Nose bleeding in children is a common phenomenon, and it is more common in the hot summer and dry winter seasons. Young parents often do not have life experience and do not know what to do when they encounter nosebleeds in their children. Sometimes they listen to some unscientific “old experiences” of the elderly, which in turn aggravate the nosebleeds of their children.
Generally speaking, children before the age of 2 rarely have nasal bleeding, because the capillary network of the nasal cavity is not well developed in this age group. The site of nasal bleeding in children is mostly in the capillary network of the anterior part of the nasal septum, also called the Lai’s area, which is superficial and distributed in the mucous membrane layer of the nasal septum. There are many reasons for nasal bleeding, such as when the nasal mucosa is dry, capillary dilatation, nasal inflammation or irritation; when the climatic and environmental conditions are poor, such as dry air, heat, low air pressure, cold, high room temperature; some children’s bad habit of picking their nostrils with their hands, or when children are deficient in vitamin C, K, P and trace elements such as calcium, can cause nasal bleeding. In addition, certain systemic diseases such as fever, hypertension, leukemia, thrombocytopenic purpura, aplastic anemia, etc., can also cause nosebleeds.
Young parents should not panic when they encounter nosebleeds in children, but should calmly guide the child to take slow and deep breaths and not to let the child cry, as this will aggravate the nosebleeds. It is best to let the child sit in a sitting position, with the head slightly tilted forward, and try to spit out the blood from the nasopharyngeal cavity to the mouth to avoid swallowing the nosebleed into the stomach, which can cause abdominal pain and vomiting. A simple method of disposal is to stuff the bleeding nostril with sterilized cotton balls or pinch the bilateral nostrils with the thumb and forefinger.
If the child bleeds heavily, the simple hemostasis method is not effective, and there are symptoms of hemorrhagic shock such as pallor, false sweating and rapid heart rate, the child should be in a semi-recumbent position and sent to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible.
In the hospital, the doctor will give appropriate treatment according to the site of nosebleed and the amount of blood. Repeated nose bleeding in children can be treated locally with freezing, microwaves and chemicals. Smaller amounts of nosebleeds can also be treated with drugs containing 1% ephedrine to stop the bleeding by constricting the blood vessels. The treatment of nosebleeds emphasizes the need to start from the cause. If the nosebleeds are caused by various kinds of rhinitis, the rhinitis should be treated first; if the nosebleeds are caused by trauma or nasal foreign body, the trauma should be treated and the foreign body removed; if the nosebleeds are caused by full-blooded diseases, such as scarlet fever, upper respiratory tract infection and blood diseases, the treatment should be directed at these diseases.
Within a few days after the nosebleeds in children are stopped, pay special attention to not letting children do too strong running and jumping movements; avoid eating too hot or spicy food; use a cotton swab with antibiotic ointment lightly applied to the nasal mucosa or nasal spray victory seawater or saline to keep the mucosa moist to prevent nosebleeds again, wipe once in the morning and once in the evening for a week; put a pot of water in the children’s room to prevent indoor dryness, and use air conditioning to improve the Air humidity index.
Prevention of nosebleeds in children is more important than treatment. If your child has a cold, let him take rest; children with nasal allergies should be treated promptly; for children who are used to picking their noses, parents should teach and watch them. In addition, you should also correct your child’s partial eating habits and pay attention to multivitamin supplementation on a daily basis, otherwise rhinorrhea will easily recur.