On bruises

I think this is about the most personally relevant material I've studied (much love to my Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease):

So my leg smacks a chair or a boy or the wall, and capillaries break releasing red blood cells. The immediate blue of a bruise comes from the hemoglobin released from lysed erythrocytes. As these degrade, hemoglobin is released giving me a blue spot.

In a few days, the blue fades to green. This is biliverdin, a byproduct of the macrophages phagocytosing the debris. Finally, all that is left is the iron that holds hemoglobin together. This hemosiderin gives my skin that yellowish color that I find so appetizing.


I'm listening to:
Ambulance LTD: s/t