Nosebleeds

A nosebleed can be scary, especially for a young child. A parent may become worried because it looks like there is a large amount of blood coming out. For the most part, you do not need to be concerned. A nosebleed always looks worse than it is.

It may take a good 15-20 minutes to stop a bloody nose. To stop a bleeding nose, you first want to apply pressure to the nose at the point directly below the “bridge” of the nose by pinching between your thumb and your forefinger. There is no need to keep your child’s head elevated because this will only lead to swallowing the blood and causing nausea.

The next step would be to use an ice pack to as much of the nose as possible. Probably the best way to apply ice is to use a bag of frozen peas, since this bag can “mold” itself around your child’s nose.

If the first two steps do not work, the next step would be to see if you have some Neosynephrine nose drops. This is the same medicine you occasionally use to stop a runny nose. Take the Neosynephrine and saturate a twisted corner of tissue. “Stuff” the tissue up the side of the bloody nose, making sure that you leave a part of the tissue out of the nose for future removal. The Neosynephrine works by shrinking the blood vessels in the nose to stop bleeding, the same way it shrinks the blood vessels to stop the nose from being runny.

If none of these methods work, call us. Additionally, please let us know if there are any other signs of bleeding like unusual bruises or swelling of the joints. The majority of nosebleeds are due to drying out of the nasal tissue or direct irritation from cleaning, “picking”, or inflammation from a cold.

A nose will continue to bleed intermittently for about a week until the blood vessel heals. Until this happens, use some Vaseline on a Q-tip and gently coat the inside of the nose. This will keep the tissue moist and less likely to re-rupture. Humidifiers and/or vaporizers will also help.