Epistaxis

Today I'm staying away from the more philosophical, visceral, and whateveral topics which I've posted on, instead focusing on a most sophisticated quarry: the nosebleed, or epistaxis. Recently (read: for the past six months), I have been having nosebleeds frequently for no apparent reason. I have been putting up with them patiently, even when they interefered with other activities I was actively trying to pursue. And just for your information-if you're playing the violin and your nose starts bleeding, don't let the blood dry on your instrument. However, a couple nights ago I was woken up from a very deep, restful sleep by a nosebleed, and that was the straw which broke the camel's back-you can mess with my violin, interfere with my schoolwork, and muck up my meals, but don't play around with my sleep, darnit. Once I'm asleep, I stay asleep, thankyoukindly. So I decided to play the detective and do some research on the Wide Wonderful World of internet to figure out what was happening. I came up with these three gems, from which I'm deriving my source information.

Types of Nosebleeds

Most nosebleeds (anterior nosebleeds) start in the lower septum (the thingamabob separtating your nostrils), which contains delicate blood vessals located close to the surface. As these blood vessals are delicate and located close to the surface, they are easily "broken by a blow to the nose or the edge of a sharp fingernail." (AAO-HNS, para. 2). In the case of these nosebleeds, blood will flow only out of one nostril, and blood will most likely not flow down the back of your throat if you're sitting or standing up. These, apparently, are your every-day, easy-to-stop sort of nosebleed. A more rare form of nosebleeds (posterior nosebleeds) "comes from deep in the nose and flows down the back of the mouth and throat even if the patient is sitting up or standing." (Ear, Nose & Throat, para. 3). These occur when a large blood vessel is broken, happen more often in the very old and the very young, and are generally more serious than anterior nosebleeds. With these suckers, blood will flow down the back of your neck even when you're sitting and standing up.

Causes of Nosebleeds

According to two of my three sources (the third mostly repeats the other two), nosebleeds can be caused by:

*Picking your nose
*Allergies and infections that lead to picking your nose
*Dryness
*Injury
*Vigourous nose blowing (which may rupture blood vessels in the very old and the very young)
*Genetic clotting disorders
*Tumors
*Atherosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries" - most common in elderly people)
*High blood pressure
*Sticking foreign objects up your nose

Conclusion

My particular brand of nosebleed, is, I believe the anterior sort, as it's only flowed down the back of my neck once (when I was standing up). That was, I might add, spectacularely disgusting. You might want to try it some time. As I'm an otherwise-healthy teenager, I'm going to rule out all of the causes that pertain mostly to the very old and the very young, which leaves me with picking my nose, tumors, dryness, injury, a genetic clotting disorder, and sticking stuff up my nose. As I neither pick my nose, hit my face, nor stick foreign objects up my nose on a regular basis (and please remember that these have been happening frequently), I'm left with tumors, a genetic clotting disorder, and dryness. This isn't (and hasn't) happened to anyone else in my family, so the genetic bit is out, and I'm just going to ignore the tumors bit until all else fails. That leaves me with dryness - which, as I just moved from Alaska to Southern Arizona, makes sense. So I'm going to grab a humidifier to put in my room and start drinking more water. If that doesn't work, and I'm still having nosebleeds frequently for seemingly no reason at all, I will, as reccomended by Ear, Nose and Throat Associates of Corpus Christi, visit my doctor.

Finally, a general health announcement:

What to do When a Nosebleed Occurs

1. Blow your nose. I know the other sites say not to, but as an experienced nosebleed-stopper, I say to blow it once. Then leave it alone
2. Pinch the soft part of your nose together for at least two minutes by the clock (you'll just have to start all over again if you let go early and it starts bleeding again). I would suggest breathing through your mouth at this point in time, although some might disagree with me. Breathing through your ears is supposedly a very beneficial experience.
3. While you're pinching your nose, clean up your face. This is usually the part that does the most towards making me feel better.
4. After two minutes have passed, let go of your nose and see if blood comes gushing out again. If not, great, do a little touch up of make-up or whatever, and go on your merry way. If it does start coming out again, hold again for five minutes by the clock. This should clear it up. If not, then you might want to go see a medical authority. (You know: Nurse. Doctor. Me.)

Revelation 18:10

Recently, I reread (for the fourth or fifth time) Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank, and enjoyed it more than ever. The book inspired two pieces of writing (three if you count this), so at the current moment it's in my good books (terrible pun intended). Here's the links in case all of my devoted readers wish to see them:

Short - http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/writing.php?id=42565

Poem - http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/writers/writing.php?id=42511

Or you could just go to the Window (link in "Other Places To Be"), go to "Read Published Writing" and type "Excelsior" in the search bar. It's "The Little Pink Box" and "The Thousand Year Night". I'm reasonably happy with TYN (although I suspect some of my friends are starting to question my sanity), but, IMHO, "Little Pink Box" was only so-so. The ending was too obvious. Drat it.

*cough* Back on topic, Alas Babylon. In one scene, Randy (protagonist) and Lib (girlfriend) were alerted that Florence (Western Union lady) appeared to be in distress. When they go over to see what happened, they find that Florence's cat, Sir Percy, had eaten her parrot, Anthony. Also, her angelfish had died because the electricity had gone out because of the catastrophe the book centers around (leaving the aquarium unheated), which added to her distress. One comment that Randy makes, on the newly reinforced rule of the survival of the fittest, was:

" 'The common guppy lives. So does the tough catfish...That's the way it is and that's the way it's going to be.' " (Frank, Alas, Babylon, p. 176)

and when applying it to his own life

"Walking back to his own house, Randy said, 'Florence is a guppy, a nice, drab little guppy. That's why she'll survive.'
'What about you and me?' Lib said.
'We're going to have to be tough. We're going to have to be catfish.' "(Frank, Alas, Babylon, p. 177)

Florence, before the Russians had nuked the US, was a person who "existed" and no more. Randy and Lib had been the sort of stand-out people who garnered attention because of their brains, talents, and general sucess at making a sucess of life. With this background information, I think I may assume that Mr. Hart was saying that those who generally don't make a grand "sucess" out of their lives (as according to society's standards) find it easier to go through crises then your average sucessful person. Why? Possibly because everyday life is tougher for these people, and thus they build a coating around themselves which helps them to squeeze through the major crises. Maybe people in general tend to treat those whom we see as being sucessful better than those whom we see as having fallen short of their potential, or as not having worked hard enough to make a "sucess" out of their lives. Maybe laziness can give people an edge; of course, this depends on how one defines laziness. Is laziness the opposite of self-discipline? Or is that which is termed "laziness" simply a lack of ambition? I believe that it depends on the person (or character, as in this case). In Florence Whechek's case, she simply didn't have the ambition - nor the ability (possibly) - to go farther than she had with her life. Randy and Lib had the opportunity, ability and pressure of their parents and peers to steer them through life. They probably didn't have the unconcious struggle to get through the day which people like Florence had, and, when a great disaster came, they were less able to keep some of their struggles under the surface - they simply didn't have the practice. Interesting.

I know I'm going to look at this a year from now and think "What? How did I get there?" Heh.



(Not so) Random Quote of the Day:

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

- Revelation 18:9-10, KJV

Bah Humbug

I had a bit ready to post on Alas, Babylon, then my computer froze. Of course I hadn't saved it, so I lost everything I'd written.

And now, I'm sick, so I'm not going to be posting anything for the next couple of days.

Bah humbug shmumbug.