These hemorrhages are serious because with time they may lead to arthritis with subsequent deformity and crippling. A haemarthrosis may follow injury to the joint, or be spontaneous. If treatment is delayed beyond about four hours, the pain may be severe, the joint will swell up and several days of treatment may be required. As children grow, they learn to recognize bleeding, even before pain or swelling occurs. They may notice a prickly or funny feeling which is the earliest symptom of a bleed into a joint.
Early treatment is required if crippling and chronic pain are to be prevented.
Muscle Haemorrhage Bleeding into muscles is also common and may occur after injury or spontaneously. The parts of the body where this occurs most often are the calf, thigh, groin and forearm. Bleeding into muscles can give rise to swelling and pain which may develop over several days and this swelling causes pressure inside the muscle which can damage nerves and blood vessels. In the forearm, for example, this can produce deformity of the hand. Important signs and symptoms are tightness of the muscle, pain, temperature change and tingling or numbness.