The bruising that’s a sign of something serious

YOUR skin, unlike your waistline, reliably gets thinner with age.

The blood vessels become closer to the surface and more susceptible to the slings and arrows of everyday life, with minor injuries more likely to result in bruises.

If you have a long history of sun exposure or steroid cream usage, these changes can occur even earlier.

But tiny bruises all over your skin may be something different: the widespread disruption of

small blood vessels can lead to lots of small bruises, about the size of an eraser tip.

In some places, the bruises can actually join together. The many different causes include changes in the clotting system, severe infections, calcium being deposited in blood vessel walls (which can occur in advanced kidney disease) and autoimmune diseases.

See your GP — unless the lesions are painful and/ or you’re experiencing high fevers, in which case you should go to A&E.