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Finger turning blue.....

22 years ago

Hi all

Friday morning my middle finger started to itch and when I looked at it, it was turning black and blue. I kept an eye on it throughout the day and it continually got worse.

By 8pm, the finger was swollen, black/blue and deep red.

I went to a medical clinic that was open and the doctor there freaked out and sent me to the ER. So far no one knows what happened. First they thought a spider bite, but there is NO wound. No puncture. No bite mark.

I did not bang it. I did nothing. I had just come inside, sat down and it itched.

I've been taking antibiotics since Fri nite now and it's still light blue and tender underneath at the knuckle.

What do you think?

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Comments (5)

PeaBee4
22 years ago
sometimes a blood vessel will break under the skin. It makes the spot look like a deep ugly bruise and it takes a while to return to normal. Do you bruise easily?

This could be what happened. It could have happened without your being aware of hitting it or anything. I have had this happen in both my fingers and toes.

If you take a lot of pain killers, such as asprin, Advil, the blood doesn't clot as well, and you bleed more easily. If the bleeding is under the skin, it has no place to go and the spot swells and looks ugly until the body is able to absorb the blood.

I am not saying that this is what happened. It's just something that might be the problem. If it is, then, there is no need to worry about it unless it happens often. Then, you need to have your blood tested to see if your clotting time is out of whack.

You don't say how old you are, but while this can happen at any age, as the body gets older, the blood vessels get more fragile.
trekaren
22 years ago
Even with no bite mark it sounds very similar to symptoms my neighbor had for a brown recluse spider bite. He also didn't remember being bitten. The bite happened long before the symptom showed up, is what I understand.
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shaun
Original Author
22 years ago
TREKaren, that's what the Medical Clinic doctor thought but the ER doctor said no.

Peabee, I know what you are talking about with the blood vessel breaking, I've also done that. But this started out itching.....to the point that I looked to see what was itching and that's when I notice it turning colors.

I still think something bit me.
gooseberry_guy
22 years ago
Shaun,

I think PeaBea discussed what I had happen to me. It was quite a few years ago, while I was raking leaves, and it was exactly as you described. My guess was that it was a blood vessel in the finger that was strained and just broke. No problems since.

GG
jtomecek_comcast_net
19 years ago
Wow - just happened to me on the golf course. Lost all feeling in thumb, the area turned BLACK in a matter of 5 minutes. It gradually subsided in 30 minutes, but the coloring was still off. Thanks for sharing other experiences--I'm glad I'm a "little normal"

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