unexplained sudden brusing/redness at base of finger with swelling & numbness

Thank you so much! I've just had a quick look at a report on Achenbach's Syndrome, and the photo of a blue swollen thumb looked so exactly like my thumb that I am very reassured :) I am 52 and this only began occurring on my R thumb about a 6 weeks ago. Has happened 3x since then. Being a nurse, I have always treated it immediately with an antihistamine (in case an insect bite although I never felt one), as well as ice and elevation to reduce the swelling .... and over an hour or so it resolves except for residual bruising which takes several days to go.

Achenbach syndrome!!!!!
I have this and just figured it out

are u okay?

Hi - wondering how you went and if they found any clots? Like you, I had this happen in my finger two weeks ago, and about an hour ago in my foot. I also have factor v Leiden (genetic disorder predisposing you to DVTs) and my mum died at 49 with pulmonary embolism- so I’m a bit worried right now. Especially as I’m meant to get on a plane today. Not sure if I should be getting myself to doc ASAP instead...

This is very interesting. I was looking for explanations as I have had a couple of times where I picked up clothes off the floor and my thumb started stinging then turned purple like a bruise. I checked for insects nothing. I also stepped on a bunched up towel and had the same thing happen. Then today I hopped in the pool in the rain and my hands started stinging and turned purple but disappeared in a few minutes. The other two bruises lasted a couple of days. I was wondering if it was veins rather than normal injury as it stings like a blood test, its not normal to bruise from standing on a towel. Thanks for the insight.

I got it yesterdayz. Red and painful in my middle finger at the joint. After a couple of minutes a bruise. It hurt when I touch it. But this morning is gonne.
I don’t know what to think about it.
It was suddenly.

I have low blood pressure

Did you ever figure out the cause of this? Just happened to me a couple days ago. Same age.

I have the exact same problem. Has happened a few times a year but I have now had 3 this week in my thumb from flicking a bug away, my middle finger from grabbing a door handle and index finger for no reason.
Drives me crazy wondering what it is but I have the same pattern as you.

I get this too, mine starts with a bit of pain say if I'm carrying a heave shopping bag and a finger joint starts swelling and the blood pools up under the skin like a pea, then the itching starts, after the itching stops then it's painful, today I got one on my wrist, the itching was full on so had to sit it on a cold pack to relieve, then it looked like a tiny bruise. I haven't been diagnosed with anything, it's just a random thing.

I am 71 years old and have had a diagnosis of Reynaud’s since my late 20’s. Thankfully that explained all my stabbing pains in fingers and toes in my childhood during winter walks, because I did not see the blanching and then purple digits in my youth. After menopause, the Reynaud’s subsided (yay!) and I had a number of years with warm hands and feet. And, no, I did not move to Florida. Then, maybe in mid 60’s, it came back with a vengance. Have others experienced this phenomenon of no overt symptoms of Reynaud’s after menopause or at other times?

Then, also in late 60s, I started to get this itchy feeling in digits, always with bleeding into the palmar aspect of my digits. Not associated with cold, heat or trauma — just spontaneous. Only today did I Google and find out it was Achenbach’s Disease. What prompted that Google? Last night I was brushing my tech in the dark and my thumb felt numb. When I turned on the light, I encountered a blue thumb twice the size of its counterpart on the left hand...and there had been no prior itching, nor any indication that the small hemorrhage was about to occur. Hmmm. I Googled “spontaneous bruising of digits” and the first picture I saw was a carbon copy of my thumb, labeled Achenbach’s and all the signs and symptoms matched. Then I Googled the relationship between Reynaud’s and Achenbach’s which led me to this site. So thank you.
In closing, let me mention —as I have been dealing with Achenbach’s for at least 5 years —at the first sign of the odd itch that tells me a vessel has just lost its integrity and decided to bleed out, I run for a piece of ice, plunk it down on the itchy site, and hold my hand in the air as high above my heart as possible. If fast enough, I usually stop the bleeding on its tracks and the ice can be removed in 5 minutes. This make for a strange sight in restaurants when scooping ice from Diet Coke and raising one’s hand, but it works! At 71 we can afford to be eccentric.
Cathy

It has happy to me a couple of times too. It’s curious; today happened to me in the same area you mentioned same symptoms. I’m 30 I always get scared.

Hi fellow Achenbach "sufferers"! I'm 54, F, have had this stinging, swelling and then purple experience for about 9 years or so, with only about 10-15 total occurrences. The hematologist, rheumatologist, etc., that I initially saw were confused and apparently unfamiliar with this syndrome. (Guess there are so many things that could go wrong with the human body, we're lucky most of them go as right as they do most of the time!) For me, this initially affected the bottom of one of my feet, but now seems to mostly affect a middle finger. Like others, the bruising generally occurs on the palm side and resolves within a few days. It seems like some kind of vascular spasm to me, but the causes are mysterious. Does anyone else think we should start an internet database to keep track of any similarities in individual's occurrence details?----food eaten, medications taken, temperature, frequency, etc. Interesting to read that Kay and her Mum (above) both suffered from it. Could be helpful to someone in reducing their anxiety?! Regards! Laurie

God bless the internet! Have been experiencing this for decades - generally in clusters, so I have phases when it may happen several times a week and then go months with nothing. I have been to the doctors a few times, but apart from saying it was nothing to worry about they just thought (thought!!! - how reassuring!) that it wasn't a problem. I queried it with them because I have been on anti-convulsants for over 50 years now, which has caused other side-effects - but, without knowing the cause they still discounted a link. Although the swelling and bruising quickly subsided, the frightening thing was wondering whether it could happen in a more important organ than the skin, especially the brain - however after so long, this worry has gone. This is a temporary nuisance but nothing to worry about - it is however lovely to be able to give it a name, and know there are others of you out there. Thank you for your posts.

I’m a 53 year old woman who is on no medication. Normal weight, no addictions and physically active. I have been experiencing the same thing lately. I’d be lifting a dinner plate or opening a Tupperware container and suddenly feel a tingling in my finger- then slight pressure, and watch my finger go blue and swelled. The swelling goes down, but the purple bruise stays for days.
I just had my blood pressure taken at the triage, blood work etc. I had my arm exrayed in case it’s fractured or dislocated— nothing showed up.
But, it’s still happening.
Anyone know what they think it can be?