Do girls bruise more easily, and if so why?

[pergradus]

I've noticed that girls tend to bruise very easily, while guys not so much. I'm a guy, and I have to get hit very hard for a noticeable bruise to develop, but my sister always has bruises from very minor things.

Is this true in general, and if so why?

 

[I like Serena]

I read somewhere that girls have a thinner skin and that their veins are closer to the surface of their skin.
So yes, girls bruise more easily (generally speaking).

 

[lisab]

I read somewhere that girls have a thinner skin and that their veins are closer to the surface of their skin.
So yes, girls bruise more easily (generally speaking).

But it's also true that women have extra fat under the skin (that's why we're softer ). Perhaps that would inhibit bruising?

 

[bobze]

But it's also true that women have extra fat under the skin (that's why we're softer ). Perhaps that would inhibit bruising?

Actually its one of the reasons that women do bruise easier than men. In our better-halves hypodermis you have more subcutaneous fat and less dense collagen. The collagen is actually what provides the structural support for vascular networks through the hypodermis.

In men, the collagen is more dense and provides a thicker framework around the vascular structures. So the larger vessels in men's hypodermis are better protected than in women's.

Men also tend to have thicker (only anatomically ) skin than women--Referring here to the dermis, where capillary networks thrive. The thinner the dermis, the more easy it is to rupture those small dermal capillary beds. Which again, makes it more easy for women to bruise than men .

Of course that is vary, vary variable from individual to individual (and family to family in even!) and is only a general trend.

Edit to note: Also I believe that the actual blood vessels themselves are dimorphic in men and women. IIRC men's blood vessels actually have more collagen in them as well--In the tunica media (middle layer of the vessel wall). When you age deposition of collagen in the tunica media decreases which is also why seniors bruise more easily than their younger counterparts. I don't think the difference is vast enough you could ID gender by the size of the TM or anything like that, but still a difference in the favor of bruising.

 

[I like Serena]

But it's also true that women have extra fat under the skin (that's why we're softer ). Perhaps that would inhibit bruising?

I guess it would inhibit bruising on the men they might be with (seeing bobze's explanation).

 

[Proton Soup]

so cellulite is a sign of femininity?