Frequent Nosebleeds; What You Can Do.

Frequent nosebleeds can be scary but as a rule they aren’t serious. Here’s what you can do.

One of the questions I received recently was from a mother whose child had frequent nosebleeds.

I have first-hand experience with this one. Our son had more ear aches & nosebleeds as a child than he had scrapes and bruises. I’ve tried a lot of things to help him with his nose bleeds. Here are a few that worked for us:  {you probably already know this first one.}

 

HEAD BACK PINCH NOSTRILS

Hold your head back & pinch your nostrils together for about 10 minutes. If it didn’t stop after the first time interval, Some experts suggest spraying decongestant into the nostril and holding the nose for another 10 minutes. While nostril pinching helped us for a few minutes, the decongestant never did. We could be nostril pinching for hours!

I remember one of the doctors telling me not to let him blow his nose, bend over, or lift anything heavy for the remainder of the day. I looked at that pediatrician wondering if actually knew any eight-year-old boys or or if he used restraints in order to accomplish this?

 

HUMIDIFIER & ESSENTIAL OILS

Another effective support mechanism is a humidifier. Alex used to get nosebleeds more frequently in the winter. I would put a drop or two (or 3-4) of essential in the humidifiers which ran in his room & den. Eucalyptus is always a good choice it has potent antiseptic properties. Eucalyptus oil clears congestion and is a purifier. Another interesting use of Eucalyptus is as a good insect propellant when mixed with water.  Safer then DEET too.

 

NOSE SPRAYS

The doctor’s office gave us various nose sprays to use several times a day. I didn’t see much result there either.  I remember being called into the school office & scolded that nose sprays were considered medicine in school and required the proper parental authorization and paperwork to be administered. Meanwhile our sons blood was all over… in the classroom, on  the office floor, the hallway tiles, & the nurses station. And it wasn’t just a little blood it was a lot – with blood clots (absolutely gross).And of course boys don’t carry tissues and the male administrator on duty that day was more concerned about the rule then thinking about giving the boy a box of tissues. The good news is on my millionth request Alex stopped using his T-shirt. I really think that more about cool blood effects in school then my laundry request.  That day probably caused more work for the school then had they let him use the nose spray.

 

CAUTERIZATION

We also had the vessels in his nose cauterized. That remedy lasted… Oh, maybe a week.. if we were lucky.

 

CAPSICUM/ CAYENNE PEPPER

One very unconventional thing that did work was a little bit of Cayenne (capsicum) pepper and water. It’s very antibacterial and is frequently used for hemorrhaging. Some people take Cayenne pepper to help with digestion of meals. It has the ability to rebuild tissue in the stomach and heal intestinal ulcers. I will warn you if you use too much it will burn. When dealing with the nose and trying to keep it clean and stop it from bleeding that’s one thing but if you’d ingest too much of it ….it will burn when it’s coming out (this is either making you laugh are grossing you out)!

 

NETTLE

Nettle is a pretty useful plant all the way around. It is is rich in iron which is a vital to good circulation and helps reduce high blood pressure. It also has compounds in it like tannin which has been used in an enema to shrink hemorrhoids and reduce menstrual flow. It’s also rich in chlorophyll and many other nutrients like a, C, D, D, F calcium, copper, zinc etc.

 

YARROW

Yarrow used as a poultice is great for wounds  and inflammations. It’s been used to reduce swelling and sooth  bruises, and abrasions. For nosebleeds, the leaves can be steeped in the water and then placed in the nostrils. I have to admit I never tried  yarrow leaves on him. As it was, he always walked around with tissues in his nose I didn’t want him shoving other things up there.

 

MORE HERBS

You can also research horse chestnut, butchers broom and bilberry.

 

NUTRIENTS
There are nutrients that strengthen capillaries and are good for blood vessels. This would include vitamin C vitamin which help keep the walls of the veins and arteries flexible and strong. Dark green foods offer a great benefit. This is how I introduced the benefits of eating antioxidant rich foods like blueberries grapes, berries, pineapples, broccoli etc.

 

GENERAL

The majority of nose bleeds come from blood vessels in the front of the nose. While nose bleeds are rarely fatal they can be a sign of something larger or come from the posterior. Always trust your gut. Fresh blood and clotted blood can also be swallowed & flow down into the stomach and cause nausea  making this even more uncomfortable: Go to the doctor.

I hope this supports your remedy search for dealing with nose bleeds.  Eventually Alex’s nose bleeds did lessen. Not sure if that was the nutrients or he just grew up. He still gets them and on occasion he’ll ask “What’s that Mommy magic stuff you’d put in the empty nose spray bottles again?”

September 14, 2016

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