You may afraid when you got nosebleed and it is understandable, since blood is coming out from your nose all of sudden may be a scary experience. But you should not be panic, because most nosebleeds are common and rarely lead to a more serious problem.
To help you understand why does it happen, here are the common causes of nosebleed, one of them may be the cause of yours.
- The air or weather
Nosebleed may occur when the heat or very cold air dries and irritates the membranes lining inside your nose. Nasal sprays may help to prevent nosebleed which is caused by the dryness.
- Injury because of nose picking or scratching
This is a cause which is common for children nosebleeds, but it does not mean adults can be the exceptions.
- Any kind of blood-thinning medications
In short, any medication or drug that changes and affects the ability of blood to clot can be the causes.
- Sinusitis
One of the side pain that has to be experienced by a person with sinusitis is nose bleeding.
- Hypertension
High blood pressure also can be a cause.
- Underlying health conditions
This is more serious than the causes have be mentioned above. The nosebleed may be the sign of any underlying health conditions such as : liver disease, kidney disease, chronic alcohol consumption and so on.
Should you worry about nosebleeds?
The answer is related to what the cause of your nosebleed is , how often it occurs and how long the nosebleed happen. If your nosebleed is caused by one of the factors above (especially number 1 to 5), you do not have to worry. It may stop by itself after a short time and you can treat it at home by following these steps :
- Remain sit upright
It will help to discourage further bleeding and make the blood pressure in your nose back to normal. Do this along with the steps 2 until the nosebleed stop.
- Simply give a pressure on your nose using your finger, and squeeze it gently. Do it for a few minutes until the blood stop. Do not forget to breathe through your mouth while doing this.
- Use nasal spray
Nasal sprays may help to prevent nosebleed which is caused by the dryness.
But still, if yours is caused by number 3, 5 or 6, you cannot ignore it. You can consult to your doctor to have a medical treatment that related to your disease
When should you worry about nose bleedings?
Although it has been mentioned that most nosebleeds are common and do not need any special treatment, some of nosebleeds are need medical help. It is because nosebleeds may be a sign of the other serious problem. Here are the symptoms to help you know when you must seek for medical help if you notice one or more of them :
- The nosebleeds are longer than 20 minutes, although you have tried to stop the blood by pinching your nose, sitting upright, spraying it with a nassal decongestant and compress it.
- Even if you can stop the blood easily, do not ignore if the nosebleeds occur frequently, for example more than once a week.
- The nosebleeds occur after you got an injury, especially on your head, or after you had a car accident. You may require to take x-rays.
- The amount of blood is abnormal. You may ever have nosebleed in certain situation and condition, but this one is abnormal, the blood which is coming out is in bigger amount than the usual.
- The one who has nosebleed is a child which under age 2.
- The nosebleeds occur and you do not think it is caused by any minor cause such as the weather, irritation caused by nose picking, etcetera.
Other thing you have to consider :
If the nosebleed make you lost your blood in a big amount, you should ask for help from other people. Do not drive by yourself or try to handle it by yourself. Ask someone to drive you to the hospital or if there is really nobody can help, call the local emergency number of your town.