Not in a bucket or anything. I wouldn’t want people to [del]know[/del] think I’m that weird.
A few months ago I started getting red blotches on my left arm. This was about the time I started the low-carb diet and started losing a lot of weight. (About 53 pounds since mid-March, BTW.) Every time I bumped my arm, which happens a lot since I was cleaning out an old trailer, doing demolition, etc, I’d have fresh blotches. I went in for a check-up last month, and the NP said it’s nothing to worry about; they’re just bruises. A couple of weeks ago I tore down a couple of fences and pulled up morning glories/ivy/invasive bushes and scratched up my arm enough for it to bleed. I put a Band-Aid on it. When I took the bandage off, the adhesive part ripped off a layer of skin. :eek: So now my wound it bigger than the original scratch. Saturday I was putting the tonneau cover on the MG, and I scraped my arm against the windshield frame. I scraped off more skin. I put a bandage over it, pulling the bandage off and putting it back on so that it wouldn’t stick so well, and tore off a little more skin (just a small bit - I was being careful.)
Googling, ‘thin skin’ is caused by ‘age’. Apparently when you get older there are changes in the skin. Results said to avoid UV rays (not easy since I’m doing so much work outside), and that fatty cells in the hypodermal layer begin to degrade. I’m not that old. My parents didn’t have this problem. I’m wondering if my thin skin is a side-effect of losing over 20% of my body weight in a short time.
I don’t have any answers for you, but you are definitely not alone. I’m not over the hill yet, but I have a pretty good view of the valley (58), but have had the same issues for several years now. I think mine started back when I went on medications to control high blood pressure. I currently have a nice dark purple spot about the size of a quarter on my forearm from helping my son move this past weekend, plus a few more smaller spots distributed across the back of my hand and knuckles. I didn’t snag anything to cause any bleeding (this time) but have to check myself after brushing against things just to be sure.
When I was a young kid helping my grandfather work around his farm I would often notice that he would be actively bleeding without being aware of it. I could not understand how anyone could possibly not know that they were bleeding, but now it happens to me all the time!
As for pulling off a chunk of skin with a Band-Aid, I have done that as well. I had a small skin cancer removed from my arm earlier this year and had to keep it covered for several days. I shaved the hair off my arm in that area to not have the bandage yank the hair out, but ended up removing skin instead! The scar left from the bandage removal is much larger than the one from the skin cancer. Oh, well!
I have noticed in pictures that actors who do very serious dieting and weight loss appear to get some very serious aging in the arms and hands. Maybe the dieting speeds up the fat-layer degradation.
I bleed like hell and bruise easily because U take low dosage aspirin for high blood pressure.
Talking about our health means we are old, fellas. :dubious:
My arms and hands are now beginning to look like crepe paper. Too much sun exposure over the years. The biggest problem with this is that if the skin isn’t kept moist, cracks can develop that bring a possibility of infection. So I’ve got THAT going for me, which is nice.
I do like home remedies, is have a ton of sites i would recommend but im like too lazy to add them now I do recommend to avoid the sun and always stay moist!
I’ve got that crepe paper thing going on with the backs of my hands as well. Sometimes I’ll blow 5 minutes just staring at them in fascination. I still feel like I’m 24, how do I have all these old people things going on when I don’t feel like old people yet. I’m just a tired & irritable young guy who bleeds like a stuck pig because of the daily aspirin from wounds too shallow to feel. And I don’t have much of an appetite anymore. And absolutely no fashion sense.
Welcome to the club. Same arm, too, which I think comes from a lifetime of driving in SoCal with your arm out the window. Only advice I have is to moisturize like a motherfuck. Start haunting the aisles in the beauty section of the stores and ask every woman who looks like she knows what she’s talking about her moisturizing regimen. It would help to have Mrs. L.A. there to attest to your nonskeeviness. (If she can.)
I’ve had the forearm bruising thing going on for about three years now. It seems every time one disappears another returns.
I have similar coin-sized bruises on both arms right now, and I have no idea how they got there; it doesn’t take much.
59 here, and I get them, too. Just my arms it seems. I’ve got a big scratch right now (that luckily didn’t bleed) from my son’s big dog. My little dogs scratch me all the time
My Dad had huge purple bruises all the time, and didn’t know how he got them. But he was 92! ♫ We’re too damn young to be this old… ♫
I remember my mom had them on her forearms, when she was getting quite old. I guess that means they’re in my future.
My husband is 67, and he has started getting them.
For folks who don’t know what we’re talking about, these are not your average bruises. They are livid, dark purplish-red blotches with a sharp border. I’ve read that they’re the result of loss of fat layer and sun damage. Oh, and alcohol consumption can exacerbate them.
After a lifetime of first eczema and then atopic dermatitis (whatever the difference is) I nevertheless don’t seem to have this thin skin problem (not physically at any rate, there are some who would argue that I have the metaphorical kind). I am grateful to be spared so far.
My knees, on the other hand, don’t bear thinking about.
A while back I had this bruising problem (caused probably by the blood thinners I am taking). My doctor suggested using arnica, a real old-fashioned remedy for bruising and over-the-counter to boot. Worked like a charm, and also has a delightful smell.
I think arnica has been around since the Middle Ages.
I’ve got horrible old lady arms that are all wrinkly and saggy. I’ve just got out of hospital where I lost a bit of weight. When I asked about my hideous arms, she said I’d need to put weight on to get them back to more normal.
