Nosebleeds are common and are due to superficial blood vessels in the nose. The bleeding can start on its own if the mucous membranes are dry or have become inflamed by a cold. Often the bleeding goes by itself but sometimes you need care.
Symptoms of nose bleeding
When you have nosebleeds, blood flows from your nose. It can also run down the throat. Depends on where the bleeding started. It is common to swallow a little blood. Sometimes it can make you feel ill and vomit. Then the blood follows up.
What can I do for myself?
When you bleed nasal blood, you can do the following:
- Sit up and lean forward a little.
- Squeeze with thumb and forefinger around the soft parts of the nose for ten minutes.
- Breathe through your mouth and try to spit out the blood that is going down the throat.
- Suck on an ice cube or place a cold towel over your nose and forehead. This can cause the blood vessels to contract and the bleeding to stop.
Use a cotton swab if it continues to bleed
You can insert a cotton swab into your nose if it has not stopped bleeding after ten minutes.
Then you can hold your nose for ten minutes if needed. Leave the cotton swab on for about an hour after it has stopped bleeding.
It is easier to remove between if you dip it in cooking oil before stuffing it in the nose into the nose.
You can also take some decongestant nasal drops or nasal spray on a cotton swab and stuff into the nose. It causes blood vessels to contract and reduces bleeding. You can also use a special hemostatic wad that you can buy at pharmacies.
When and where should I seek care
Seek care immediately if any of the following is true of you:
- You have severe nasal bleeding.
- Having slow-flowing nasal bleeding that does not stop even though you have followed the advice above and it has been 30 minutes since the bleeding started.
Also, you can seek care at a health center or an on-call reception. If it is closed search for an emergency room.
Contact a health care provider if you bleed nasal blood several times the same day or several days in a row. If you are taking blood thinners, you may need to adjust the dose or change the medication.
Investigation
At the health center, the doctor looks in the nose to see if there are any wounds or any superficial blood vessels in the nose.
Treatment of nose bleeding
You who bleed nosebleeds can often be treated with etching. Then the doctor first anesthetizes the inside of the nose with a special nasal spray. The bleeding is stopped with a small stick dipped in silver nitrate that the doctor holds on the vessel for five to ten seconds. The treatment of nose bleeding usually does not hurt. Then you get a cotton swab dipped in paraffin or oil in the nose. The shuttle can be removed after a few hours.
How can I prevent it?
There are some things you can do to prevent nosebleeds. You can try the following:
- Dry your nose gently instead of cheating when your nose is running.
- Don’t poke your nose.
- Moisten the nose with saline. You can buy saline at a pharmacy or mix it yourself. Then take a spicy salt in a deciliter of water. The water does not need to be boiled, but it can feel better if the solution is lukewarm when you use it. You can add some olive oil. To get the saline solution into your nose, you can moisten a cotton swab or use a small plastic syringe available at a pharmacy.
- Try softening nasal spray with oil if it feels dry and sore in the nose. Such nasal sprays are available at pharmacies.
What happens in the body?
It is common to bleed nosebleeds and this is often due to superficial blood vessels in the nose. One reason may be that the mucous membranes have become dry or inflamed by a cold. Other reasons may be that you have had a blow to the nose. Nosebleeds in children may also be due to the child stuffing something into the nose. Nosebleeds can also come completely unexpectedly and not infrequently at night.
Some drugs may increase the risk of nosebleeds
Some medicines you take through your nose can increase the risk of nasal bleeding. An example is a nasal spray for allergy.
Some drugs make it more difficult to stop the bleeding
Some medicines may make it more difficult to stop the bleeding. Examples of such agents are non-prescription painkillers such as Bamyl and Treo and prescription blood thinners such as Trombyl and Warren.