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Had Blood Drawn And Swelling In Arm. Applied Ice. Should I Be Worried?
Posted on
Fri, 11 Jan 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Fri, 11 Jan 2013
Answered on
Thu, 31 Jan 2013
Last reviewed on
Question : I had blood drawn via butterfly from the top of my hand 2 hours ago. The site of the draw is swollen to nearly the size of a nickel, feels firm, and is slightly bruised. I do not trust the lab for advice as they were rude, unprofessional, and caused pain. One tech stuck me in two other places even though I informed her I have the best luck with a butterfly. A second tech did the final draw from my hand and twisted the needle once in the vein to force the stick. I put done ice on the site but took it off. From my Android phone on T-Mobile. The first nationwide 4G network.
Hi,
Thank you for your query.
The cause of swelling at the puncture site of vein is due to extravasation of blood from the vein which causes bleeding into surrounding tissue.
After removing the needle from vein, that site should be pressed firmly with a cotton swab for some time followed by applying of a plaster or band-aid so that this will prevent the leak of blood from the vein puncture site and prevents the swelling caused by the bleeding.
You can keep ice for pain relief and to decrease the swelling and while sleeping put the hand on the pillow to elevate the limb so that the swelling decreases.
Nothing to worry and the pain and swelling decrease within 24 hours.
Hope I have answered your query, if you have any clarification please let me know.
Thank you.
Thank you for your query.
The cause of swelling at the puncture site of vein is due to extravasation of blood from the vein which causes bleeding into surrounding tissue.
After removing the needle from vein, that site should be pressed firmly with a cotton swab for some time followed by applying of a plaster or band-aid so that this will prevent the leak of blood from the vein puncture site and prevents the swelling caused by the bleeding.
You can keep ice for pain relief and to decrease the swelling and while sleeping put the hand on the pillow to elevate the limb so that the swelling decreases.
Nothing to worry and the pain and swelling decrease within 24 hours.
Hope I have answered your query, if you have any clarification please let me know.
Thank you.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Shanthi.E
Answered by
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