🩸 This image is courtesy of Body Worlds travelling exhibition displaying human bodies and body parts that have been preserved using a technique called plastination. The exhibits are not anatomic models but actually real!
🩸The image shows just how many blood vessels there are in the human face! Aesthetic doctors often get asked “Please don’t bruise me as I have a function this weekend!” or “Will I bruise?”
🩸Looking at this image we would answer “Yes, of course, if we stick a sharp needle in your skin you will bruise. And if you don’t consider it a bonus!”
🩸Fortunately there are certain precautions that help reduce the risk of a bad bruise. Patients should be reminded a few days before their appointment to stop any medications or supplements that might thin the blood e.g. anti-inflammatory medicine, omegas or aspirin. Avoid alcohol the day before your treatment. On the day of the treatment doctors often use anaesthetic that also causes vaso-constriction which reduces bruising. If necessary, ice is used before and after injecting. The use of a blunt flexible microcannula instead of a sharp needle also helps.
🩸When planning aesthetic treatments, give it a week or two before any important event. Because, based on anatomy alone, you should bruise!!