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What Do Presence Of Swollen Blue Spots On The Hand Indicate?
Question: Hello Doctor,
This small blue spot appeared a week ago on my hand. It appears to be under the skin. It protrudes very slightly. I would like an opinion: blue nevus or something serious?
Background info: About a month ago, I injured my thumb & wrist but not very seriously. It was a compression injury (thumb was jammed hard by a machine). Did not get X-ray or see doctor. Still have some very minor pain in hand when I put pressure on it. This site is not location of the injury, but peripheral. Could it be a ganglion cyst?
I've included two photos under different lighting conditions.
Thank you, XXXXXXX
This small blue spot appeared a week ago on my hand. It appears to be under the skin. It protrudes very slightly. I would like an opinion: blue nevus or something serious?
Background info: About a month ago, I injured my thumb & wrist but not very seriously. It was a compression injury (thumb was jammed hard by a machine). Did not get X-ray or see doctor. Still have some very minor pain in hand when I put pressure on it. This site is not location of the injury, but peripheral. Could it be a ganglion cyst?
I've included two photos under different lighting conditions.
Thank you, XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
thanks for using HealthcareMagic
Detailed Answer:
Hi Mr XXXXXXX
I'm Dr Ahmed Aly
Thanks for using HealthcareMagic site ,
I had gone through your question and understand your concerns..
In my opinion, after seeing both pictures, it is only a hematoma due to your previous thumb injury. I do not think it is a serious condition, it is due to blood trapped under your skin as remaining of your inflammation or due to the strong compression which was done by the machine.
No, it could not be a ganglion cyst as mainly such cysts are related towards the joint and they are a bit larger. I'm sure it will fade away by time but to accelerate its treatment you may use hot foments with anti-inflammatory creams will be fine and gently massaging it twice daily will be effective.
Please click and consider a 5-star rating with some positive feedback if the information was helpful.
Wish you good health,
Any further clarifications feel free to ask.
thanks for using HealthcareMagic
Detailed Answer:
Hi Mr XXXXXXX
I'm Dr Ahmed Aly
Thanks for using HealthcareMagic site ,
I had gone through your question and understand your concerns..
In my opinion, after seeing both pictures, it is only a hematoma due to your previous thumb injury. I do not think it is a serious condition, it is due to blood trapped under your skin as remaining of your inflammation or due to the strong compression which was done by the machine.
No, it could not be a ganglion cyst as mainly such cysts are related towards the joint and they are a bit larger. I'm sure it will fade away by time but to accelerate its treatment you may use hot foments with anti-inflammatory creams will be fine and gently massaging it twice daily will be effective.
Please click and consider a 5-star rating with some positive feedback if the information was helpful.
Wish you good health,
Any further clarifications feel free to ask.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Hi Dr,
Thank you for the quick response! Would like to hear from you a little more if possible.
A few quick points:
1) The injury was over a month ago.
2) There was no bruising a month ago. Some slight swelling at bottom of thumb at joint. This location seems in between the phalanges and is NOT near the point of impact. Bump is not sore or painful to touch.
3) The spot at first seemed flat, now is clearly more of a small "bump" after 1 week. Shouldn't a hematoma have started to go away by now, NOT become more prominent? Color has not changed over the week.
4) How long should I monitor it before consulting a physician in person? Should it go away in a week or so?
5) Any chance this is malignant (melanoma, etc)?
Thank you for your time! XXXXXXX
Thank you for the quick response! Would like to hear from you a little more if possible.
A few quick points:
1) The injury was over a month ago.
2) There was no bruising a month ago. Some slight swelling at bottom of thumb at joint. This location seems in between the phalanges and is NOT near the point of impact. Bump is not sore or painful to touch.
3) The spot at first seemed flat, now is clearly more of a small "bump" after 1 week. Shouldn't a hematoma have started to go away by now, NOT become more prominent? Color has not changed over the week.
4) How long should I monitor it before consulting a physician in person? Should it go away in a week or so?
5) Any chance this is malignant (melanoma, etc)?
Thank you for your time! XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
I do not think it could be any kind of melanoma or malignancy
Detailed Answer:
I do not think it could be any kind of melanoma or malignancy, you may give it one more week with using hot gentle massages by topical creams, as long as the spot is decreasing in size you should not worry and sometimes hematomas may take a long time especially without taking medications and ointments.
When injuries are done by such hard objects, they may cause compression and thus the inflammation done may transfer a little bit away from the point of impact especially in tight places like joints and fingers.
In some rare cases, it might take a long time to resolve if that injury may have caused minor fissures in bone or impression.
As of now, I think you will not need to visit your physician unless it progresses in size, color and pain. Once you feel any of these signs, do visit your physician for thorough evaluation and management and to secure yourself from further complications.
Regards
I do not think it could be any kind of melanoma or malignancy
Detailed Answer:
I do not think it could be any kind of melanoma or malignancy, you may give it one more week with using hot gentle massages by topical creams, as long as the spot is decreasing in size you should not worry and sometimes hematomas may take a long time especially without taking medications and ointments.
When injuries are done by such hard objects, they may cause compression and thus the inflammation done may transfer a little bit away from the point of impact especially in tight places like joints and fingers.
In some rare cases, it might take a long time to resolve if that injury may have caused minor fissures in bone or impression.
As of now, I think you will not need to visit your physician unless it progresses in size, color and pain. Once you feel any of these signs, do visit your physician for thorough evaluation and management and to secure yourself from further complications.
Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Arnab Banerjee
Thank you for the response.
Initially the blue spot was fairly flat. It is now clearly a bump. The diameter has not changed though.
To be honest, it has not dissipated or shrunken at all. I'm very glad it doesn't seem malignant, obviously. I'm sure more than 50% of your queries are, "Is it cancer?" We humans must seem to be anxious, ignorant creatures in the eyes of doctors! Ha!
My non-medical instinct is that it looks & feels like a PERMANENT feature. It's not a big deal to me if it's not dangerous. And I'm not a hand model, so the cosmetics don't concern me. LoL
But let's just say it's NOT a hematoma. What else could it be? I understand that the hand is complex and everything is connected. I agree that it might have something to do with the injury. I am a musician, and a rather intense guitarist. I don't just strum chords, I push and bend strings and play guitar solos that put a lot of strain on my hand.
This blue bump appeared overnight out of nowhere. But it might have been after I tried playing guitar for the first time after the injury. If I aggravated the injury by doing so, maybe that would explain the delay in onset (why it appeared out of nowhere a month after the injury). Maybe I should have waited 2-3 months before trying to play guitar again. I'm just used to playing daily.
Not at all doubting your medical expertise, but my FINAL QUESTION is:
If it's NOT a hematoma but a more permanent feature, what would your SECONDARY diagnosis be? (Is is part of a bulging vein? Or cyst?) And just curious -- if there had NOT been any recent trauma, does this look like something else?
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, SIR!!
Initially the blue spot was fairly flat. It is now clearly a bump. The diameter has not changed though.
To be honest, it has not dissipated or shrunken at all. I'm very glad it doesn't seem malignant, obviously. I'm sure more than 50% of your queries are, "Is it cancer?" We humans must seem to be anxious, ignorant creatures in the eyes of doctors! Ha!
My non-medical instinct is that it looks & feels like a PERMANENT feature. It's not a big deal to me if it's not dangerous. And I'm not a hand model, so the cosmetics don't concern me. LoL
But let's just say it's NOT a hematoma. What else could it be? I understand that the hand is complex and everything is connected. I agree that it might have something to do with the injury. I am a musician, and a rather intense guitarist. I don't just strum chords, I push and bend strings and play guitar solos that put a lot of strain on my hand.
This blue bump appeared overnight out of nowhere. But it might have been after I tried playing guitar for the first time after the injury. If I aggravated the injury by doing so, maybe that would explain the delay in onset (why it appeared out of nowhere a month after the injury). Maybe I should have waited 2-3 months before trying to play guitar again. I'm just used to playing daily.
Not at all doubting your medical expertise, but my FINAL QUESTION is:
If it's NOT a hematoma but a more permanent feature, what would your SECONDARY diagnosis be? (Is is part of a bulging vein? Or cyst?) And just curious -- if there had NOT been any recent trauma, does this look like something else?
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, SIR!!
Brief Answer:
In some cases especially with guitarist a sort of cyst or trigger finger m
Detailed Answer:
In some cases especially with guitarist a sort of cyst or trigger finger may be presented as a common symptoms due to stress and over exertion that may show signs like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis .
It may be a cyst but i am sure it is not a bulging vein , you should not be worried unless it increase in size .
So my secondary diagnosis will be tendinitis causing a kind of polyp or cyst that may be triggered by guitarist hands and stress on your tendons for long periods .
If you feel any kind of increase in mass MRI will be your best diagnostic tool to figure what that kind of protrusions and follow them up with your physician .
In some cases especially with guitarist a sort of cyst or trigger finger m
Detailed Answer:
In some cases especially with guitarist a sort of cyst or trigger finger may be presented as a common symptoms due to stress and over exertion that may show signs like carpal tunnel syndrome and tendinitis .
It may be a cyst but i am sure it is not a bulging vein , you should not be worried unless it increase in size .
So my secondary diagnosis will be tendinitis causing a kind of polyp or cyst that may be triggered by guitarist hands and stress on your tendons for long periods .
If you feel any kind of increase in mass MRI will be your best diagnostic tool to figure what that kind of protrusions and follow them up with your physician .
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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