How to Prevent Nosebleeds

Having a nosebleed can be unsettling, especially if it happens suddenly. While normally associated with injuries to the nose, this symptom can be just a result of your environment or indicate more significant causes. Regardless, there are a few steps you can take to reduce or even prevent recurring nosebleeds.

What causes nosebleeds?

Nosebleeds occur when one of the blood vessels in the nose’s lining faces trauma and bursts. This can happen from facial injuries like those from contact sports, but other causes can include:

• Dry air
• Allergies
• Acute or chronic sinusitis
• Constant nasal adjustments
• Smoking

In addition, nosebleeds may have a seasonal aspect to them. In the fall and winter months as the air becomes crisper and drier, nosebleeds are far more common. Prevent nosebleeds by managing your nasal health with a combination of supportive therapies, medications, and/or surgery. CEENTA is here for you and would love to help you stop nosebleeds before they even start.

How do you treat nosebleeds?

Your first instinct when you notice your nose bleeding may be to panic, but treating a nosebleed can be quite simple. Start by sitting down and pinching just above the nostrils on the soft part of the nose for a minimum of ten minutes. It can be tempting in this interval to peak to see if the bleeding has stopped, but resist the urge to do so. Rather than lean back, which is a natural response and something erroneously promoted, lean forward to prevent blood from going down your throat. On the bridge of your nose, use an ice pack or something cool to help with swelling. Monitor your symptoms and seek immediate attention from a physician or hospital if bleeding continues.

How do you prevent nosebleeds?

Even though injuries and accidents can happen randomly, your nosebleeds from other causes can be reduced or prevented with proper precautions. These include:

Using a humidifier

As mentioned above, dry air can cause nosebleeds by making the nasal membrane cracked and irritated. This is particularly worse in winter months. By using a humidifier, you introduce moisture into your surroundings to mitigate any dryness.

Treating your allergies

Even though it may be simple to use antihistamines and decongestants to treat nasal inflammation from allergies, they can actually dry your nose out and make your nosebleeds worse. Saline irrigations or saline gels may promote nasal healing. Learning the proper way to administer nasal corticosteroids is crucial to avoiding nosebleeds. You may also consider receiving immunotherapy treatment for your allergies in the form of shots, tablets, or sublingual drops.

Limiting nasal touching

Nosebleeds can occur from constantly blowing your nose and touching it often, leading to the blood vessels rupturing. This habit could be due to cold and flu season or allergies, so treating those underlying causes is a must. In the meantime, reducing the amount of time you are adjusting your nose will mitigate any further nasal bleeding.

Receiving surgery

Nasal surgery can accomplish two things. First, a procedure like a septoplasty corrects a deviated septum and can help reduce the amount of times you have sinus infections, one of the causes for nosebleeds. Second, surgery can also be done to cauterize the membranes in the nose to stop recurring bleeding.

Your nasal health is critical to overall wellness and CEENTA is here to help. From allergy care to nasal surgery to ENT appointments and more, our team of specialists can diagnose and treat many causes of your nosebleeds at one of our nearly twenty offices in the Carolinas. Schedule with a CEENTA ENT physician online or through your myCEENTAchart account.

This blog is for informational purposes only. For specific medical questions, please consult your doctor. New patients can make appointments online with our doctors in North and South Carolina. Current patients can also make appointments through myCEENTAchart with physicians they have already seen.