Other Names:
Epistaxis

Symptoms:
The nose bleeds.

Cause:
Physical injury, excessive dryness causing the nasal surface to crack, scratching with the fingernail, blowing the nose hard, sudden change in atmospheric pressure.

Treatment:
Anterior nosebleeds (from the nose itself) are most common:

• Blow out the clots, then sit in a chair and lean forward without tilting the head back. (If you lie down or lean backward, you will swallow blood.) Put a small piece of wet cotton (or cloth) in the nose and pinch lightly on it for 5 minutes. Then apply cold washcloths or an ice pack to the nose, cheek, and neck. (Another suggestion is to have him lightly sniff cold water with a little salt or lemon juice added.)

• Then apply vitamin E oil (or petroleum jelly) to the inside of the nose. Lie back and rest for a time. If the nosebleeds are serious enough to warrant it, rest as much as you can for two days.

• The rupture in the blood vessel that caused the nosebleed requires 7-10 days to completely heal. When the bleeding stops, a clot forms and then becomes a scab. Do not pick it loose.

• Make sure you are getting enough vitamin K in the diet. It is found in all dark greens. Put lactobacillus acidophilus in the colon. It will synthesize, and thus increase, the amount of vitamin K in your body.

• Be sure to take enough vitamin C. Calcium, magnesium, alfalfa, and vitamin E are also important.

• When the nose dries out excessively, nosebleed can occur. Try increasing the humidity in the room. Consider purchasing a humidifier. Smoking dries out the nasal membranes.

• Medicinal blood thinners can cause nosebleeds. Blood thinner drugs are what you find in D-Con rat poison.

• White oak bark (or bayberry or ephedra sinica) tea is an astringent. It can be snuffed up the nose before inserting the cotton.

• A little cayenne can be swallowed in some water. This will draw blood away from the head to the stomach.

The other type is the posterior nosebleed:

• This occurs in the elderly, and is caused by high blood pressure. The bleeding starts in the rear of the nose, and runs down into the throat. The blood pressure must be lowered! Increase water intake and see a physician.

• Keep in mind that a posterior nosebleed is far better than having a blood vessel rupture from high blood pressure—inside the cranial cavity. Then you have a stroke!

Whichever type of nosebleed may occur, here are additional suggestions:

• Those with frequent nosebleeds should take extra iron. It is needed to make hemoglobin. Rutin is also needed.

• Avoid oral contraceptives. Anything that changes estrogen levels can make you more prone to nosebleeds.