Aiculsamoth,
Exactly. At the point when my PT was doing “skin rolling;” a technique that brings the blood back into the area by simply working on the fascia to make it less “stuck,” (see the link below for a good description), I would get these huge bruises on the area where she worked sometimes. Even my PT was a little horrified at how black and blue they were, but she had told me that bruises meant the blood was returning to the area so I wore those bruises like trophies because they both validated my pain in a visual way and showed I was healing!
http://www.pamelamorrisonpt.com/description-of-services/skin-rolling-techniques/