First aid for nosebleeds
Stay calm and bend your head forward.
SNEEZING hard is sometimes all it takes to start a nosebleed; the blood can be scary, but it often looks worse than it actually is.
“During a nosebleed, a little drip of blood can look like a medical emergency,” says Dr Jens Wagenknecht.
However, “you usually only lose a few millilitres of blood”, he notes.
A dry environment is the most frequent cause of nosebleeds.
In such conditions, sneezing or blowing your nose hard can be enough to tear a blood vessel in the mucous membrane.
That is what makes the nose sensitive, particularly its front part.
People who take blood thinners are more likely to get nosebleeds.
The same applies to anyone who has flu, says ear, nose and throat surgeon Dr Clemens Heiser.
Pregnant women are also particularly prone to nosebleeds.
And it is “a bit more frequent” among children too, says paediatrician Dr Hermann Josef Kahl.
When your nose bleeds, one rule applies: stay calm. Getting worked up and panicking leads to a higher blood pressure, which will in turn increase the bleeding.
You should lean your head forward slightly, and never put tissues or anything else into your nostrils.
“That disturbs blood coagulation,” Dr Wagenknecht says.
Don’t keep wiping the rim of the nostril. It’s better to pinch the nostril by pressing on its side with a finger, Dr Heiser explains.
“That partially cuts the blood supply to the front part of the nose,” he says.
Putting a cool cloth on your nape will not hurt either.
In the rare cases where the bleeding is pulsating and in spurts, it may be a sign of arterial bleeding, says Dr Heiser.
Such nosebleeds are really difficult to halt, the expert says, and the best doctor to see is an ear, nose and throat specialist.
The affected vessel may need to be cauterised, or may be forced shut using a special packing.
If any nosebleeding remains substantial after about 10 minutes,
Dr Heiser recommends consulting a doctor anyway.
People who take blood thinners especially should not delay seeking medical help for a significant nosebleed, he stresses. “It is quite unlikely that the bleeding will stop on its own,” he says.
If a child’s nose bleeds longer than three or four minutes, their parents should take them to the doctor, says Dr Kahl.
One thing applies to adults and children alike: if you keep getting nosebleeds over several days and there are no apparent injuries, it is best to check with an ear, nose and throat specialist, Dr Wagenknecht says.
Repeated nosebleeds can be a sign of a coagulation disorder, Dr Heiser notes. More rarely, they can be caused by small tumours.
Nosebleeds can also be a symptom of other diseases, such as kidney problems, hypertension and arteriosclerosis. Often, however, they are simply caused by a small blood vessel in the septum that is not quite as it should be and keeps getting torn.
You can, to some extent, prevent nosebleeds by keeping the mucous membrane humid.
Dr Wagenknecht recommends increasing humidity in bedrooms and having the occasional drink of water at night.
Things like nose ointments, a saline spray and nasal oil can also help you deal with damaged membranes.