Bloody noses?

[VAV1500]

Gentlemen-

I am sometimes prone to bloody noses (especially after being punched in the face;) , but often enough without any provocation). Sometimes I will go months without experiencing one, and then one day I will just be walking along and my nose will start gushing blood. While usually minor, they are extremely annoying and generally detrimental to any and all social interaction. I was curious if any of you guys who have BTDT could dispense some of your wisdom about methods of controlling or curing this. Thanks.

(As a side note, I recall a thread about hiccups giving some of the best advice I have ever heard about annoying health issues, courtesy of TR--something along the lines of "I told myself I would stop, so I did". That sums up prevention pretty well as far as I'm concerned, so I guess I'm more interested in good ways to deal with it once it starts bleeding.)

[Surgicalcric]

Getting a recommendation to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist would be the first step, and my advice.

Generally speaking a chronic epistaxis is the result of something environmental such as dry weather, pollen, being struck in the nose regularly, etc. The first priority in diagnosing your problem would be in determining what contributing factors there may be (ie: what is causing it). If you can chart when they happen (time/month/season) and what you were doing at the time it occurred it will save time in narrowing down the cause.

As well, the treatment can range from something as simple as a nasal spray to having the contributing vessels cauterized, again depending on the diagnosis.

Without looking in you nose and knowing the contributing factors we would be taking a shot in the dark. I realize this isn't the answer you were looking for.

HTH,

Crip

[Eagle5US]

A little vaseline on a Q-tip and rubbed inside your nose can help some if this is due to dryness.

Chronic use of nasal sprays-bad
Cocaine usage-bad
Nose picking (#1 cause)-understandable but bad

Even with all of the above...you can still have a superficial vessel that is prone to having it's menstrual cycle at the worst times.
Cautery (with something as simple as silver nitrate) can be accomplished with little discomfort. If this fails, additional methods of moderately permanent "sealing of the vessel" are available. Key issue is where your bleed originates.
Anterior nosebleeds (to the front) are generally minor even though they can be somewhat dramatic. Think in terms of a faucet...drips vs steady stream. Either way, blood down your chin and the front of your shirt only looks cool if you are standing triumphantly over a loudmouthed opponent-and he looks worse than you do.
Posterior nose bleeds are significantly more complicated, are generally worse, and are usually treated in the emergency department with special packs and techniques. ENT follow-up would be implied.

Good luck...

Eagle

[Sdiver]

To echo what Crip and Eagle said, a lot of what causes a nose bleed is environmental. How dry the air is, pollutants, pollens, repeated picking/blowing ect. ect., but one other contributing factor could be....are you a smoker? Smoking can greatly increase the dryness factor in your nasal passages, which could lead to your nose bleeds.

One other factor that you might want to look at is, High Blood Pressure (Hypertension (HTN)). Having sudden nose bleed onsets, could be a sign of increased blood pressure.

Here is a list of some contributing risk factors for HTN, which you may want to take a look at, and see if any apply to you and your nose bleeds. Because the nose bleed may just be that early warning sign for HTN.

Other risk factors for high blood pressure are within your control.

Excess weight. The greater your body mass, the more blood you need to supply oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. As the volume of blood circulated through your blood vessels increases, so does the pressure on your artery walls.

Inactivity. People who are inactive tend to have higher heart rates. The higher your heart rate, the harder your heart must work with each contraction — and the stronger the force on your arteries. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight.

Tobacco use. The chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your artery walls, which promotes narrowing of the arteries.

Sodium intake. Too much sodium in your diet — especially if you have sodium sensitivity — can lead to fluid retention and increased blood pressure.

Low potassium intake. Potassium helps balance the amount of sodium in your cells. If you don't consume or retain enough potassium, you may accumulate too much sodium in your blood.

Excessive alcohol. Over time, heavy drinking can damage your heart.

Stress. High levels of stress can lead to a temporary but dramatic increase in blood pressure. If you try to relax by eating more, using tobacco or drinking alcohol, you may only fuel problems with high blood pressure.

Certain chronic conditions also may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including high cholesterol, diabetes, kidney disease and sleep apnea. Sometimes pregnancy contributes to high blood pressure.



And always remember....

You can pick your friends.
You can pick your nose.
But, you can't pick your friends nose.

[Kyobanim]

You can pick your friends.
You can pick your nose.
But, you can't pick your friends nose.


And if you do, clip your nails.

[x-factor]

Lay off the coke. ;)

[NaRx]

I don't know how medically backed up this is, but I have always heard eating raisin's help. No idea.

[Eagle5US]

I don't know how medically backed up this is, but I have always heard eating raisin's help. No idea.
Realizing you are new here...since you have no idea it is probably better if you read the thread instead of posting in it. Helps keep misinformation down.:munchin
Thanks...

Eagle

[Doczilla]

I don't mean to necropost, but I just came back across this one.

To add to the already excellent advice provided by Crip and Eagle, you may consider trying saline nasal spray. NOT Afrin or another vasoconstricter. Saline spray is essentially harmless, can be used as many times a day as you like, and keeps the nasal mucosa moist to potentially prevent bleeding.

AFTER CHECKING THEIR BLOOD PRESSURE AND LOOKING UP THEIR NOSE AND NOT FINDING ANYTHING, this is the first thing I would suggest to a patient.


'zilla