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.)
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.)
thus said The Meganekko at 10:00 PM
3 Comments:
You know that it's from sticking foreign objects up your nose. I've see nyou do it. Multiple times.
Even Tim's toothbrush once
Going on a ESP kick, eh? Amazing how you can see things from a very, very long distance away. I just guess I'll just have to be careful with my little secret.
I'm surprised you didn't mention in in AP class when we were discussing EP tissue
Post a Comment
<< Home