Table 1.

Colour observations used to estimate the age of bruises

Observable colour of the bruise	Estimated age of the bruise in hours
Red and haemorrhagic (bright-red)	0 to 10 h old
Dark- red colour	Approximately 24 h old
Watery consistency	24 to 38 h
Rusty orange colour, soapy to touch, clear yellow mucus	+72 h (3 days old)

Gracey et al. (1999).