Stop Those Nosebleeds!

Five tips for first aid relief. By Kaye Langit-Luistro

With these supposedly cooler months still searing hot on some days, it’ll just be a matter of time when your little boy or girl gets a nosebleed, especially if you or other members of your family were prone to nosebleeds during your youth.

Nosebleeds in both adults and children are caused by a number of factors including localized infections, dried nasal mucus membranes, arteriosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries), high blood pressure, certain disorders that lead to bleeding of the nose (such as leukemia, cystic fibrosis, hemophilia or dengue hemorrhagic fever) and injury (nose fractures or repeated injury from constant picking.) Low humidity on days that are hot and dry can dry out the nasal cavities and also lead to nosebleeds.

Most nosebleeds are not serious and can be stopped in 10 or 15 minutes without hospital treatment. However, if your child’s nosebleed crops up every month without any substantive reason, according to pediatrician Lourdes Dolojan, MD, consult your physician right away. This will help you explore options before it truly becomes unmanageable.

Stop Those Nosebleeds by Kaye Langit-Luistro

Prevention Philippines, December 2002

For easy to follow first-aid techniques, says Dr. Dolojan, “just remember the acronym TAP-D2.”

Tilt your child’s head forward and not backward to avoid blocking the airway.

Apply ice packs on the side of the nose bridge to ease pain and prevent swelling.

Pinch the soft part of the nose below the nasal bone from 10 to 15 minutes.

Dash to your nearest health practitioner and seek medical attention if bleeding persists.

Do not put any nasal pack (made of sterilized gauze) in your child’s nose nor allow him to pick at the clot or cough forcefully for the next 48 hours, Dr. Dolojan advises.

Stop Those Nosebleeds was first published on Prevention Magazine Philippines in December 2002. For more articles on childcare and parenting, please go to this link.