Bruises are the most common minor injury experienced in daily life. But they always take a long to disappear.
They may be a major inconvenience and often embarrassing, especially when they're obvious on your face, arms, or legs.
Take care of and heal your bruises quickly in 10 steps
Treating bruises is something that generally can be done at home. In most cases, bruises need nothing more than time to heal. It is, however, possible to speed up the healing process quickly with these 10 tips and tricks.
1. Hot and Cold Therapy
First of all, it's important that you follow a daily treatment regimen using hot and cold therapy packs.
Experts generally recommend using cold therapy every few hours for at least 10 minutes at a time (take care not to leave ice on the wound for too long). Icing can help reduce severe pain and swelling.
Consider heat therapy later. Warm heat can be useful for helping with the healing process. It should be used after swelling has been reduced and/or completely removed.
You can also make a warm compress using aloe vera gel to speed healing a bruise.
If possible elevate the affected area to reduce swelling and pain to speed up the healing process.
2. Vitamin E or K Cream
Another method is to apply vitamin K cream to the bruise directly.
Research has proven that Vitamin K can minimize the look of bruised skin.
3. Apply Pressure
Though it might sound impractical… One home remedy is to push the bruised area quite hard for about 30 seconds to stimulate blood flow to the spot.
4. Salt and Butter to Help the Bruise Heal Faster
Rub a mixture of salt and butter on the bruised area as soon as possible to help the bruise heal faster.
Butter is a fat and contains phosphate which is the leading ingredient in phospholipids that make up your blood vessel cell walls.
By applying butter you encourage phospholipids and prevent bleeding into the tissue.
5. How To Get Rid of Bruises With Toothpaste
Toothpaste for bruises is a strange one, but this toothpaste bruise hack actually works.
Apply a dab of mint toothpaste directly to the bruise.
The mint helps to increase blood flow to the area and helps to break up and release the blood which can help the bruise heal faster. So if you're looking for how to heal a bruise quickly, give minty toothpaste a try!
Keep it covered with a band-aid overnight.
6. Toothbrush Bruise Hack
Interestingly enough, some have even tried gently rubbing the bruise with a toothbrush and found it to be quite effective.
Comb out the bruise gently with a toothbrush.
You may want to try combining this with the toothpaste suggestion above!
7. Bromelain Tablets
Bromelain is a super protein-digesting enzyme used because it's an anti-inflammatory and anti-swelling agent.
It works because it breaks down proteins that trap fluids in the tissues after an injury.
8. Arnica Gel or Cream
The use of Arnica gel for bruises has been around for hundreds of years.
Cover the affected area of your bruise with Arnica gel or cream for best results.
9. Essential Oils
After your bruise stops swelling, it's important to encourage blood circulation to the area.
Blood Circulation is what speeds healing.
Lavender, lemongrass, and geranium essential oils mixed with helichrysum and cypress will promote faster healing.
10 drops of Helichrysum essential oil
8 drops Lavender EO
6 drops Cypress EO
5 drops of Geranium EO
4 drops of lemongrass EO
Mix oils with an equal amount of carrier oil in an amber-colored glass bottle with an orifice reducer. Shake well to blend and apply 3 drops of the blend onto the bruised area. Repeat this 3 times a day until the bruise completely fades.
10. Vitamins and Minerals
Increase your intake of Vitamin C, bioflavonoids and Zinc to help the health and strength of the capillaries.
