Shin bruises every other week

Flowersbluepink · December 2014

Good afternoon,

My 15 month old pretty much has bruises on his right shin every other week. Not exaggerating. It will usually be 1-2 small bruises an inch or two below his knee. They are never large or grotesque in appearance. They heal rather quickly but return within a week or two. He's getting close but not walking at all yet. He's not prone to injury but his skin is very sensitive. At the moment, he has about 4-5 fairly small bruises in a cluster. They are rather light in color compared to the garden variety bruise. I bruise very easily myself and don't have any condition associated with it. I've had it for a few years but doesn't appear to be serious as I've had blood counts done. I'd say this pattern with my son has been going on for at least 5 months or more. Does that rule out serious causes like acute leukemia... in the absence of other signs?

When should a parent worry about bruising? Thank you!

valeriegp · December 2014

Is he cruising on furniture, etc? That could explain it -- he might use his right leg a certain way that makes him hit it. My son has bruises all the time, and I remember at his 18 mo appt the pedi said he would be worried if my son didn't have some bruises from learning to explore the world. But -- if,you are worried, see the doctor. Better to be safe than sorry!

Flowersbluepink · December 2014

Thank you guys. I'm trying to overcome my protectiveness but this bruising has me worried about how much worse it could be when he walks. He largely plays on carpeted floor which concerns me about how he would bruise over and over in this one spot. My husband says that he holds him by the shin occasionally to change his diaper and wonders if he's grabbing too hard in the struggle. Is that possible? Could that happen repeatedly? I'm at a loss as to why it's almost always happening on the one shin. It consoles me slightly to read that leukemia bruises often appear in weird places and usually goes beyond shins. I would think after this amount of time that a new symptom would occur. My son has no obvious symptoms of anything else. He hasn't been sick since last winter but he doesn't spend much time in high risk areas to catch anything either. He sleeps well but never appears fatigued. Great appetite.

Crequito · December 2014

DD is almost 21 months and has a bruise on her shin every other week. She's highly active - running, jumping, dancing, etc - and she falls down or bumps into things sometimes. I also think for a while when she was still learning to go up stairs and was crawling up them that was contributing to the bruise lasting forever.

Therese629829 · December 2014

Hi there! I don't comment very often, but had this exact same thing with my now 4 year old DD and wanted to respond (I have a 16 month old DD too, who hasn't yet had this issue, but probably will eventually). Our pediatrician basically said that they don't ever worry about anything on the shins. It's usually never a red flag for them for a blood issue (anemia or leukemia, etc.) she said. A friend of mine who is a pediatrician also confirmed this when I was freaking out once. My DD always has some new bruises on her shins (she is a daredevil and always jumping off things and crashing around), and once when I took her in for a check up, the doctor said, "wow, these bruises on her shin tell me she's having a very active summer - that's great!". So, in other words, I wouldn't worry -- probably just the crawling!

riehlhickey · December 2014

My DD discovered stairs at 15 months. She has had bruises on her shins ever since due to the fact that she throws herself at them. Even if it doesn't seem like she's throwing herself at the stairs in her life, it may not need much to bruise. (I'm an easy bruiser too) Good luck and I hope they calm down!

Shin bruises every other week

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