Eight Do's and Don'ts for Nosebleed Sufferers

Everyone seems to have a home remedy for a nosebleed. And, if you suffer from frequent nosebleeds, you may have heard them all. But, while some nosebleed home remedies are effective, others can do more harm than good.

Here are some things you should and shouldn't try the next time you have a nosebleed. There are also things you should keep in mind once your nosebleed has stopped.

Don't stuff cotton up your nose.

One common remedy people often try to stop a nosebleed is stuffing their nostrils with cotton. But if you stuff your nose with cotton, it will stick to the scab that forms inside your nose to stop the bleeding. When you pull the cotton out, you'll also pull away the scab, which will cause the nosebleed to start all over again.

Cotton under your lip might help stop a nosebleed.

Put a wad of cotton inside your upper lip, right up against the gum. This will apply pressure to one of the major blood vessels that supplies the interior of your nose. The pressure the cotton places on this vessel will help suppress the bleeding from a bloody nose.

Try an over-the-counter nasal spray.

An over-the-counter nasal spray, like Afrin or Neo-Synephrine, may help stop a nosebleed faster. These products, called vasoconstrictors, shrink blood vessels in your nose, and also help scabs form, both of which will help slow and eventually stop a nosebleed.

Squeeze about four or five squirts of the nasal spray into the bleeding nostril, then pinch your nose shut for ten minutes.

Use a clothespin to stop a nosebleed.

You may have seen an old movie where someone with a nosebleed used a clothespin to pinch their nostrils shut. And you can try it too, if you can find a wooden, spring-type clothespin lying around. Using your fingers to pinch your nostrils shut is best but if, for some reason, you can't, a clothespin applied to the soft, fleshy part of your nose will work in a pinch.

Don't blow once your nosebleed has stopped.

Once you've gotten a nosebleed to stop, don't blow your nose. Blowing your nose will dislodge the clot that formed to stop the bleeding, and will probably cause your nosebleed to start up again.

Once your nosebleed has stopped, take it easy.

Strenuous physical activity soon after you've stopped a nosebleed will put pressure on blood vessels that might cause your nose to start bleeding again. So, once you've stopped a nosebleed, you should wait several hours before working out at the gym of going for a jog.

Don't rub your nose.

After a nosebleed, any kind of pressure on your nose, even rubbing it because it's itching, could cause your nose to start bleeding again. So, keep your hands away from your nose. If your nose starts to itch, you can probably ignore it pretty easily by focusing on something else.

Don't pick your nose.

Picking your nose, or scratching an itch on the inside of your nose, even a week after you had a nosebleed, can make your nose start bleeding again.

While stopping your nosebleed fast is important, even more important is stopping it the right way. And, once the nosebleed is stopped, you want to do everything you can to keep it from coming back.