People who bruise easily for very little reason are suffering from what is called capillary fragility. This means the smallest branches of the blood vessels have walls that are so thin or weak they cannot hold the blood within them. Even slight bumps or bruises break these weakened blood vessels allowing blood to escape into the tissues. It is the bleeding under the skin that causes the black and blue appearance.

Many otherwise healthy people suffer from capillary fragility, especially on the thighs, buttocks, and upper arms. These bruises may last only a few days, but with older people, they become more frequent and the bruises take longer to disappear.

A little knock or bang which does not seem to affect anyone else but leads to the formation of a bruise on your body particularly on the thighs, buttocks, or upper arms is one of the major symptoms of fragile capillaries.

Changes in diet and lifestyle can aid in Beneficial Effectsing capillary fragility.

This condition usually indicates a thinning of the dermis, the support structure just below the skin surface, and may also include thinning of the capillaries at the skin surface. The thinning makes the dermis and capillaries fragile, such that even mild pressure on the skin can cause them to rupture. This leads to small spots of bleeding in the skin and easy bruising.

Diagnosis can be done after a biopsy.

• Do not use alcohol, tobacco or caffeine.
• Eat a diet that is high in fiber, lean meats, fresh fruit and vegetables.
• Use safflower and olive oil and supplement your diet with essential fatty acids found in primrose, flaxseed and black currant oil.
  

Purchase the latest cookbooks with wonderful low-fat recipes and learn to read ingredient labels in the grocery store. There are more and more low-fat products available and some of them even taste good. Learn to cook with olive oil.

Stress causes adrenal hormones that when combined with nicotine and alcohol dramatically raise cholesterol levels and predispose the human body to all kinds of problem.

Vitamin E and Vitamin C show their beneficial effects on bruising, swelling, discoloration and contusion of capillaries. ^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11} Zinc is an important mineral that shows its favorable effects on free cellular damage. ^{2, 6, 8, 12, 13} Bilberry is a herb that shows its beneficial effects on maintaining the flexibility of capillaries. ^{2, 14}

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent any disease.