Unless yous encase yourself in bubble wrap, you'll never exist trample-proof. Merely you lot tin lessen the likelihood of a small bruise turning into a large one and help the black-and-blue fade quickly. Hither'southward how.

Put The Chill On Bruises

If the peel isn't broken, put ice on any injury that might bruise, advises Monica Halem, Physician. "Ice constricts the blood vessels and prevents more blood from seeping into the skin," she says. A cold pack also minimizes the swelling, numbs the area, and reduces pain. Wrap the water ice pack in a thin material to protect your peel, put it on the bruise as chop-chop every bit possible, and keep information technology there for fifteen minutes. If you suspect the bump will blossom into a severe trample, continue this ice treatment every couple of hours for the starting time 24 hours. Let your pare to warm naturally and don't utilize rut betwixt ice packs.

More: How To Heal Your Bruises A Whole Lot Faster

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Follow Ice With Heat

After 24 hours, use heat to amplify the blood vessels and improve circulation in the area. "Warm compresses volition help speed up the body'southward natural mechanisms for removing the blood in the bruise," says Randy Wexler, MD. (See 7 odd reasons you're bruising hands.)

Keep It Closed And Clean

Leave the skin covering a bruise intact, says Halem. "If the skin is already broken, clean information technology with soap and water, and and so apply an over-the-counter antibody ointment or petroleum jelly," she says. So comprehend it with an adhesive bandage.

Prop Your Feet Up

Bruises are picayune reservoirs of blood. Blood, like whatsoever liquid, runs downhill. If you do a lot of continuing, claret that has collected in a bruise volition seep down through your soft tissues and find other places to puddle. "Elevation will likewise assist ease whatsoever swelling," Halem says.

Add Vitamin C To Your Daily Diet

If you do trample easily, there'due south a possibility you could be deficient in vitamin C. Vitamin C is instrumental in helping build protective collagen tissue around blood vessels in the pare, says Sheldon 5. Pollack, MD. Your face, easily, and feet contain less collagen than, say, your thighs, so bruises in these areas are often darker. If you bruise hands, Pollack suggests 500 milligrams of vitamin C three times a day to assistance build your collagen. Or you can boost your intake by eating foods rich in vitamin C such as citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, and bell peppers.

MORE: 5 Ways Your Healthy Lifestyle Is Making You Vitamin Deficient

Command A Trample With K

Vitamin K decreases bruising—both inside and out—by helping blood to clot. Rub some vitamin-K cream (available in your local drugstore and online) on a bruise a few times a day to clear it up faster, Halem says. Yous can too minimize bruising or ease the severity of a trample by boosting your intake of vitamin-K-rich foods. "Green leafy vegetables, alfalfa, broccoli, and seaweed are good dietary sources of vitamin Yard," she says.

Lookout Those Medications

People who take aspirin to protect against centre disease or those on blood thinners will notice that a bump hands turns into a bruise. Drugs such as anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, and asthma medicines tin inhibit clotting under the skin and crusade larger bruises. Alcoholics and drug abusers tend to bruise easily, too. If yous're taking medicine that makes you lot prone to bruising, talk to your dr. well-nigh information technology.

More: 5 OTC Meds That Could Exercise More Harm Than Practiced

De-Trample With Bromelain

To assist a bruise heal faster, take bromelain, a pineapple extract available in most health food stores. It "digests" proteins that cause inflammation and pain, says Jay Zimmerman, MD. "Take one or 2 grams with h2o before meals."

Put On Arnica

Arnica is a plant supplement and homeopathic remedy that has been shown to prevent and minimize bruising, says Halem. Specifically, arnica works as a topical treatment for bruising because it acts as an anti-inflammatory, and information technology besides helps dilate capillaries nether the skin, which allows blood and fluid to motility out of the injured area. (Here's how to use arnica.)

Cures From The Kitchen

Keep some apple cider vinegar on hand for instant trample relief. Apple tree cider vinegar is an fantabulous natural anti-inflammatory. Put a piffling on a cotton ball and dab it straight on the bruise. Or make a paste out of apple tree cider vinegar and an egg white or petroleum jelly, and smear it on the bruised expanse.

When To Phone call A Doctor

Sometimes a bruise can be a sign of an underlying illness. A blood disorder can cause unexplained bruising, for example, while bruising that occurs along with nosebleeds could indicate a clotting disorder. And so if you're prone to bruises and you don't know for sure what'south behind them, talk with your doctor. Also contact your doctor if whatsoever bruise is accompanied by farthermost hurting or broken skin with areas of redness, heat, or tenderness. These could be signs of an infection, says Halem. "If yous have bruising in your extremities combined with numbness, yous could have a status known as compartment syndrome," she says.

Console Of Advisors

Monica Halem, MD, is a clinical banana professor of dermatologic surgery at New York's Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in New York City.

Sheldon V. Pollack, MD, is an associate professor of medicine in the section of dermatology at the University of Toronto School of Medicine, and director of the Toronto Corrective Pare Surgery Centre Inc.

Randy Wexler, Doc, is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

Jay Zimmerman, MD, is a lath-certified dermatologies and clinical teacher in the Department of Dermatology at UCLA.