Epistaxis is the scientific word for nose bleed. Everyone and anyone will have a nose bleed at least once in their life.
Several factors can cause it. Some nosebleeds are cause by some inner lining nose problems.
Some other are due to weather conditions, such as too cold or too hot. Both of these situations lead to dryness in your nose. The dryness causes pain and in turn the pain causes blood vessels to release blood.
This condition can be accentuated by us touching our nose in the most inappropriate manner. What I mean is putting your finger in your nose (may be I should have restrain to say this, but you all know that we all do it – especially when it hurt). Apologies to the sensible ones.
The above condition occurs most of the time in the frontal septum (this is a part inside your nostril).
What causes nose bleed to adults and children?
Unfortunately, there are people who are more affected than others. For instance, those that have sinusitis, or bleeding disorder – yes this disorder exist.
Others are the ones that have high blood pressure and hence blood vessels in the nose releases blood (not because they want to, it is just that they cannot cope with the pressure).
If you are subjected to allergies, then you may get nosebleeds too. And more often than your friends. The reason is that you may sneeze a lot. This sneezing moves that vessels in your nose.
You will also touch your nose quite a lot when you are under allergies. This is because it is itching before or after the sneeze. So you cannot help it. As itching is highly unpleasant, you just scratch or touch your nose. Not a nice feeling.
Below I provide you with what stops nose bleeding.
How to stop a nose bleed?
There are many different ways to stop your nose bleeding. At the end of the day, nose can bleed for 5 minutes, it can do for 10, 15 or even 20 to 30 minutes.
When you reach over 30 minutes, then people say that your nosebleed to death. There is nothing wrong with bleeding for 30 minutes, but still that’s a lot of blood you are losing. So you better stop it as early as possible.
1- Nose bleed best position
When your nose bleed, people tend to tell you to lie down. Well you better not. The blood will still bleed, but this time it will bleed in your throat.
So the best position is to sit on a chair or on the floor. Do not stand up as sometimes losing blood can cause fainting. You do not wish to faint while standing up I can tell you.
So if your nosebleed is not so serious, aim to do some first aid yourself. When I say not serious, I mean if the nose bleed is not caused by a punch or other and it is natural. I also mean if the blood is not rushing like mad out of your nose. Use your own judgement for this.
So instead of tilting your head backward, it is best to tilt it forward. The reason is that you will avoid choking by doing so.
Now, pinch your nose at the top end. A hard pinch should do. Your nose should still bleed a bit, but less so. This is when your body will act by putting some ‘barrier’ to close off the blood breach.
I repeat myself, do not lye down.
2- Compress your nose
If you feel the above method is not for you, you can aim for another solution.
You can pinch your nose at the bottom. Again the blood will still flow, and let it flow, but do only allow a short amount. It should stop bleeding within 5 mns.
Note that you should not pinch your nose till it really hurts. You should compress it instead and let your body react.
As the vessels are damaged, by compressing either at the top end or bottom of your nose, you are slowly reducing the flow. As said, after 5 to 10 minutes, just release your nose. You should be fine. If not, apply the above methods again.
Do not forget to breath through your mouth only.
3- Nasal sprays
I do not really like this as it is an active agent. However, some people are so prone to nose bleeding that they have taken this option.
Oxymetazoline sprays somehow help you. It is quite often used by people with hypertension. The medicine is usually used when you have weak blood vessels in the nose.
The best way to use it is as follows:
- Apply Oxymetazoline onto a cotton or gauze.
- Note, you need to add 2 drops of the spray only.
- Now, put the cotton inside the affected nostril. You may need two cottons if both nostril are bleeding.
- Again apply method 1 or 2 or both described above. Just pinch your nostril at the top or bottom. You chose. I prefer at the top as it is more effective.
- After 10 min remove the cotton ball and check for bleeding. If nothing, keep breathing via your mouth.
Note that I would avoid using this solution too often.
4 – Cool your blood down
Many people get nosebleed because they are too hot. Their blood pressure increases in this case, and your body releases this pressure via your nose.
What you can do in this cases is to cool your body down. For instance, you can go in a cooler room.
If this is not an option, there is a more active solution. Pour cool water and not cold, onto your neck. This will cool the blood that goes to your brain and tell your brain that you have fixed the problem.
You can also take a cool shower. This will lower your body temperature quickly.
You can also get some ice and put them in a towel. Put the towel at back of your head.
5- Prevention of nosebleed
Prevention is always the best thing you can do for nose bleeding. The only way to prevent it is to know the initial cause for this. So you need to investigate.
Most of the time it will be easy. For instance, you may have an injury to the nose. Or you have hurt your vessels from nose picking, blowing your nose too strongly, and even because you are excessively rubbing your nose.
So it is best to avoid doing any of these in the first place.
When your room has excessive heating, it can become extremely dry. As such your nose will be dry and you’ll end up bleeding. Add some humidifier in your room to avoid this condition.
In terms of hypertension, you would need to lower your blood pressure using a natural remedy. You can also use medicines, but I am not a fan of these. They usually have very strong side effects on you such as feeling dizzy, wanting to sleep, body aching, wanting to vomit etc. Why would you want to experience this? Your choice really.
Where to find Oxymetazoline?
It is easy to find this particular nasal remedy (chemical one). You can get it at a pharmacy or in supermarkets. You can also find it on the web. Click on the picture below to get it.
Conclusion
Now you have an arsenal of ammunition to fight your nose bleeding issue. If you have a nosebleed or someone near you, just keep calm. Now start using our advice.
What I prefer to do is to use the pinch and compress methods associated with cooling off our neck and brain. These do seem to work best.
So there is nothing to panic about. At the end of the day, how many people did you see bleeding from their nose and dying in front of you. So best for your to take it easy and apply the above solutions.
Breathe via your mouth, keep your heartbeat low by not panicking and stop the blood bleeding.
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