Excessive and acute bruising from possible hyperextension injury

My boyfriend was playing Frisbee golf when he hyper extended his shoulder while throwing overhead.  He had immediate pain.  The next day he was still in acute, severe pain and that's when the bruising started.  He had subsequent bruising from his arm pit down to above his elbow.  The extreme pain subsided after 48 hours, but the bruising just keeps getting worse.  Six days later and the bruising is still turning dark black, blue, and purple.  I am trying to research what he may have done online.  I have found that maybe he popped a blood vessel from hyperextension.  A lot of websites also say that if the bruising was accompanied by extreme pain and substantial dark bruising it may be a more serious problem like internal bleeding.  Is there potential that this could be a more immediate problem that needs immediate medical care?  Please help me diagnosis this.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The blood under the skin which causes the discoloration of bruising should be totally reabsorbed by the body in three weeks or less.

In your boyfriend’s case, it is important to rule out formation of hematoma because of blood trapped in tissues. This blood may need to be drained. Less commonly, it may develop calcium deposits at the injury site in a process called heterotopic ossification. This is more serious.

I feel that you should consult a surgeon and take a second opinion from him. Also get the possibility of tendon and ligament rupture and tendonitis evaluated. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.