# My nose has become a demonic faucet (TMI) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325 "2005-12-06T07:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/1 "2005-12-06T07:39:50Z")
I get fairly frequent nosebleeds during the winter, mostly because, in the winter in the high desert, there’s slightly less humidity than there is in the Sahara desert. I can deal with that: it’s incredibly _gross_, yes, and immensely disturbing sometimes to wake up with blood smeared across your face, but I can deal. Right now, my nose is gushing blood for the _third time today_. Part of it is that I’ve got a cold and you know how you’re not supposed to blow your nose for a half hour after a nosebleed? I keep sneezing, which does not help, and not blowing my nose isn’t really an option. this is absolutely ridiculous: I’ve gone through what must be half a box of tissues this afternoon alone: right after math class, then right after dinner, and then, a few minutes ago - hey, I’m dripping blood again! And soaking through five friggin’ tissues and counting. I want to keep any moisture possible in the air in my room, so I don’t have my space heater on, so it’s cold. I really, really don’t want to have to drape an icepack across my nose, because that will make it colder. (Only reason I’m sharing this is because I have to whine to _someone_ and don’t want to go roaming the dorm in my pajamas with a tissue jammed up my nose.) ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/2 "2005-12-06T07:52:32Z")
You have my sympathy, and I’m really happy I can give it without looking at you with the bloody tissue hanging out of your nose. On a practical level, I suggest you get yourself a humidifier and run it by your bed at night. You can also smear a little petroleum jelly inside each nostril. My kids’ pediatrician also advised me to give them vitamin C in the winter to help prevent nosebleeds. I’m not sure if there’s actual science behind that recommendation, but we do it anyway, just in case it actually does help. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/3 "2005-12-06T08:13:02Z")
Oh, hey, this happens to me sometimes. For no reason at all, I just would get a nosebleed - and not just a drip, but a steady flow, which would last for a good long while. And then i’d get it two, three times more that day, sometimes even again the day after. And then they just…stop, really. There is a more humid atmosphere here, though. Instead of an icepack, you could try just a damp flannel (handcloth, whatever you call it there) draped over it - not as cold, and that seemed to work for me (but like I said, sometimes they’d just stop on their own). I don’t really have any helpful advice…they just tend to stop after a while, really. You might just have to wait them out, i’m afraid. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/4 "2005-12-06T09:36:38Z")
Do your laundry and hang it round your room to dry - that helps with the humidity tremendously. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/5 "2005-12-06T13:27:24Z")
Ah, the joys of persistent nosebleeds. Mine get progressively more frequent and longer-lasting until I can’t stand it any more. Then I go see the ENT specialist and get my nose cauterised. Yay! This solves the problem for a few years. Repeat ad infinitum. So far my best-ever experience has been with an electric cautery iron (like a medical soldering iron) applied after spending 10 mins with some cotton wool soaked in cocaine/adrenaline mix up my nose. Felt nothing, heard cool sizzling noises, got to blow out blue smoke smelling of burnt nose. Unfortunately, mostly I just get the silver nitrate sticks and no analgesia. Boooooo :mad: Anyhow - get thee to an ENT specialist and order him/her to make it better. ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/6 "2005-12-06T15:51:36Z")
Popsicles. Sucking on popsicles (or anything else icy you can ram into the top of your mouth) will help slow down a nosebleed almost as quickly as an icepack and is less chilly on the face regions. I prefer grape myself. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/7 "2005-12-06T16:32:01Z")
_scribbles notes_ I must say, I like the popsicle thing a lot better than the nose-smoke thing. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/8 "2005-12-06T16:57:52Z")
You can redirect sneezes by pulling up your soft palate and sort of locking your mouth open. It seals off your sinuses and it becomse a weird cough instead. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-nose-has-become-a-demonic-faucet-tmi/334325/9 "2005-12-06T17:43:07Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > _scribbles notes_ > > I must say, I like the popsicle thing a lot better than the nose-smoke thing. Yeah, but the nose-smoke thing (or alternatively the silver nitrate giant corrosive matchstick thing) prevents nosebleeds altogether, rather than just helping to slow them down. If I was, f’rinstance, giving a presentation or doing some shopping, I’d rather not have a nosebleed at all than have to whip out a popsicle. As an added bonus, you may get a videocamera shoved up your nose to check out your sinuses! How’s that for a deal? In all seriousness, persistent nosebleeds can be caused by anything from sensitive mucous membranes to weak blood vessels (my problem) to growths/polyps/tumours/hemophilia/other nasties. Go and see a specialist just to find out what it is - no need to accept whatever treatment they offer, but at least get a diagnosis. You’d feel pretty silly if you find out ten years from now that a simple vasoconstrictor spray twice a day would have prevented the problem.