Do You Get Nosebleeds Often? Find Out Why!
Epistaxis, or spontaneous bleeding through the nostrils, can be have a number of causes. It may be related to rhinitis or nasal dryness, but it can also point to other health problems such as arterial hypertension. If you get nosebleeds on a regular basis, you should get in touch with your family doctor.
In this article, we’ll explain some of the most common causes of nasal hemorrhaging, as well as a few aspects that you should keep in mind in order to prevent more serious disorders.
Why do we get nosebleeds?
Some people tend to suffer from nosebleeds on a regular basis. The general explanation for this phenomenon is that the bleeding comes from the blood vessels that irrigate the interior part of the nose – the mucous membrane. Usually, only one of the two nostrils ends up bleeding, but it’s possible for both to bleed at the same time.
When you have a hemorrhage in the area behind the nasal septum, the nosebleed is usually a light one that’s not too serious. It may be the result of having touched that area too much, of dryness in the air, or of allergic rhinitis.
In some cases, it can also be an indicator of uncontrolled arterial hypertension. Our bodies are intelligent organisms, and they indicate what problems we may be suffering with signals such as some light bleeding to naturally lower high arterial pressure.
However, we will show you a few of the possible causes of your nosebleeds, as well as ways to keep track of your health based on how you experience this phenomenon.
More serious pathologies
Although your family physician or ear, nose and throat specialist should be the one to make a diagnosis based on testing, you should know which other illnesses include epistaxis on their list of symptoms so that you can decide how serious your nosebleed problem is.
Nosebleeds are also a symptom of the following serious pathologies:
- Liver disease
- Benign or malign tumors
- Leukemia
What should you do when you have a hemorrhage?
When you feel the nasal hemorrhage beginning, you should plug your nose with your fingers and lean your head forward. Don’t tip your head backwards, like many people would recommend, or lie down, because both of these postures will cause you to swallow the blood, keeping you from being able to tell when you’ve stopped bleeding.
Wait a few minutes and, if the bleeding continues, go to an urgent care center.
If the bleeding stops, stop physical activity for the next few hours and make sure not to take any blood thinners or anti-platelet medications such as aspirin. You should also try not to blow your nose too hard.
Aside from going to the doctor, you should keep the following advice in mind if you get nosebleeds often.
Get plenty of of vitamin C
One of the most common causes of frequent nosebleeds, when there is no associated illness, is a lack of Vitamin C in your body. This vitamin helps to strengthen nose capillaries.
You can get Vitamin C from the following foods:
- Citrus fruits, such as lemons (including its peels)
- Rose hip.
- Guava.
- Berries.
- Peppers.
- Parsley.
- Kiwi.
- Broccoli.
- Strawberries.
You can also take Vitamin C tablets as a supplement. If you take too much Vitamin C, the body simply eliminates it through the urine, so there’s no way that you can overdose on this vitamin.
Schüssler salts
Schüssler salts are a natural remedy that provide you with homeopathic doses of minerals, meaning that it has no side effects.
That are twelve types of salts which represent the different minerals that are naturally present in our bodies and that we consume on a daily basis through food. Not only do they provide the body with the minerals it needs, but they distribute those minerals correctly so that they will be in the right place at the right time. When taken separately, each salt has its own particular function, and there are a few that are particularly recommended for epistaxis:
- Calcium phosphate (Calcium Phosphoricum).
- Potassium sulfate (Kalium Sulphuricum).
- Iron phosphate (Ferrum Phosphoricum).
You should put two tablets under your tongue three times per day at times when you’re not eating, drinking or consuming products with a strong flavor (gum, toothpaste). You should take the first one in the morning, the second one in the afternoon, and the third one at night. Continue with this treatment for at least a month.
We recommend talking to a naturopathic doctor who can personalize your treatment and determine how long you should follow said treatment.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ayerbe A, García E. El escaramujo: propiedades y uso terapeutico. Medicina naturista. 2010; 4(1), 44-52.
- Cruz O, Montoya N, Vega X, Montoya S. Epistaxis. Estado actual. Revista Cubana de Otorrinolaringología y Cirugía de Cabeza y Cuello. 2013; 1(2): 59-77.
- Martín-Bailón M, López-Mesa P, Dios-Loureiro C. Manejo de epistaxis en pacientes con terapia antitrombótica. Revista ORL. 2020;12(2):11-18.
