Hemophilia is a genetic condition that causes your blood to not clot correctly. This can lead to complications related to bleeding too much, including bruising easily.
More serious complications of hemophilia include dangerous amounts of bleeding within your joints and your brain.
Read on to learn more about how hemophilia can cause you to bruise easily, other symptoms and complications of hemophilia to keep in mind, and how to treat bruises due to hemophilia.
How does hemophilia cause bruising?
When you bruise or bleed, your body goes through several processes to help clot damaged blood vessels and keep them from releasing more blood.
When you have hemophilia , these processes are disrupted , which keeps bruises from healing properly. This is because clots can’t seal off broken blood vessels under the skin.
There are two pathways in the coagulation cascade that your body follows to form blood clots: extrinsic tissue factor pathway and intrinsic contact pathway.
These pathways use a series of enzymes to trigger the action of fibrin molecules and platelets that are crucial in the process of clotting blood.
These pathways also use factor VIII and factor IX, two kinds of proteins, to help produce thrombin. This helps activate platelets and produce even more fibrin molecules that help with clotting and healing bruises.
When you have hemophilia, your body doesn’t have enough factor VIII or factor IX to complete the clotting process. This means that bruises can last for a long time before healing and disappearing.
Hemophilia bruising symptoms
When you have hemophilia, bruising might happen when you hit something with your body even lightly.
Other causes include medical procedures — like having your blood drawn , dental work , or surgery — and moderate athletic activity.
Small bruises may appear right where you were hit, or you may have large areas of bruising around where you were hit. The bruises may appear as splotches of brown, red, black, or bluish-purple on the skin, depending on your skin tone. And they may be accompanied by heavy bleeding that’s difficult to stop.
Other complications of hemophilia
Some of the possible long-term complications of hemophilia include:
How do you treat hemophilia bruises?
When you’re bruised, you can treat the bruised area with the RICE method. RICE stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation:
- Rest the affected area to help it heal and to prevent further injury.
- Ice the affected area with a cold compress wrapped in a clean cloth for 15 to 20 minutes at a time during the first few days after a bruise appears.
- Compress the area with bandages to help keep the area from moving too much and swelling.
- Elevate the area to help blood and fluid drain properly and to stop blood from pooling.
Can you prevent bruising if you have hemophilia?
You can’t prevent hemophilia because it’s a genetic condition, but you may be able to prevent some bruising from hemophilia.
For example, you can wear protective gear and clothing when you perform moderate activities or play sports. You can also take prescribed clotting medications before you have blood drawn or get dental work.
When to get medical help
Get medical help if you experience any of the following symptoms:
How do doctors diagnose hemophilia?
A doctor can use a blood test to check your blood clotting factor as a percentage to diagnose hemophilia. If you have the condition, they’ll then diagnose either hemophilia type A or hemophilia type B.
Hemophilia type A happens when your body is missing or doesn’t have enough of a clotting protein called factor VIII . This type ranges in severity from mild to severe based on the percentage of your clotting factor:
- mild: 6% to 30%
- moderate: 1% to 5%
- severe: less than 1%
Hemophilia type B happens when your body is missing or doesn’t have enough factor IX clotting protein. It also ranges in severity from mild to severe based on the percentage of your clotting factor:
- mild: 6% to 49%
- moderate: 1% to 5%
- severe: less than 1%
How is hemophilia treated?
Some treatments available for hemophilia include:
- infusions of factor VIII or factor IX clotting factor to help your blood clot more easily
- aminocaproic acid to help stop blood clots from breaking down
- injections of non-factor replacement therapies, like emicizumab (Hemlibra), to substitute your deficient or missing clotting proteins
- physical therapy for pain from damaged joints
- pain management for discomfort related to hemophilia, including:
- gene therapies and monoclonal antibodies to help your body make clotting proteins more effectively
Takeaway
Hemophilia makes it hard for your body to form blood clots, which can cause bruises to happen easily and take a long time to heal.
Treatments are available to help your blood clot more easily. You can also help treat bruises using the RICE method, and you can prevent them altogether by protecting your body when you’re doing daily activities.
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