BATON ROUGE, LA (WVLA/WGMB) – Nosebleeds can be a pain.
“Most nosebleeds come from the anterior part of the nose, the front part of the nose and the septum. There’s an area called Kiesselbach’s Plexus, where all the blood vessels kind of come in together, and that’s the very front of the nose, and if there is going to be a nosebleed, about 90% come from that area on the nasal septum,” explained Dr. Elliot Hardy, an ear, nose and throat doctor at the Baton Rouge Clinic.
Dr. Hardy said it can happen to anyone, despite age or gender.
“I see it in all ages and all genders. It is common in some kids,” said Dr. Hardy. “A lot of times a nosebleed is just a nosebleed, and nothing else, but there are symptoms, sometimes when you have a sinus infection that can cause a bit of a bloody nose. More rare causes of nosebleeds would be intranasal tumors and things like that, but that’s something we don’t necessarily jump to initially, unless it becomes a chronic issue that can’t be controlled.”
Like Dr. Hardy said most of the time, nosebleeds are just that, nosebleeds, but when should you see a doctor?
“A nosebleed that couldn’t be stopped at home or nosebleeds that become more and more frequent, that’s when I would recommend seeking a medical professional,” said Dr. Hardy. “I put a little chemical that’s called silver nitrate on the septum, and that basically causes the blood vessels to shrink down and scar up, and many times that’s all that’s needed. Sometimes, also, if I can’t see an obvious source in the front, I’ll have a good look around in the back using a scope. If I still don’t see anything that really jumps out as a causative, I’ll have the patient use an ointment that’s an antibiotic that’s really good at reducing the amount of bacterial carriage that may be in the nose.”
How do you stop just a regular nosebleed?
“People will hold up on the firm part of the nose, whereas the important part is to hold the soft part of the nose and hold that closed, and not to check it for about 10 minutes is what I say. Don’t keep letting off to see if it’s still bleeding because what you are trying to do is to cause a clot to form under that pressure,” concluded Dr. Hardy.