Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nosebleed

Blood & Bathing

boubelium — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:47:24 -0800

Why are my nose and mouth bleeding (gross!) whenever I take a shower? Having never really had a trouble with nosebleeds, I now find that nearly every time I take a shower that the red stuff starts flowing. It must be a rupture pretty far up the nose, as it also runs down into my mouth.

I've thought of two factors that might come into play. I've just moved from living in a low (250ft) to a high (5,500ft) elevation town. Also, the bathroom doesn't have a fan, so I open a window high up in the shower stall, causing the humid shower air to collide with the dry outside air at about head level.

So, have any other mefites experienced this issue or have tips for helping me keep my blood on the inside?

Nosebleed Questions

By The Grace of God — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:00:21 -0800

Nosebleed filter: My husband has been having very severe nose bleeds. We are going to an ent specialist today (hopefully) but would like community information about how to get these nose bleeds to stop, what causes them, and - if they can't be stopped - any tips for managing them well while mobile in public on holiday. We are from Scotland but are on a two week holiday visiting family in several cities in the US and Canada. My husband has had nose bleeds all his life, but they are generally very mild and infrequent, happening every 6 to 8 weeks. Starting on the plane from Heathrow to Canada, he got a nose bleed (from the right nostril) that just gushed. Like, tea cups full of blood gushing. It took a half hour or so to stop. He got another one in Toronto and my grandparents freaked out and we went to the emergency room. Resident and the attending there both said that there was no visible tear or lesion after a specular inspection and there is no way to really fix it, it just has to heal.

Since then, yesterday he has had four episodes, each lasting a half hour or more.

We are wondering the following:

1) Can this be cauterised or something to make it stop? If so will he need admitted to hospital?
2) Is the blood loss dangerous over time? He has no dizziness or other symptoms.
3) If the ent says that we should wait until our return to get this treated, should we cut the holiday short? We are both falling down from stress and really need this holiday but health trumps this of course.
4) If we are to stay on holiday does anybody have any tips on how to manage the bleeds more effectively? We are carrying tissues, baby wipes and disposable cups to catch blood, and my husband is willing to overcome his shame and alarm when it happens so he can stay out in public and continue holiday events, but don't worry, our fun and enjoyment is a low priority compared to health and we will not be forcing this issue.
5) What about the airplane? If we need to move the flight up and get him home should we have some sort of doctor note or special seating request or what on the plane? Or should we stay here for the full treatment process, even tho it is expensive and we would get free health care at home?

Cat with a nose bleed?

543DoublePlay — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:48:05 -0800

Yet another kitty question: When we got up this morning our 21 year old cat had left blood splatters all over the floor, around her food and in her water bowl (a little gross info. inside) After the initial panic had subsided, we found that she seemd to have a nose bleed and every time she sneezed, blood globs flew everywhere. We were going to take her to the animal emergency room but she appears to act fine (no mewing or acting like she is in pain), has stop sneezing and the associated nose bleed appears to have stopped on its own. Our vet is open on Monday so we thought rather than have a $400 bill from the emergency room a few days before Christmas we'd wait and take her there first thing Monday morning.

So my question is can a cat have nose-bleeds? Could our air be too dry, and if we turn on the humidifier and put it in the room close to her little cat-house will that help?

Bearing in mind she is 21 years old, has lived in 3 countries, has always weighed about 5 lbs wringing wet and gets beat up on a regular basis by our other cat she's in pretty good health (other than a little arthritis) and this is an unusual occurrence for us. Thanks to all the cat Me-Fi'ers out there!

Swallowing this much blood can't be healthy

Phire — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 17:00:08 -0800

How to deal with the anti-coagulating effects of Aspirin when it comes to nosebleeds? I got sick a few days ago - might've been a common cold, might've been something else. It wasn't too serious, my stomach felt a bit upset and my nose congested, but that was it.

I started feeling headache-y/nauseous and slightly fevery last night, so I took an aspirin. It was the only thing available to me at the time and the antipyretic effects sounded like they were what I needed, though I don't recall ever using aspirin prior to this.

I woke up this morning congested and with a bit of a nosebleed, which by itself isn't a huge issue, except the anticoagulating effects of the aspirin seems to be preventing it from clotting. It's been acting up on and off all day, and is exceedingly annoying.

Background info: I used to be quite prone to nosebleeds as a child, but that has gradually slowed down the past few years. I'm also prone to 'chemical imbalances' - there's no term for it in English as far as I'm aware of. In Mandarin Chinese it's the equivalent of "Fire-air". Basically, if you eat too much dry/spicy stuff, it messes with your body's homeostasis and you get nosebleeds or canker sores and the like.

AskMe: How do I stop the nosebleeding, short of lying on my back with my head propped up for the rest of the evening? Is there any way of flushing aspirin from my system? I have a full day of class tomorrow, and I don't want to have to deal with this then.

Bloody hell!

catburger — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 09:45:29 -0800

Chronic nose bleeds - how do I stop them? I have had nosebleeds since I was a kid. Aside from that, I have no serious health problems. However, these nosebleeds can get really annoying since they can happen at inconvenient times, often last a long time (sometimes over 20 minutes), not to mention the amount of blood I lose.

I've been told there's a type of surgery I can get to lessen the amount of nosebleeds that I get, but I'd like to know:

1. Has anyone here had success stopping nosebleeds in some other way? Or,
2. If you've had the surgery, can you tell me what the procedure was like and if it has helped?

I've googled and found this, but it wasn't very helpful. I do not have symptoms of a tumour or sinus cancer, nor do I have allergies. Thanks in advance.

My nose is bleeding

jsavimbi — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 03:11:51 -0800

About three weeks ago I had a nasty cold. Headache, congestion, nose running 24-7. Since then, I wake up every morning to blow my nose out, thick, green, blood speckled mucus having accumulated there. This morning I blew my nose and afterwards a fresh stream of blood poured out. I've never had a nosebleed in my life nor have I ever stuffed any junk up there. Does this warrant a visit to the doctor? ps: I'm not a hypochondriac, it's just that I've never been sick.