Treatment and first aid for nosebleeds

In everyday life, nosebleeds are not uncommon and can happen in both the adult and the child. At first glance this is an absolutely harmless phenomenon, but in fact, serious pathology can make itself felt like this. Faced with this situation, it is important to know what first aid for nosebleeds should be given to the patient, since this condition is very dangerous, and in some cases is life threatening.

General information

The pathological condition, in which blood is released from the nasal passages, is called epitaxis. The phenomenon is quite common, it can occur at any age.

If seizures are rare, patients do not practically consult a doctor and improvised means stop nosebleeds. The reasons, first aid, methods of treatment will differ in the case when relapses with large blood loss occur frequently and cause a deterioration of well-being.

Causes of nasal bleeding

There are local and common causes of nasal bleeding.

Local reasons include:

• Injury of the nose (fracture, bruise).
• Neoplasms in the nasal cavity (polyps, tumors).
• Dystrophic changes (curvature of the septum, chronic stage of atrophic rhinitis).
• Burns of the nasal cavity of various etiologies.
• Dryness of the nasal membrane.
• ENT pathology (adenoids in childhood, sinusitis).

Common reasons:

• A sharp increase (hypertension) or a decrease in blood pressure (hypotension).
• Overheating of the body, sunstroke.
• Diseases of the cardiovascular, blood-forming systems.
• Pathology of the kidneys, liver.
• Hormonal reorganization (pregnancy, the beginning of menstruation in girls).
• Exercise stress.
• Anemia.
• Foreign body in the nose (especially in childhood).

Despite the fact that the pathology usually passes on its own (with the help of certain manipulations), the first medical aid for nasal bleeding should be provided in any case. It is advisable to do this in the shortest time so that blood loss does not cause a deterioration in overall well-being.

Nasal bleeding: Species

In medical practice, distinguish nasal bleeding at the site of localization, intensity, duration. In 90% of cases, the pathology falls on the Kisselbach zone (the anterior part of the nasal septum with the vascular plexus). At this point the vessels are located close to the surface. This bleeding is not intensive and does not pose a danger to life.

With posterior localization, large vessels are damaged, a significant amount of blood is released. Provision of first aid for nosebleeds in this case should be immediate and conducted by specialists. Intensive bleeding can not be stopped independently.

The intensity and volume of lost blood are distinguished:

• Minor nasal bleeding - passes without the expressed symptomatology of deterioration of state of health of the patient. Loses up to several milliliters of blood, which does not pose a threat to life.
• Moderate (moderate) epistaxis - the patient can feel malaise, the appearance of noise in the ears, the pallor of the skin appears. About 15% of the blood is lost (not more than 300 ml).
• Severe (intensive) nasal bleeding - the first medical aid to the patient in this case should be provided immediately. The blood loss can be up to 1 liter. This is fraught with hemorrhagic shock, loss of consciousness, a sharp drop in blood pressure.

Diagnostics

When applying for qualified medical assistance, the specialist will perform a primary examination and interview the patient. Sometimes a differential diagnosis is made to distinguish nosebleeds from pulmonary or gastric bleeding.

To determine the type of pathology, the doctor prescribes rhinoscopy (endoscopy of the nose). The procedure will allow to investigate the source of bleeding, take material for analysis, and perform microsurgical interventions. X-rays are necessary for suspected fracture.

Why is the nose bleeding from children?

The most common cause of nosebleeds in children is damage to the nasal cavity. Most often this occurs when picking a finger in the nose, but it can also occur after an alien object has hit (small toy parts, buttons). First aid for nosebleeds should be provided to the child on time.

In adolescence, the organism is exposed to high loads (educational, physical, psychoemotional) and hormonal changes, which can also cause the development of pathology.

First aid for nasal bleeding: an algorithm of actions

When assisting a patient with epistaxis, the following rules must be adhered to:

• The patient should be reassured. Emotional overexcitation, excitement increase heart rate, which, in turn, will increase blood loss. For this, it is enough to breathe smoothly and deeply.
• To give the correct position. It is desirable to seat the patient, slightly tilt his head forward. It is strictly forbidden to throw your head back! In this situation, the blood will enter the stomach, which can provoke vomiting. Bending his head forward, one can follow the amount of blood lost.
• Press the wings of the nose with your fingers. This will help to clamp blood vessels.
• Apply cold to the nose bridge area (ice, a cloth soaked in cold water).
• To drip vasoconstrictive drops in the nasal passages ("Naftizin", "Farmazolin").
• Insert cotton swabs into the nose. This is done if there is a suspicion of back bleeding or if the above measures do not work. For better effect, tampons are moistened with a solution of hydrogen peroxide.

Specialized first aid for nasal bleeding is necessary if it is not possible to stop it for 20 minutes independently. In this case, the patient must call (without fail) an ambulance.

Precautionary measures

Patient with nosebleeds should not be stacked. This situation will only increase the release of blood, which can enter the lungs or esophagus. Also it is forbidden to blow your nose to release the nasal passages from blood clots. This will lead to clot breakage and repeated bleeding.

First aid for nasal bleeding in children is no different from that in adults, but parents need to coordinate the child's actions. If the cause of the pathology is the ingress of a foreign object, it is forbidden to extract it independently. Any such manipulation can further damage the mucous surface and increase bleeding.

If a tampon was used to stop bleeding, it must be moistened with hydrogen peroxide, before removing it from the nostril. When pulling out a dry swab, it is possible to damage the formed blood clot, and the blood will go repeatedly.

Medical care should be treated with frequent recurrences of nasal bleeding. Also, indications are vomiting with blood impurities in the patient, high blood pressure, the presence of pathologies that affect the formation and coagulability of the blood, nose trauma , large blood loss.

How to treat?

In severe cases, specialized first aid is shown. With nosebleeds, which lasts more than 20 minutes, hospitalization of the patient is necessary. Drug therapy will be selected by a doctor depending on the type of pathology. Hemostatic drugs can be prescribed intramuscularly (intravenously) or orally.

Blood clotting increases :

• "Dicinon" (sodium etamzilate) - is taken in the form of tablets or injected. Produces a rapid hemostatic effect and does not cause increased coagulability, which makes it possible to use it for a long time (according to the doctor's prescription).
• Calcium chloride - is prescribed to enhance the effect of hemostatic drugs. Promotes improvement of vasoconstriction.
• Aminocoproic acid - reduces vascular permeability and blocks the process of dilution of blood. It is administered intravenously, but it has some contraindications.
• "Vikasol" - an analogue of vitamin K, is prescribed for problems with blood clotting.

You can work on the problem with the help of traditional medicine recipes. Such plants as shepherd's bag, nettle, yarrow, have hemostatic properties.

Surgical methods

In rare cases, when first aid with nosebleeds and drug therapy do not give positive results, surgical intervention is indicated. The simplest surgical way of stopping the discharge of blood from the nasal cavity is moxibustion of the mucous surface (coagulation) with a laser, electricity, ultrasound, liquid nitrogen or special substances (silver nitrate in solution, trichloroacetic acid).

Depending on the severity of nasal bleeding and the frequency of relapses, an administration of Lidocaine or Novocain, a ligation of blood vessels, may be prescribed under the mucous surface of the nose.