BAD Nosebleeds?

Question

I have never had nosebleeds until a few weeks ago. I have had 3 of them. The first 2, I stopped within 15 minutes. This last one was BAD! I couldn't get it to stop at all. I went to the ER and they could barely stop it. Not to gross anybody out, but the bleeding was very, very heavy, and I had huge clots coming out when I blew my nose. The ER doc packed my nose with a splint and gauzish/tampon like things. I went to an ENT the next day and have to keep this nose pack in for a few days..

Has anybody had this happen? What was the cause?

The doctors used silver nitrate sticks several times to slow it down. I also, had my blood checked for clotting problems, and had no problems. When I went into the hospital, my bp was high, because of the stress and trauma, it then dropped to near normal.

Answer 1

On the odd occasion, dry nasal passages or a sinus infection can cause the tissues of the nose to crack and bleed- sometimes seriously. The procedure you underwent is the usual one when it's hard to get the bleeding in control and it is coming from the posterior sinus. The nose pack contains medications and lubricants that will encourage the tissues to heal, and prevent them from causing another major bleed. Had it been in a reachable place, they could have used silver nitrate sticks to chemically cauterize the site of bleeding. That's nasty because you end up with a sore nose and all you can smell is burnt you for a while. When you return to the ENT to have the packing removed they will most likely work with you to determine what caused this to happen and advise you on what you can do in the future to avoid a repeat performance.

Answer 2

There are different causes, but the most common is just a small artery that is to close to the surface. The docs usually fix this by cauterizing the bleed - which is using a chemical or an electric spark to burn the skin and seal the leak with scar tissue. If cauterization doesn't work, the docs will have to examine your blood cell counts and clotting times. There are all sorts of blood disorders and conditions that cause nose bleeds, and blood analysis is needed to diagnose the propblem.

I ended up with nose bleeds from a condition called thrombocytopenia, which is the term for low platelet counts. Platelets carry some of the chemicals needed for clotting. Low platelet counts can be caused by several underlying medical conditions, or it can occur for no apparent reason. For me, there was no apparent reason, but the problem cleared up in a few months after taking prednisone.

Insist on getting a cell count and prothombrin time if the bleeding starts again - the docs will solve the problem much quicker with good diagnostic info.

Answer 3

Did they check your blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause nose bleeds. You may want to check into that. Or you may have something wrong with the clotting of your blood not allowing the blood to clot or stay once it's clotted.