I had surgery almost three weeks ago and was on oxygen for three days off and on delivered through nasal prongs. I began getting nose bleeds while in the hospital and was told it was due to the combination of the oxygen delivery and the dry air in the hospital and that they would stop soon. After being released from the hospital, the number of occurrences per day did decrease, only to increase once again when I had to go back in for a few days due to a complication. Now, I haven’t been in the hospital for over a week, but am still getting three to four nosebleeds per day. My dr. doesn’t seem concerned and says that they’ll eventually stop, but they’re really bothering me. They’re not painful, and the bleeding stops easily, but I would like them to stop completely. The past couple of days I’ve been sitting in the bathroom with hot water running in the shower for ten to fifteen minutes several times a day trying to increase the moisture in my sinuses but I’m not sure if it’s doing any good. Any advice out there would be very appreciated.
How much water are you drinking? IME, if I’m dehydrated, I tend to get nosebleeds. If you think you might be low on fluids, you might want to try the ol’ eight-glasses-per-day thing and see if that makes a difference.
There is a great product called Ayr nasal gel. Just apply to inside of the nose with a q-tip (not too vigorously). A humidifier also might help.
Used to get bad nosebleeds every winter when I was a kid due to dry air and what helped some for me was a saline nasal spray. Just a couple squirts every once in a while kept the ol’passages treated. Cheap, easily obtainable at any pharmacy and no fuss to apply.
I had frequent nosebleeds when I was a kid. I went to the doctor, and they found I had some kind of broken blood vessel - so he applied some chemical compound that fixed it.
It may require a solution other than a home remedy.
A tiny bit of Neosporin or similar on a cotton applicator gently swab the area that bleeds. Do this 2 or 3 times a day for 2 or 3 days. It will help heal the erosions that are common with unhumidified O[sub]2[/sub]. Caveat: if you have to go back on the oxygen, don’t use the Neosporin. It can interfere with delivery and its flamable. (we wouldn’t want your nose to catch fire. I know its a long shot…)
I’ve had very good results with a cream recommended by my doctor called Bactroban
I didn’t need a prescription, but did have to specifically as the pharmacist for it.
In the US, Bactroban (mupirocin) does require a prescription. It is an antibiotic cream used most often for “staph” infections. Most people have some form of staph in their nose, but I doubt that this is what is causing the nosebleeds. I’m sure that just about any good cream has emollient effects to soothe the membranes of the nose, so I don’t doubt that it did help you.
Thanks for all the tips y’all!
I see a fair number of nose bleeds in my emergency room. More than 90% of them are anterior nose bleeds; the front of the nose, often near the wall where a group of blood vessels (Little’s nasal plexus) lie. Nosebleeds like this usually stop within fifteen minutes of pressure and are considered benign. Under 10% of nosebleeds occur in the back of the nose/upper throat. This type can’t be easily stopped with pressure in the absence of special tools and nasal tampons. Posterior nosebleeds are serious, and quite the pain to deal with.
Once you get one nosebleed, the damage is done and it is easy to get another. The suggestion of neosporin or muciprocin is good; any other antibiotic cream or even Vaseline can also work. Keep your finger out of your nose, the humidifier on, gently apply small amounts of the above cream, etc. Cocaine would do an excellent job of stopping the nosebleeds (we used to use this in our ER). I don’t recommend this, but a phenylephenrine nasal spray would also help squeeze the nasal blood vessels shut.
Nosebleeds can also be caused by trauma, high blood pressure, blood clotting problems, warfarin/coumadin/aspirin overdose, liver disease, etc. If you get a lot of them, it needs to be investigated – though it does sound like yours was do to dry air and nasal prongs.