Nose Bleeds

 

We've all experienced nosebleeds at some point in our lives. The inside of the nose is an area with abundant veins and very intense blood supply. The causes of nosebleeds in childhood and later life differ. The reason may be an incident inside the nose; It may also be related to other diseases such as high blood pressure, diseases that tend to bleed (such as blood cancer, genetic bleeding diseases-hemophilia). 

Among the causes in the nose, the most common nasal congestion and upper respiratory tract infections such as flu and sinusitis can be counted. Apart from these, nosebleeds may also occur due to reasons such as allergic rhinitis, foreign objects, blows to the nose, tumors in the nose, bone curvature in the nose (septum deviation), low humidity in the air (this may cause dryness and irritation in the nose). ;

Nosebleeds are most commonly caused by the area near the front of the nose, called the Little's Region, where the vessels are relatively superficial and form an abundant network. However, hemorrhages at the back of the nasal cavity are also seen less frequently. The first thing patients do when they have a nosebleed is to throw their head back. This is wrong practice. When your nose bleeds at home, the first thing to do is to clean the nose thoroughly with cold water and remove all clots, sit upright and apply pressure to the soft front part of the nose with the head tilted forward (squeezing it like a peg between the thumb and forefinger). In general, nosebleeds stop in 5-7 minutes with this application. For this reason, you should wait patiently for 7 minutes while doing this application. In case of nosebleeds that you cannot stop, it is absolutely necessary to consult a doctor.

 

Your doctor will first try to stop the bleeding, then find the cause of the bleeding. When you enter the doctor's room in a great hurry, your doctor will calm you down, sit you in the examination chair and check your blood pressure and pulse. If your blood pressure is high, blood pressure lowering medication will do. On the one hand, while these interventions are being made, on the other hand, he will try to both stop the bleeding and see the bleeding focus by examining your inside of the nose, cleaning all the blood, and placing medicated cotton balls into the nose. Bleeding is usually stopped with this intervention. If he sees bleeding from a prominent vein during this intervention, he will cauterize that area (burn it with medication or a tool). In case of bleeding that does not stop with this intervention, a tampon is placed in the front of the nose. Tampons can be made with antibiotic gauze or with some commercially available ready-made medical materials.

 

If tampons are placed, they are usually kept for 2 days. Bleeding that does not stop with the front tampon is tried to be stopped with tampons placed at the back of the nose. With tampons placed behind the nose, the patient is definitely hospitalized. In cases that cannot be stopped with all these interventions, the vessels feeding the nose are tied (performed by surgery) or the vessel is blocked with special techniques, which we call embolization. Do not be intimidated by all these procedures. Because such severe bleeding is rare. While all these procedures are being done, your doctor will find the cause of the bleeding with blood tests, films and examination findings and give you the necessary recommendations.