Hemophilia - Symptoms

The primary symptom of hemophilia is bleeding. The amount of bleeding that occurs depends on how serious the patient's condition is. In the most severe cases, bleeding can cause serious health problems, including death.

Severe hemophilia is usually discovered before a child has reached the age of eighteen months. For example, circumcision can result in heavy bleeding. Toddlers with severe hemophilia are at serious risk because they fall frequently. Bleeding may occur in the soft tissue of the arms and legs. This bleeding may cause bruising and noticable lumps, but usually does not require treatment.

As a child becomes more active, bleeding into the muscles may occur. This form of bleeding is more serious and more painful. Muscle bleeds cause pressure on nerves. This pressure can cause pain, numbness, and damage to nerves.

Some of the most serious damage caused by bleeding occurs in joints, especially the knees and elbows. Repeated bleeding can cause scarring of the joints. Joints may become deformed and permanently damaged.

Bleeding in the head can be especially serious. Many people receive blows to the head, but they seldom suffer serious damage. In the case of hemophilia, a blow to the head can cause extensive bleeding in the brain. Since the skull cannot expand, the bleeding causes pressure on delicate brain tissue. Permanent brain damage may occur.

More serious accidents can cause even more extensive bleeding. A hemophiliac who is in a motor vehicle accident, for example, may suffer from massive hemorrhaging (bleeding) that can result in death.