Swelling or bruising after a bite

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Swelling or bruising after a bite

Slight swelling, bruising, and tenderness around a bite injury is normal. Swelling and bruising that develops slowly over 6 to 12 hours usually means a minor injury. If your symptoms improve with home treatment, do not involve a joint, and are not caused by infection, an evaluation by your health professional is probably not needed.

A bite injury may also break small blood vessels under the skin and cause more swelling and bruising than you would expect. Rapid swelling and bruising that begins immediately after a bite injury often means there is a large amount of bleeding or that damage to deeper tissues is present. When a lot of swelling and bruising occurs within 30 minutes of a skin injury, evaluation by a health professional is needed.

Swelling in a joint may indicate injury to the joint structures or an infection. If a bite was near a joint, the swelling may limit the joint's range of motion, and the joint may feel tight or stiff.

Crushing bite injuries usually occur from animals with powerful jaws. These bites can cause severe swelling and may damage underlying tissues, such as blood vessels, nerves, tendons, ligaments, joints, or bones. These injuries are at an increased risk for infection and medical treatment is needed.

Credits

Last updated:	June 10, 2008
Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS
Reviewed By:	William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine, H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer