Nosebleeds - Any ideas for stopping them

[Icarus]

Hi,
My name is Rich, a new guy here - (Mitral valve replacement 7/99, Pseudomonas debriding 8/99). I'd like to say hello and ask a question.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop a nosebleed? I've had one in January and wound up in an emergency room because it just wouldn't stop.
There must be millions of people on Coumadin who don't end up in the hospital under the same circumstances. What did I do wrong?
Regards,
Rich

 

[Marty]

Nose Bleed?

Nose Bleed?

Hi Icarus, Maybe you did nothing wrong. How much Coumadin are you taking? What was your INR at the time of your bleed? Was there any change in your diet or lifestyle prior to the bleed? How often do you test PT time? Marty

 

[Icarus]

Dear Matxr,
Everything was normal, PT at 2.9, no change in my diet. The bleeding stopped approx 20-30 minutes after I got to the emergency room, before they packed my nose. (What fun that was!) But, boy did I lose a lot of blood. - Scarey
Rich

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi,

I noticed that you had your problem in January. do you live up north? I had the same problem during the winter months when the heat in the house is on and the air so very dry. I purchased a humidifier and that helped me. But, you still have to deal with work and the car. You can try a nasal saline spray to help keep the membranes moist.

As soon as we got into spring I had no more nasal bleeding problems. Also, mine was not such a bad bleed that it was difficult to stop. It only happened when I had to blow my nose.

Not sure if this helps, but thought I would let ya know my personal experiences with it.

Rob

 

[Gail in Ca]

You can also swab your nostrils with KY jelly
, vaseline, or neosporin when the dryness causes
nosebleeds. I've only had one in the middle of the night, but it stopped as a normal one would.
I often have blood in my nostrils though and big clots, not much fun when blowing!!
Gail

 

[Herb M]

I have had occassional nosebleeds as a result of dryness in my nostrils and caking of the mucous. When the dry mucous is removed, bleeding sometimes occurs. When this happens, I stuff a tissue in my nostril and the bleeding soon stops.

 

[Sharon]

Nosebleeds-Any ideas for stopping them

Nosebleeds-Any ideas for stopping them

Hi Icarus,
About 2 yrs ago (in Dec.) out of the clear blue I started with the nose bleed from hell. It felt like I had Niagara Falls in the back of my throat and it was pouring out of the front of my nose too. Tried ice packs and stuff. It slowed it down a bit but not completely. Called the dr. and went in to see her. She gave me an ice pack and I sat there for awhile. Also had a blood test. INR was normal 2.8. After about 2 hrs it stopped and I was very relieved until about an hr later when it started up again. This time I saw an ent specialist. She cauterized the vein in my nose - put packing in it (yuk!) and sent me home. The packing kept making me sneeze so that by the next morning it was bleeding again. Went back to ent and she took the packing out, cauterized it and sent me home with some saline nasal spray. Did you cough out the blood from the back of your throat or was it just coming out the front of your nose? Well, the saline solution didn't help too much so I tried a q-tip with Vit E on it. I gently coat the inside of my nose with the Vit E and it seems to work pretty well. The dryness in the winter months is definitely a culprit, so I use the E nightly then. This time of year I use it a couple of times a week. I always use it right before I go on a plane as the dry air will do a job on my nose too. I occasionally get some minor bleeding (Niagara luckily has not reappeared), and I know it's time to coat my nose with the E. Hope this helps.

 

[Marty]

About Nose bleed

About Nose bleed

Hi Icarus( Rich), As I suspected you did nothing wrong. Your INR was right on. However at that INR an open vessel anywhere will not clot like that of a person not on anticoagulants. Most nosebleed particularly in younger patients comes from a superficial fragile network of vessels in the lower front of the nose. It can be triggered by dryness ( as Rob and other correspondents have emphasized). by picking, or other trauma, and sometimes apparently spontaneously. When your nose starts to bleed the first thing you should do is gently pinch the nostrils shut, sit or lay down and quietly keep the pressure on for 10 minutes. If the bleeding starts again you need professional care to localize the bleeding site. Sometimes pressure with a cotton pledget soaked in an adrenaline like vasoconstrictor will do it. Cautery is usually not wise in someone on Coumadin because the cautery itself can incite bleeding. A pack with vaseline gauze often will do the job after a few hours. There is another type of nosebleed most often found in older people with arteriosclerosis coming from far back in the nose. This type of nosebleed can be dangerous and needs to be handled by an ENT specialist who will use special instruments to visualize the bleeding blood vessel and tie it off. Marty

 

[Icarus]

Nosebleeds

Nosebleeds

To All,
Thanks for the tips, next time I won't panic like I did the first time. To Sharon & Maxtr;
Yes I did get a ton of blood down the back of my nose and it did start to clot, which I imagine can be downright dangerous and can cause choking. However, the wound was on the front inside of the nostril (near the tip of my nose). In retrospect, don't believe all you were taught when you were a kid. Don't put your head back, don't put ice on your neck and DON'T - squeeze the bridge of your nose to stop the blood flow, which I did. That probably worked when I was a kid because it would have stopped shortly anyway.
After posting my question, I finally remembered to ask a cardiologist during my appointment yesterday and he said, - Just put something like Neo Synephrine (Nose spray) on a piece of cotton and stick it in your nose using light pressure for about 10-15 minutes.
Thanks again,
Rich