It Doesn't take much to bruise the elderly. Like said the skin becomes very thin. My Mom got a skin tear when my DH picked up her ankles to move them. Where his thumb had been was a tear. Called my RN daughter and she came down and took care of it. Mom had bruises on her hands all the time because she was hitting them on edges of tables when shooting around in her wheelchair. My daughter taught my husband how to get his Aunt out of a chair. He would grab her upper arm and she would wince.
my dad who had alzheimer's (deceased at 93)had these red marks on hands and forearms prior to assisted living I think. For sure I remember him having them while in assisted living. but they never went away, like a regular bruise would. Now my mother who resides in assisted living has started to get them. I have so many things to think about when I visit her, that I don't always notice, and then all of a sudden there they(red marks) are. My dads skin was very THIN and prone to tears. My moms skin is getting that way too. she is 88. the word above "senile purpura" I googled and yes that's what it looks like! I feel lucky, that I feel my mom is getting excellent care. if someone was behaving in a negative way, I am positive another employee would say something. but you always have to question things that don't seem right.
I find with my mother that she is always bruised somewhere. She is 88, not on blood thinners nor aspirin, but all her life was easily "bruised". Now her skin is so thin, if she s much as bumps her hip into a table, she'll have a massive bruise for weeks.
She couldn't even use crutches, post surgery, her armpits would become so painfuly bruised.
I inherited this lovely gene. If I smack my hand or arm on something, I'll have a bruise for weeks.
It's still important to assure yourself that no "harm" is coming to mom, but very likely, the bruising is simply another lovely sign of aging.
Don't even get me started on what mother looks like after a few IV attempts have been made on her. Like she's been in a street fight. And, no, she rarely remembers how the bruise came to be--and she's competent enough to remember if she's hit her leg or arm.
My mom was home with me 24/7 and would get weird bruises and we would just have to pay special attention to determine what the cause was. For example, she would hold one right forearm above the wrist with her left hand...her rather large, high diamond ring would spin on her finger...it was pressing in and bruising her. We saw the bruise and by watching close figured out it was the diamond and took off the ring. Some of the causes for my mom were buises on heals because she pushed heals now on bed at night (suspended feet on wedge)...bruise on side of upper arm because she leaned in wheelchair (padded arms of wheelchair). I am not saying the staff is or isn't being rough, just that my experience was that it usually was related to pressure applied for a period of time. I became a great investigator. I never wanted my mom to get pressure ulcers. I was successful, she didn't have any through the entire process.
This could be senile purpura... google it and look at the pics to see if it resonates. My mom seems to always have bruises on her hands, sometimes also on the side of her face or forearms. If your mom is on any blood thinners, even an aspirin a day, this can be very common.
Has she gotten any kind of IV recently? My mom would bruise very easily from any kind of bump or injection. Is it one bruise or several bruises? Only on one forearm? Seniors bruise easily because their tissue is so thin. Are you generally happy with the care she's receiving? I'm assuming your mom can't remember what happened to cause the bruise?
She couldn't even use crutches, post surgery, her armpits would become so painfuly bruised.
I inherited this lovely gene. If I smack my hand or arm on something, I'll have a bruise for weeks.
It's still important to assure yourself that no "harm" is coming to mom, but very likely, the bruising is simply another lovely sign of aging.
Don't even get me started on what mother looks like after a few IV attempts have been made on her. Like she's been in a street fight. And, no, she rarely remembers how the bruise came to be--and she's competent enough to remember if she's hit her leg or arm.