Bruises - how to cover them & how to help them heal

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Thu Mar 21, 2002 3:25 am

Everybody gets bruises in training - but for women in particular they can be considered unsightly. So it can be very helpful(especially in social or business situations) to cover them.

So how do you cover yours? How do you help yours heal faster?

My methods:
Dit da jao - available at your local chinatown herb shop. This stuff can be rubbed onto the bruise - it is what chinese medicine calls a blood mover - rubbing alcohol / tiger balm (menthol) do the same thing. Blood outside of the capilaries is an irritant so moving it out of the area of impact helps spread out the bruise and helps it to heal faster.

If you have bruises (yucky dark purple) for over two weeks it may be a sign of poor circulation. Make sure to massage these old bruises and move the dead cells away.

As always - your body does everything better hydrated, so drink plenty of water.

I have a pretty good selection of translucent powder and bases I use to cover them as my skin tones are different on different parts of my body.

uechiwoman · Post by **uechiwoman** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 2:56 am

I have found that it is important to cover my bruises on occasion. When I went to a Gala this past weekend I wanted people to notice me and my little black dress and not the bruise on my forearm from exhuberant kumite. I see bruises as a part of training and I don't get upset when I get one.

On the other hand, people I meet have all sorts of interpretations and stories about a woman who has bruises. I have had women accost me on the street and say "You don't have to stay with him!" I assure them that I am fine, but they give me these looks that say, yeah right.

I use either dit da jow or zheng gui shui and a little elbow grease to help my bruises heal faster. Anything with menthol will help.

I also condition regularly which helps reduce how often I get bruises.

student · Post by **student** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 1:24 pm

I am currently running a test on arnica cream.

I was involved in breaking, testing and tournament sparring (TKD) last weekend. Supposedly no contact; yeah, right....

Anyway, I have multiple bruises, both forearms and over an upper rib just under my right nipple. (After seeing the guy whom I was sparring break 4 boards with a kick similar to the one he landed on me I was happy to have just bruises!) I am treating only one set of bruises with the arnica to see if it makes a difference. I'll report later.

I'm a guy in a profession. Most of the time I'm wearing a suit jacket over a long sleeve shirt. Mostly my bruises don't show...but limping, of course, does....

Wearing long sleeve fashions can hide a multitude of sins.

student

[This message has been edited by student (edited March 22, 2002).]

TSDguy · Post by **TSDguy** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 6:06 pm

"Wearing long sleeve fashions can hide a multitude of sins."

Don't you mean turtle necks?

student · Post by **student** » Fri Mar 22, 2002 8:28 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TSDguy:

Don't you mean turtle necks?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No.

Marks on my neck are seldom from martial practice.

Marital practice, however....

student