Bruising on arms

Paulasmith

I was diagnosed with AML in September 2022. I’ve had 3 rounds of chemo and double dose of full body radiotherapy, culminating in cord transplant in February 2023. I am now in remission but still can see the bruising I had when I was going through the treatment. They don’t hurt but any knock I get on my arms results in another one. This is only on my arms. Will this ever go away.

thank you

Paula

Rachel_LeadNurse

Hi Paula,
I'm Rachel, Lead Nurse here at Anthony Nolan.
Thanks for posting your query on the forum. Its's great to hear you're in remission after your treatment.

There can be a number of reasons why you may be bruising- low platelet count could be one reason, though I imagine its been sometime since you've been reliant on platelet transfusions to manage your count. It's likely you've had a number of medications (steroids in particular) that can lead to skin thinning and increased bruising, you may find your skin is more fragile now than it was before treatment and transplant hence your bruising being more obvious. Keeping your skin healthy, using moisturisers and sun cream (factor 50) will help but you may continue to be prone to this in the longer term.

I'd encourage you to speak to your transplant team about the bruising when you next see them and if it becomes more extensive or you notice it in places other than your arms don't wait and seek advice/notify your team immediately as this could be sign of problems with your blood counts.

I hope this has been of some help to you.
Best wishes
Rachel

Paulasmith

Thanks. I finished platelet transfusions over a year ago and stopped steroids I. January. I will keep moisturising and hopefully it will get better in time.