Easy bruising

[Drakes]

So, I love kava.
Specifically, certified noble Boroguru from Gourmet Hawaiian Kava.

I've probably had it 40-50% of evenings in the last two months, and the effect has been very beneficial. I'm currently stuck in an non-ideal situation where I am forced by a sort of life crossroads to spend quite a bit of time alone outside of work, and kava has played a big part in allowing me to turn back into my old intellectually interested self without too much excess loneliness and emotionalism at night, which had been dogging me for a while. It also played a huge role in cutting down my alcohol consumption from 4-5 drinks nightly to 1-2 during that time. So all is love and lightness, right?

Well, unfortunately, I can't help but notice that my skin becomes irritated more easily after drinking kava (the same night), which I interpret to be small-scale bruising. I have noticed that effect 2-3 times now. Specifically, my face bruises superficially in place for several hours from being vigorously scrubbed, which is a bit concerning! This usually went away much more quickly before I was drinking kava. An article on Livestrong mentioned vaguely in passing that kava may increase bleeding by affecting platelets. So what can you all tell me about your experiences in this regard?

 

[The Kap'n]

So, I love kava.
Specifically, certified noble Boroguru from Gourmet Hawaiian Kava.

I've probably had it 40-50% of evenings in the last two months, and the effect has been very beneficial. I'm currently stuck in an non-ideal situation where I am forced by a sort of life crossroads to spend quite a bit of time alone outside of work, and kava has played a big part in allowing me to turn back into my old intellectually interested self without too much excess loneliness and emotionalism at night, which had been dogging me for a while. It also played a huge role in cutting down my alcohol consumption from 4-5 drinks nightly to 1-2 during that time. So all is love and lightness, right?

Well, unfortunately, I can't help but notice that my skin becomes irritated more easily after drinking kava (the same night), which I interpret to be small-scale bruising. I have noticed that effect 2-3 times now. Specifically, my face bruises superficially in place for several hours from being vigorously scrubbed, which is a bit concerning! This usually went away much more quickly before I was drinking kava. An article on Livestrong mentioned vaguely in passing that kava may increase bleeding by affecting platelets. So what can you all tell me about your experiences in this regard?

I can honestly say I've never had any bruising issues with kava. In fact I'd say any bruises I do have heal as quickly or more quickly than normal, but I'm also pretty sure that has nothing to do with kava as well. There have been reports of allergic skin issues in a very small amount of kava drinkers. These usually present themselves as hives or red, puffy skin on the face. We've not seen or heard any reports of bruising.

 

[verticity]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

I'm not actually sure exactly what you mean when you say you are having "bruising". A bruise happens when you injure the blood vessels in your skin, and normally lasts at least a couple days to a couple weeks. A bruise wouldn't disappear in hours. So I would guess something else is going on.

It is well known that kava can cause skin problems. Normally this manifests as dermopathy, which is that dry, flaking or peeling skin that begins after probably at least a month or so of heavy kava consumption. Dermopathy seems to eventually happen to almost everyone who drinks enough kava for a long enough time. It generally does not disappear withing hours, unless you put something like Amlactin on to treat it, and it's appearance is not necessarily associated with the times you are actually drinking kava.

But, like the Kap'm said, in some more rare cases, for some people, kava can cause a kind of allergic reaction in the short time right after they drink it, which can cause red, irritated skin, or a puffy face. It sounds like that is probably what you are experiencing. In some cases people have found this to be annoying enough that they chose to stop drinking kava. But in other cases, it either gets better, or people are not sufficiently distressed by it to stop drinking kava.

You did mention that you have cut back substantially on your alcohol consumption, and that is fantastic. However, I do feel obliged to say that you really shouldn't be drinking any alcohol at all at the same time as you are drinking kava. Whether the alcohol could be exacerbating the skin allergy from the kava I'm not sure, but it's certainly possible. Maybe one night try kava without any alcohol and see if you have the same problem?

There is some biochemical evidence that kava could act as a "blood thinner" like aspirin, meaning is could make blood tend to clot less. That could cause bruises to heal more slowly, but would not cause what you are experiencing.

 

[verticity]

Oh, and I am not a lawyer.

 

[Zaphod]

Can't say I have heard of any abnormal bruising - or a longer period of time for bruises to disappear. I regularly get banged up playing soccer or hiking and I see no difference. A few months ago when my dermo was particularly bad I got a cut on my arm. I wondered if the dermo would somehow impede my bodies ability to heal the cut, but I saw no evidence of that. It healed up just fine in what I would call a normal amount of time.

 

[Jonathan]

Also never encountered bruising but I do occasionally get dermo on my hands during the winter while using kava (combo of kava dehydration and the dry air). It happens predominantly on my knuckles, and sometimes if the skin gets too dry and cracks the surrounding area could resemble a bruise.

The way I counter that is by staying hydrated and backing off on the amount of kava I'm using as soon as the skin starts to dry out. Coconut oil also works wonders on the skin, as well as (as weird as it sounds) raw honey. Try rubbing some honey (has to be raw), on the affected area, let it sit for ten minutes or so, then wash it off and moisturize with coconut oil. The honey has incredible healing properties and it's reversed my dermo more than a few times.