Nose Bleed Remedies

She was only a little over two years old when my eldest daughter, now five, suffered a nose bleed. My initial first reaction was -- oh my, let's hope it would stop as fast as possible. Well, it did.

But my first aid actions in trying to stop the nosebleed was the wrong one -- such as pinching the nose and a big mistake, asking her to blow her nose. Boy, am glad by husband was with us during that time. He immediately intervened.

He, of which nose bleeding, is a normal part of life. He is also a 'nosebleeder' since childhood up to now. I think I only had one or two instances of nose bleeds in my whole life. And they immediately stopped when I placed my head between my legs!

Of course, despite his reassurances that nose bleeds are normal -- (huh, not for me!) seeing my little girl's nose gushing, and I mean, gushing, was and is always, a shock. The first time, I almost freaked out. Although I acted cool and collected. Stuffing her nose with facial tissues, holding her hands, hushing her, putting a wet cloth on her nape -- because she is also in shock. Seeing herself all bloodied, I would be in shock, too!

She's experienced more nose bleeds since then, and she is taking it as cooly as possible. It is only when she cant find a tissue within reach that she panics and screams for us to help her. I usually scatter packs of tissues around the house, just in case. She knows what to do now, just like I know what to do now.

Oh that didnt stop at that. As told, it is normal for my husband, but definitely, not to me. When the occurences of these nose bleeds accelerated that summer, I had but worry. Imagine, her average use of a ten piece pack of tissue papers per nose bleed is between 3-4 packs!

We brought her to a nose specialist. Because one time, her nose was gushing for almost an hour. My husband already called the hospital to let us know that he would be bringing our kid. It stopped only when they were already sitting in the car, ready to drive away.

My girl let the doctor check on her without protest. The doctor said that the inner part of her nose is already to raw, too wounded. One of the reasons could be that she was picking her nose with rugged, uncut fingernails. (Oops, teka muna, I cut my girls' nails every three days at most!). Hmm, I was the one who protested. The doctor comforted me by saying, filed and cut fingernails could also do their damage.

Anyway, it was not always a case of nose picking. Because sometimes, she would simply wake up with a bloody nose. Or stop in the middle of playing with a nose bleed or even while watching tv. Just about any everyday action could trigger a nose bleed for her.

The doctor said not to worry and gave us something to rub inside her nose - in the morning and at night. It worked. Nose bleed is not a common occurence for my little girl anymore. But when it does, we simply do the following:

1. Put an ice pack on the bridge of the nose.

2. A wet towel on the nape.

3. Dont pinch your nose.

4. Never blow your nose.

5. Keep your head a bit forward so that the blood wont drain down your throat which would be uncomfortable.

6. Just dab the tissue on your nose such that it would absorb the flow, dont rub.

7. And for severe bleeding, put a rolled piece of gauze or a rolled up facial tissue under the upper lip between the lip and the gums.