How to Stop a Nosebleed

Nosebleeds are caused by broken blood vessels inside the nose and are especially common in children ages 2 to 10. Nosebleeds are a result of dry, crusty mucus membranes, trauma to the nose or certain disease processes. Nosebleeds usually stop on their own but will stop more quickly with your help.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dehumidifiers
• Vaseline
• Cold Compresses
• Dehumidifiers

1. Pinch your nose between your thumb and forefinger, and apply moderate pressure by squeezing against the nasal septum'the midsection of your nose'for 15 minutes.

2. Lean your head forward, not backward, so that the blood does not trickle down your throat. This will prevent a feeling of gagging.

3. Breathe through your mouth.

4. Apply a cold, soft compress around your nose as you continue to pinch it between your fingers.

5. Once bleeding has stopped, elevate your head above your heart when you are lying in bed or on the couch. This helps alleviate nasal pressure.

6. Turn on a cool vaporizer to moisten mucus membranes, which will help prevent the nosebleed from recurring.

7. Apply a small amount of petroleum jelly to the inside of the nostrils to moisten the passages and prevent the nosebleed from recurring. Use your fingertip.

8. Avoid blowing your nose for 24 hours, and when you do blow it again, blow gently.

9. Avoid lifting heavy objects or engaging in other strenuous activities after a nosebleed. This can produce momentary surges in blood pressure that could cause the nose to bleed again.

Tips & Warnings

• Nosebleeds are classified as anterior or posterior. Anterior (in the front) are the everyday common nosebleeds. Posterior (in the back) nosebleeds involve heavy bleeding from deep within the nose and are much more difficult to stop. Posterior nosebleeds occur most often in the elderly, due to hardening of the nasal arteries, hypertension, nasal tumors and anticoagulant medications.
• Anterior nosebleeds occur most often in the fall and winter when upper respiratory infections are most common. Upper respiratory infections leave noses crusty and dried out.
• Keep your child's fingernails trimmed if she likes to poke around in her nose. Long, ragged fingernails digging around in a nose can cause a nosebleed.
• After a nosebleed, avoid lifting heavy objects or engaging in strenuous activities. This increases systemic venous pressures and could cause the nose to bleed again.
• Never wedge cotton, tissues or gauze up into your nose to stop a nosebleed.
• Seek medical care if your nose continues bleeding after 20 minutes, if the bleeding worsens rather than improves, or if you have specific medical conditions or concerns. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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on 11/6/2009 Thanks for the info my daughter nose was bleeding this morning and so I went to ehow to look up how to doit and here it was. Ehow is a great place! 5

[fenderboy4]

on 7/18/2008 Our little brother had a nosebleed. Applying pressure to the side of the nose for about 10 minutes stopped the bleeding. There was some mucus looking goop in the blood. Perhaps this was the clot as described from the previous poster. He played with his cowboy doll while he was waiting for the bleeding to stop. This might help with other children too.

[fenderboy4]

on 7/18/2008 Our little brother had a nosebleed. Applying pressure to the side of the nose for about 10 minutes stopped the bleeding. There was some mucus looking goop in the blood. Perhaps this was the clot as described from the previous poster. He played with his cowboy doll while he was waiting for the bleeding to stop. This might help with other children too.

[xband]

on 11/5/2007 A real good quick way to stop a nose bleed is to roll a amall piece of tissue into a roll about 1 inch long and about this size of a pencil. Place this under your upper lip between your gums and lip. This will cut off the artery that supplies blood to the nose. The bleeding will stop immediatly. Leave in place until the blood clots.

[Nebby2019]

on 5/14/2007 Unfortunately, this article is incorrect.

The correct method for stopping a nosebleed is to do the following:

- Tilt head forward.
- Place cold damp cloth on back of neck.
- Apply pressure to the corner base of the nose (outer edge of the nostril).

Pressure should be applied to the left corner if bleeding is from the left nostril, or applied to the right corner is the bleeding is from the right nostril.

- Maintain pressure for 5 to 10 minutes to allow for sufficient clotting.

To this day, I'm still surprised how many doctors (and even surgeons) are incorrectly eductated on this topic. It's time to update the textbooks.