins). It took a little bit, but me and my infusion nurse have finally got the routine down.
I looked like that after a blood draw when pregnant.
I used to donate blood plasma twice a week for a couple of years and they never had my arm looking like that.
My smooth brain thought you had a tattoo of a steak.
I did 5 once.
I've had the same thing happen to me. Internal bleeding as someone has said already. Usually that can happen if directly after blood was drawn, the patient doesn't press or doesn't press long enough with a cotton swab against the spot where they drew blood. Doctors and nurses usually say that but sometime they or patients forget. I'm guessing that's the problem, at least that was for me when I had the same thing, but there could be a different explanation.
Omg I’m so sorry - I always get bruised when I get blood drawn, or an IV or anything too! But it’s never been THAT bad! 😰 hopefully it heals quickly!
Damn, every time I see people experiencing that I suddenly feel really glad I have very easy to access veins for drawing blood. Hope it heals quickly for you op.
Ah i see they gave you the trainee...
This is for r/extremelyinfuriating bro
Jeez, did they accidentally hit an artery? That looks rough.
I got the worst bruise of my life (not quite as gnarly as yours) from a routine blood draw in April. And here's something for you to maybe look forward to -- it left a permanent discoloration. Or I guess it remains to be seen if it's permanent, but it's still there eight months on and hasn't changed in appearance in about seven months.
Sweet tat
Tf!!!!! I've dropped 34 tubes of blood and didn't deal with that shit
When you were having your blood drawn, did u see what type of red color ur blood was on the bag? Bright red or brownish red? If it was a bright red they must’ve hit an artery instead of the vein, which might explain that type of bruising
Ooof.
Infiltration. Needle poked all the way through a vein, probably hurt and let the blood leak out around the surrounding tissue and leave a bruise.
When I was in elementary school our milk came in bags with pointy straws. Sometimes you would stab the bag too hard and go through the other side.
Came concept but with your vein.
This can happen if you don’t keep pressure on the puncture site, especially if you’re a bleeder, and/or you bump the site.
Are you around your period time?? This usually happens when I’m close or just starting 🤷♀️
Did they have to beat it out of you? Don't fight back next time!
I had something similar but it spread across my whole forearm. Initially it was a huge lump maybe the size of a bouncy ball that had been squished. The next day I had swim class and felt a pop that didn’t hurt. That day it spread down my forearm. Over the next couple weeks it changed from purple to yellow as bruises do. I was a waiter at the time and didn’t cover it right away. Some customers were mortified. I would have been too. Kinda gross.
They went through your vein. But even then the bruises normally are not that big. Did they do a lot of sticks or was there a lack of pressure applied afterwards?
Did they put one back in?
Was your nurse a vampire?
A nurse made a super tiny bruise barely noticeable but was sore for a week and it scared me from getting my blood drawn again for a year.
A long time ago I had a blood draw that left me with a bruise from halfway to my wrist to halfway to my armpit. I had to put on long sleeves to stop people from staring. But it did go away and nothing like that ever happened again.
You can use an ice pack on it for about 24 hours, then switch to warm. And arnicare really does help bruises.
This happened to me during a medical study except mine went from halfway from my armpit to my wrist. I don’t know what the nurse was doing but she was having a hell of a time . The amount of times I had to say I wasn’t a crackhead was higher than I liked.
Ah man I had this happen to me multiple times when I did a medical trial for $$$. I’ve had a fear of needles ever since (so I always ask for a sticker)
It is nothing to be concerned about.
Cause is likely a mix of bad technique / leaving the tourniquet on.
Maybe you are on blood thinners and sprinkle in a bit of bad luck.
Did you lift anything heavy after the blood draw? Did they check to make sure it had stopped bleeding before bandaging it?
That's what my arm looked like after my last blood test. Hurt a lot but nothing to be too worried about.
I think worst to worry about is itching.
You have more blood under your skin than ended up in the vials. I mean, that's normally the case anyway, but this time you can see it
Either they blew the vein or you didn't put enough pressure on the wound afterwards. Lots of afterbleeding here.
Take photos daily. The colour changes are fun.
Did you take any aspirin based pain relief or regularly take any blood thinning medication at all. If the bruise thickens and it becomes very painful or more difficult to bend that bend that arm go get a medical opinion.
If you are concerned can you show said bruise to a pharmacist to get their opinion. It might be worth using arnica bruise cream of you can find it.
Am blood/needle phobic bit had to go for regular blood tests a few years ago. Definitely prefer going to the hospital blood clinic with a blood test form than get a blood test done by the nurses at the surgery. Less pain and bruising but am lucky in living next to a bus route that can take me with one bus change direct to the hospital car park.
The bleeding is internal, that’s where the blood is supposed to be
Wait until you meet doctor who really can’t take bloods so he has to start poking around the other arm. I was going around with two arms like that. I looked like a heroin addict
Holy shit that’s a bruise!!!😳😳😳my arm looked like this after chemo and the constant needles they stuck in my arm😭😭
Idk how my eyes didn't fall out of my skull with how wide my eyes got seeing this... Good lawd...
It happens, the punctured vessel keeps a slow bleed or keeps opening up. A hint as you get older it happens more. You also get that from IV'S. Experience here, plus my wife 71, mother 92.
Holy hell.
This looks like the work of a relatively new phlebotomist.
Did they insert the needle and then pull it back just to try again?
Been there. Had a flourescein scan done once. Dark room so they see the monitor better I guess. IV cath popped out of the vein, shoved most of a huge syringe of dye under my skin..looked like a small egg. It went ; "that hurts" ... "Yeah, it stings a little going in" ... "No, it hurts like hell".. flashlight " oh my God I'm sorry". Looked that bad or worse for a week or two, more yellow than that lovely purple and blue you have, jealous.
Holy SHIT
That looks brutal af for a bruise. I'm glad it isn't causing you much pain because it looks excruciating.
it happens sometimes, it’s no concern just doesn’t look pretty 🤷♂️
There is no need to be concerned. It only appears that no one applied even a little bit of pressure to the area after removing the needle. Applying little pressure for even a short time will usually stop the bleeding quick. If you don't apply pressure and then add a lot of arm movement it will bleed quite a lot. It's simply a big bruise. It'll go away soon. If you take any kind of anticoagulation tho, and it keeps spreading.... Then you have reason for concern.
Sick galaxy tat.
They blew up a vein and created a universe on your arm
They could have accidentally punctured another vein but it only left a small hole based off how slow it came out.
I have had the same they say I have rolling small rolling Viens it looks bad non of the medical team was concerned you can use to to get sympathy or to show how tough you are
That happened to me a few weeks ago at the hospital except it was the most painful blood draw I’ve ever had 😅 it hurt for like a week I couldn’t straighten my arm
Was your doctor named Doomfist, perhaps?
What did they use? A harpoon? 😳😳😳
Sometimes the bevel of the needle is not quite perfectly sitting in the vein and some blood leaks out around it (not much we can do about that, it's just bad luck), but firm pressure on the site, even after a GOOD blood draw can significantly reduce bruising. Also, avoid doing a lot of activity that would bring blood flow to the area afterwards (like heavy lifting).
That so rough
i think draining it wit knife and bucket would've had smaller mess...
Are you an apple?
Damn bro, looks like you got a galaxy tattoo
I once gave platelets and this happened to me. I’ve given blood on many occasions, but this was the first time giving, (and last) I don’t know if my huge bruising happened when they replaces the red cells, but I was not happy. It went all the way over the edge of my arm.
Wow...glad it wasn't painful though
Ugh I've been here. It'll take a while to go away but luckily it's winter? It sucks though and it's very annoying.
Did they squeeze it out of you?
looks like you got slapped by a Jellyfish there
It happens sometimes. the needle goes through the vein, there's not enough pressure applied after the needle is removed, or sometimes "just because." Neither the fault of you or your phlebotomist.
Recently had this with an IV, the bruise is going to get super tender in the next couple days. I found iceing it for a few mins on and off throughout the day seemed to help.
Omg!
If you do a really close up photo of the arm it'd count as abstract arm
Been there. 🫤
Phlebotomists should really hand off to a more experienced phlebotomist at the first sign of a problem instead of repeatedly screwing up.
(Looks horrible but it’s just blood right under the skin. Your body will reabsorb it in a week or two.)
My veins are extremely difficult to spot, so every time they have to get a sample of my blood they never hit a vein from the first time, and I end up with internal bleeding like this 💀
fucked by a porkypine.
I once got 18 drawn and basically no bruises. The lady was so good.
Vampire Phlebotomists Never Miss! Find one near you now.
Classic hematoma. Whoever stuck you, missed a bit and caused the internal bleeding.
This happened to me. The guy was new. He tried in each warm l arm, couldn't get enough blood, and I was about to pass out from anxiety so they had me lay down and got another guy to do it right. I had two huge bruises on my forearms after that. I was terrified to get blood drawn for a long time after, but thankfully I've always had good experiences since then.
Did Dracula take out your blood?
The nurse used a plastic straw as a needle.
Omg. This happened to me once in multiple arms. I have rolling veins and the person was new.
It looks like they went through a vein instead of in it. I had blood drawn 3-ish months ago at the emergency room and this happened to me. It took forever for it to look mostly normal again, it's now just a tiny bit of a darker shade than my normal skin tone.
Just in case I'm asked, the emergency visit was for lots of chest pressure that wouldn't go away. Everything turned out fine.
Looks like a Buffalo with wings.
This is not normal, a blown vein shouldn’t have that much bruising
It looks like a galaxy
This IS pretty strange... but if I'm being honest, I've seen...stranger things.
Last time I had blood drawn, as she repeatedly couldn’t find that inner elbow vein I said “why can’t it be taken from here?”, pointing to the big fat obvious vein in my hand. She said “well, I could” and proceeded to effortlessly draw three vials. I feel like people aren’t really encouraged to think outside the box in medicine.