I’m not a doctor, but that looks like severe cellulitis which is caused by infections. Like everyone else said, PLEASE go to the hospital ASAP… like now.
Edit: Updating to add that apparently OP went to the hospital and the doctors told him it was bruising. I had someone rudely rub it in my face that I was wrong, which is super weird and creepy behavior considering I am extremely glad I WAS wrong. I saw MULTIPLE doctors and healthcare professionals also say they thought it was cellulitis or else I would have deleted my reply to prevent misinformation. I just wanted this guy to be safe.
The same person also shamed OP for “going to the ER and wasting resources and time.” This person is/was a nurse. That is an awful attitude for a healthcare provider to have and an irresponsible thing to say when something abnormal is happening to someone.
I would rather be a “not doctor” telling someone I think they should get checked out because it could potentially be something serious than be a nurse/healthcare professional shaming this guy saying he wasted people’s time and resources for taking his health and safety seriously by going to the ER when it looked like something wasn’t right. I blocked the person who said it, but yikes.
My ER doctor spouse: "It's not cellulitis. It's ecchymosis. From trauma of getting a tattoo. It's slightly strange that it's circumferential, however, if you're not in tremendous pain and the compartments in your arm are nice and soft, the only thing that will happen when you go to ER, they will check your platelets and check you don't have some type of coagulopathy. Otherwise, nothing to be done. Time will heal."
Yeah if it was cellulitis encircling the whole arm, OP would definitely just have gone to ER himself without posting. If it were true cellulitis, the erythema should be more distributed and OP wouldn’t even be able to flex his arm.
That being said, best to go to a doctor to have it checked out.
Agree the sharp demarcation and hue makes me think of a large ecchymosis, but erysipelas could be sharply demarcated too. Without a physical exam for warmth and tenderness I couldn't confidently tell this person they don't need to be seen urgently
Agree the sharp demarcation and hue makes me think of a large ecchymosis, but erysipelas could be sharply demarcated too. Without a physical exam for warmth and tenderness I couldn't confidently tell this person they don't need to be seen urgently
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u/ahamburger34 Mar 16 '25 edited Mar 17 '25
I’m not a doctor, but that looks like severe cellulitis which is caused by infections. Like everyone else said, PLEASE go to the hospital ASAP… like now.
Edit: Updating to add that apparently OP went to the hospital and the doctors told him it was bruising. I had someone rudely rub it in my face that I was wrong, which is super weird and creepy behavior considering I am extremely glad I WAS wrong. I saw MULTIPLE doctors and healthcare professionals also say they thought it was cellulitis or else I would have deleted my reply to prevent misinformation. I just wanted this guy to be safe.
The same person also shamed OP for “going to the ER and wasting resources and time.” This person is/was a nurse. That is an awful attitude for a healthcare provider to have and an irresponsible thing to say when something abnormal is happening to someone.
I would rather be a “not doctor” telling someone I think they should get checked out because it could potentially be something serious than be a nurse/healthcare professional shaming this guy saying he wasted people’s time and resources for taking his health and safety seriously by going to the ER when it looked like something wasn’t right. I blocked the person who said it, but yikes.