Nasal bleeding in children is a relatively common symptom. Some parents think that nosebleeds are minor and can be handled by themselves. In fact, nosebleeds have many causes and should be taken seriously.
So why is the nose prone to bleeding? This requires an understanding of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the nose. The nose is an area prone to impact and there is an area in the nasal cavity that is prone to bleeding, namely the anterior and inferior part of the nasal diaphragm. This area is very vascular and the mucosa is very thin, so when impacted by external forces, it is unbearable and bleeding can easily occur. The bleeding rate in this bleeding-prone area accounts for about 90% of nasal bleeding. In addition, too hot, too cold or too dry climate can also damage the nasal mucosa, making it inflamed and eroded, causing bleeding.
There are many causes of rhinorrhea, both local and systemic. Local causes include nasal trauma, nasal vestibulitis, atrophic rhinitis, nasal hemangioma, nasal foreign body, dry rhinitis, adenoid hypertrophy, allergic rhinitis, etc. Systemic causes include upper respiratory tract infection, hemophilia, thrombocytopenic purpura, aplastic anemia, leukemia, rheumatism, liver cirrhosis, vitamin C deficiency, chronic bleeding splenomegaly, etc. Among them, nasal foreign body, dry rhinitis, adenoid hypertrophy and allergic rhinitis are the most common.
In young children with rhinorrhea, blood flows from the front of the nose when standing or sitting, and from the posterior nasal aperture when lying down, when the bleeding can mostly be due to entering the stomach, followed by vomiting blood, but the child with no stomach pain, warmth, acid reflux and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Allergic nasal bleeding, mostly due to forceful snorting, nasal itching when scratching the nostrils caused by the rupture of small blood vessels, the amount of bleeding is generally not much.
Parents or teachers should not panic when a child has nasal bleeding, and should put the child in a sitting or semi-sitting position with the head slightly tilted forward, if the blood flows into the pharynx, the stimulation of coughing will aggravate the bleeding. You can put a cold towel on the head, put a 1% epinephrine wet tampon into the nasal cavity and pinch the nose for a few minutes to stop the bleeding. If the bleeding does not stop, the child should be sent to a hospital specialist or the outpatient department of a quintuplegic hospital for treatment. For children who are prone to nosebleeds, we should find out the cause and tell them to dig their nostrils less, drink more water and eat more vegetables and fruits when the weather is dry.