Overview
Nosebleed or Epistaxis can be happened suddenly from either one nose or both noses from few seconds to some minutes, though, in most cases, it is considered as less severe medical condition due to having the lining of numerous blood vessels inside the noses. These blood vessels are readily fragile in nature and can burst for many reasons.
Anyone can experience of nose bleeding at any time which may arise in the front of the nose (Anterior nosebleed) or at the back of the nose (Posterior nosebleed), but children nosebleed between the age 2 years to 10 years are very common and normal. The tendency to bleed from one nose is usually more than both noses.
However, some home remedies play very good roles to stop bleeding from nose or noses, and If nosebleed occurs during prolong periods of time, seek the help of healthcare provider.
What are the possible causes for nose bleeding?
Nosebleed can happen for a lot of factors, may be frequent or infrequent which depend on the nature of severity. Some points are counted as main culprits for nosebleed -
- an accident or any kinds of injuries to your nose
- An abnormal shape of the nose wall (septum design is not normal)
- Picking your nose
- Blowing your nose too strong
- Sneezing frequently or continuously
- Dry air or cold air (rapidly weather change)
- Age (Children or people age above 50)
- Upper respiratory tract infection
- Nasal tumors or nasal polyps
- Some nose irritating strong chemicals
- Sinuses
- Allergies
- Pregnancy
- Some medications, such as, antihistamines and nasal decongestants, anticoagulants (aspirin, heparin, warfarin, clopidogrel)
- Some diseases conditions, for examples, different types of cancer, high blood pressure, anemia, hemophilia, leukemia, antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).
What should do immediately to stop nose bleeding?
Some steps are very helpful to manage nose bleeding as well as recommended to perform as quick as nose bleeding appear -
- Initially, calm down, hold upright position by sitting in a place and tilt your head slightly forward
- Use tissue or soft cloth to swab the nosebleeds
- Use fingers and thumb to pinch the soft part below nose bridge or above nostrils for 10 minutes
- Take breathing through mouth only
- Keep small piece of ice inside one clean cloth and place it to the nose bridge
- Check after 10 minutes to remove fingers from nostrils
- Do not lay down or bend over just after stopping bleeding as it promotes to the recurrence of nose bleeding
However, if stop the nosebleeds after instance home therapy, no need to seek medical, otherwise, visit the doctor chamber or may require the emergency room in hospital.
What are the processes to diagnose nosebleeds?
As per the recommendations from healthcare practitioners, the following are the diagnosis processes for identifying the actual reasons behind nosebleeds -
- Physical examination
- Patient medical and medications history
- Nasal endoscopy
- Computer Tomography (CT) scan of the nose
- CBC test for checking blood disorders
- PTT test for observing blood clotting times
What are the best treatments for nosebleeds?
Based on the severity of bleeding from nose, it may vary from patient to patient. Doctors may suggest the below treatments for nose bleeding individual -
- Block the nostrils: By applying gauzes, foam, specially designated latex balloon or sponges through the nostrils, which normally close the noses by creating pressure in such a way that nothing can pass through the nose.
- Seal the blood vessel: One of the most popular process, cauterization is used to seal the bleeding blood vessels which mainly performed by silver nitrate or a heating object, followed by local anesthesia.
- Use cold therapy over the nose
- Correction of the abnormal septum by surgical procedure
- Ligation technique is used to stop nose bleeding
- Correction the medications of other medical conditions, especially, those medicines that provoking to nose bleeding.
How to prevent nosebleeds?
There are some factors that considering for reducing or preventing nosebleeds -
- Use humidifier to maintain the proper moist in air inside the room
- Nasal sprays or drops containing saline water which helps to keep sufficient moist inside nose
- Use petroleum jelly or antibiotics creams or ointments such as Polysporin or Bacitracin products to create a nose moist
- Avoid picking or blowing your nose
- Limit to use antihistamines and decongestant products
- Avoid smoking or drinking any hot liquid as it causes dryness inside nose
- Abstain from lying down doing any hard work during nose bleeding