Portal login
 
Bookmarks Save as Bookmark
bookmarks-menu
 
E-mail Form
Email Results

 
 

How to treat a nosebleed

I'm Dr. Alan Greene and let's talk for a moment about nosebleeds and what to do about them. First, many parents panic a bit when they see a nosebleed in their child. Worried it may be something serious like leukemia. But in an otherwise healthy child without any other symptoms, nosebleeds are very common and generally not serious at all. It's usually caused by a little nick or drying out of blood vessels right in the surface of the nose. So what do you do about it? Do you tilt your head back? Do you apply ice to the nose? Actually you treat it just like you would any other bleeding by applying direct pressure. And in the case of the nose the way you do it is pinch the nose shut like this, the sides against the middle, and hold it like that by the clock for 2 minutes. When you let go, often it will stop. If it's still bleeding, do that again but hold it for 5 minutes. Again, by the clock. It's a long time, the 5 minutes. But when you are done, almost all the time the nosebleed will be over with. If it's not, go ahead and give your doctor a call. They can give you some other instructions on what to do from there.

How to treat a nosebleed

Review Date: 11/10/2020

Reviewed By: Ramin Fathi, MD, FAAD, Director, Phoenix Surgical Dermatology Group, Phoenix, AZ. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

Videos

Browse All

Animations

Browse All


The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

A.D.A.M. content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Firefox and Google Chrome browser.
Content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Firefox and Google Chrome browser.