Epistaxis

[RocketMan]

Epistaxis. Today was the first time I heard that term. 

Bits from Wiki:
For the plant referred to as "nosebleed plant", see Yarrow.
Epistaxis (or a nosebleed in plain English) is the relatively common occurrence of hemorrhage from the nose, usually noticed when the blood drains out through the nostrils. (Oh, yeah, I can attest to that.)
There are two types: anterior (the most common), and posterior (less common, more likely to require medical attention). (Yup, got the posterior.)  Sometimes in more severe cases, the blood can come up the nasolacrimal duct and out from the eye.  (It can and does.) Fresh blood and clotted blood can also flow down into the stomach and cause nausea and vomiting.  (Lost the best part of a great sandwich SWMBO made for dinner.)

The flow of blood normally stops when the blood clots, which may be encouraged by direct pressure applied by pinching the soft fleshy part of the nose. This applies pressure to Little's area, the source of the majority of nose bleeds and promotes clotting. Pressure should be firm and be applied for at least five minutes and up to 20 minutes; tilting the head forward will help decrease the chance of nausea and airway obstruction. (It no worky.  I lost the better part of a pint of blood over the last two days.

If bleeding is still uncontrolled or no focal bleeding point is visible then the nasal cavity should be packed with a sterile dressing, which by applying pressure to the nasal mucosa will tamponade the bleeding point.  (They shoved a tree into my sinus cavity.  I can feel it touching the back of my skull.  It will be there until Saturday.  Percocet is your friend.)

I'll be out of action for a few days.

edited to correct errors caused by nausea when I was typing.

[BridgeRunner]

Welcome to the club.  Fun times, eh?

The insulting part is that mostly docs insist it's caused by nose-picking.  Um, ok...explain to me how it happens in my sleep?  (There are probably less fun ways to wake up in the middle of the night, but I don't want to think about them.)  Or in the middle of class? 

I get the fun posterior ones from time to time.  Biggest challenge is attempting to not swallow the blood.  Anecdotally, seems pretty common in people with allergies/asthma.  Mine got more severe and much more frequent when I developed asthma.  As a kid, my brother got them all the time, the brother with a ton of allergies.  Nasal steriods cause 'em.  My guess is that any inhaled steroids contribute, judging from the number of inhaled steroid users I know who get 'em.

Fun times.

[LadySmith]

Epistaxis reads like a totally miserable and messy experience.
I hope you get better soon.

[RocketMan]

How in the heck can a person get their finger into the posterior section of their nasal passage and sinus cavity, Bridgewalker?  Why would anyone even try?  You've got to wonder how the docs get silly ideas like that sometimes.  I can sympathize with your frustration.

This is a first go for me with this problem.  I've had minor nosebleeds over the years like anyone else, caused by dry winter air or allergies, but nothing that ever required more than a nose pinch or a little kleenex or cotton up the nostril.

I got a very strong wiff of battery acid fumes when I was checking an electric golf cart at work yesterday.  The doc thinks that may have something to do with it.  I had plugged it in the day before to charge, and when I checked it yesterday prior to using it, I received a face full of warm battery acid fumes, despite the fact that it had been open to the air the whole time.
The charger had faulted and the whole battery compartment exuded a warm moist heat.

The bleed started when I was standing over a work bench a few minutes later.  I thought it was just a runny nose until I saw the blood.  Oh, well.

[RocketMan]

Epistaxis reads like a totally miserable and messy experience.
I hope you get better soon.

Thanks, LadySmith.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone.  They tried the chemical cauterizing this morning during my first visit to the Urgent Care.  That worked for a few hours, then it started bleeding heavily again.  They took me into the ER on the second visit this evening.  That's when they shoved the tree up my nose.
The doctor warned me it would hurt.  He was right.
And viewing this computer screen is giving me nausea again. Got to go.

[White Horseradish]

I've had an ongoing nosebleed for several years. It stopped when I got my deviated septum straightened a few months ago.

I've also done the battery thing, a long time ago.  A bad alternator cooked mine and a little cloud floated out when I opened the hood. That one made my nose hurt for two weeks.

[41magsnub]

That sounds horrible, I hope it heals quickly...

[RocketMan]

I don't like being so weirded out on the Percocet.  Drowsy, dizzy, muddy thinking.  I think I'll go to bed.
At least they will take the tree out of my nose tomorrow.

[erictank]

I've not gotten to the point of medical intervention, but I can identify with a lot of what's been said here, esp. about waking up to a red pillow (or because of feeling that distinct 'click' in my nasal passages which I've learned is an immediate precursor to a gusher).  I'm more prone to nosebleeds in winter, when the dry air makes things worse on me - lots of nose-blowing-induced bleeds in the winter months - but I recently had one out of the blue after my first trip to the neighborhood pool.  Got home, and a few minutes later felt that 'click' and ran for the Kleenex.

Rocketman, I hope you feel better soon.

[markdido]

Severe epistaxis can lead to exsanguination!

[K Frame]

My Father had a malformation of the veins in his nose that let to periods of severe nosebleeds throughout his life.

He passed out several times from a drop in blood pressure/volume and required cauterization any number of times.

One of the ways we treated his nosebleeds was with an ice pack on the back of the neck. Helped quite a bit, actually.

[RocketMan]

One of the ways we treated his nosebleeds was with an ice pack on the back of the neck. Helped quite a bit, actually.

Well, I'm going to have to do something.  I may give the ice pack a whirl.  I'm bleeding again, through the packing in my sinus and nasal passage, as I type this.
Now I have a biohazardous keyboard.

[Uncle Bubba]

I don't like being so weirded out on the Percocet.  Drowsy, dizzy, muddy thinking.  I think I'll go to bed.
At least they will take the tree out of my nose tomorrow.

Something I learned about Percocet when taking it for severe back pain almost twenty years ago: It doesn't do anything to alleviate the pain, you're just so high that you don't notice it except in an offhand way. You're over here and the pain's over there. It's a truly odd feeling, and this from a fella who did my and a few other people's share of various drugs way back when.

I hope your problem heals soon. I have little experience of nosebleeds, and that minor, but none were pleasant.

[K Frame]

When I had a tooth out last year, I had Vicodine. It VERY nicely stopped the pain but left me fully functional.

[RocketMan]

When I had a tooth out last year, I had Vicodine. It VERY nicely stopped the pain but left me fully functional.

I've gone the Vicodin route with root canals before.  I agree, it does the job pretty well.  Makes me wish they'd given me that, instead.

I think Uncle Bubba's description of the Percocet is pretty close. Weird stuff.

[Uncle Bubba]

Ditto Irwin on Vicodin. It actually is a painkiller.

[Stand_watie]

I've gone the Vicodin route with root canals before.  I agree, it does the job pretty well.  Makes me wish they'd given me that, instead.

I think Uncle Bubba's description of the Percocet is pretty close. Weird stuff.

Funny how everyone reacts differently  to different drugs. Percocet does nothing whatsoever to me, except to make me unable to legally drive, same for darvocet. Vicodin makes me moderately high and kills a substantial anount of my pain.

[Cromlech]

I've had a couple of massive nosebleeds that just flowed like a river down my throat. Never been too bothered about swallowing it though. I actually quite like the taste of blood.
One time when I was younger though, I had a really bad nosebleed that ended up with really big clotted lumps forming, and I thought my brain was melting.

[Hutch]

IIRC, nosebleed is thought to have brought about the demise of Attila the Hun.  Glad yours was not so bad.

When I read the thread title, I somehow thought about something to with the skin and cabs!

[K Frame]

It's been a long time since I've had percocet, and I can't remember it doing too much for me. It is, IIRC oxycodone and acetaminophen.

Vicodin is hydrocodone, which probably explains the different effects on people.

If you know you do better with one over the other, ask for the one you do best with.

[RocketMan]

Does anyone remember in the movie "Total Recall", when Ahnold's character Quaid/Hauser pulled the tracking device out of his schnozz with those hi-tech pliers?  When I first watched that scene I called BS. It was surely impossible to shove something that large up into someone's nasal passage into their sinus cavity.
I was wrong.  They pulled the packing out of my sinus today.  It was larger than Ahnold's tracking device.  Ooiiiggg!
At least I'm not bleeding anymore.

[K Frame]

Yep, I remember that.

Made me queasy.

TWO WEEKS!

[RocketMan]

I can't imagine putting up with that for two weeks, Mike.  I should count myself lucky with two days.

[erictank]

I can't imagine putting up with that for two weeks, Mike.  I should count myself lucky with two days.

RocketMan, "Two weeks" was a line from the movie, when Ahnuld was wearing the hefty-woman disguise and the Mars Customs agent asked how long "she" would be visiting for.  The agent then asked if "she" had any fruits of vegetables to be declared, and "she" responded, "... two WEEKS..." - which was, apparently, all the electronic disguise was able to say for Ahnuld.  Then the disguise started wigging out, Michael Ironside figured out it was really Ahnuld, and hilarity ensued.  Man, I haven't seen 'Total Recall' for a long time.

Glad to hear you're doing better.

[Harold Tuttle]

cut off tampons make good nose bleed packing