Your Childrens Health

A typical nosebleed is the loss of blood from the mucous membranes that line the nose. This usually happens from one nostril. Nosebleeds are quite common, and happen due to minor irritations or a cold.

The nose has a huge amount of blood vessels, which can make it very easy for the nose to bleed. Air movement through the nose makes it dry and can irritate the mucous membranes inside the nose. The nose lining develops little dry patches that bleed when irritated by blowing, rubbing or picking the nose. Low humidity can also cause the nose to dry out.

A direct impact could rupture several blood vessels in the nose, causing it to bleed. Nosebleeds mostly occur on the tip of the septum, which has endless amounts of fragile, easily damaged blood vessels. A more rare nosebleed occurs in the high septum. These bleeds may be harder to control and you may need to seek medical attention to help get it stopped. Sometimes nosebleeds can indicate other disorders.

Some symptoms of a nosebleed:

• Blood coming from one or both nostrils

• Fluid in the back of the nose and throat

• Frequent swallowing

• Sudden trauma to the nose

When dealing with a  child’s nosebleed, have the child sit down and gently squeeze the soft part of the nose between their (or your) thumb and fingers so that the nostrils are closed. Do this for about ten to fifteen minutes. Leaning forward helps to avoid swallowing blood, and make sure they breathe through their mouth. Wait five minutes or more before checking to see if it has stopped.

Most nosebleeds can be controlled this way, if you allow the right amount of time for bleeding to stop. It may also help to apply a cold compress or ice to the bridge of the nose. Do not pack the nose with gauze. Lying down, sniffing or blowing your nose is not recommended for several hours after a nosebleed.

To help prevent nosebleeds, keep the house cooler.  Having a vaporizer also helps. You can  get a saline nasal spray if recurrent nosebleeds are a problem for your child. This helps mainly in the winter months.

Call your family physician if your child has frequent nosebleeds, especially if they are not associated with a minor irritation or cold.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 15th, 2006 at 12:48 am and is filed under Medical Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.