My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

nose bleeds in children?

20 replies

bambi06 · 01/03/2005 09:54

my son has nose bleeds which happen only at night and possibly only when hes getting or has a cold.. is there a link / anybody else have any experiences of night time nosebleeds only.. weve just had 2 nights running again and i`m fast running out of sheets,pyjamas etc plus everyone is suffering from sleep deprivation..

OP posts:
Report
butterflymum · 01/03/2005 10:15

He may be best having it cauterised...done very simply at A & E as emergency or out-patients as planned. My eldest son used to be same when he was about 4 or 5yrs....no problems since he had the 'flap' inside his nostril cauterised. Why not have a chat with your doctor (plus it will rule out any other possible cause).

Report
bambi06 · 01/03/2005 11:33

did your son have them only at night / and how often..what did they say was the cause? and how did they cauterise it? did he have general or local anaestetic?

OP posts:
Report
suedonim · 01/03/2005 14:45

My dd started with nosebleeds when she was a toddler, usually at night. Our GP gave her a homeopathic remedy which was excellent. As time has passed the nosebleeds have returned but minor ones compared to before.

Report
Jimjams · 01/03/2005 15:29

I was cauterised at 5. ds1 gets a lot in phases (none for months then a couple of weeks of them) but no way is he being cauterised (he's severely autistic).

Phosphorus is a good homeopathic remedy for them. I gave him sme a couple of weeks ago after he had coated the walls of his room with blood (looked like someone had been murdered as he'd been stnading on his table and was wiping his hands on the walls- after bed time so we didn't know). None since for the moment.

Report
Pamina3 · 01/03/2005 15:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jimjams · 01/03/2005 15:48

btw my nose cauterisation was fine- I still got occasional nose bleeds afterwards but nothing like before. I wouldn't do ds1 because it;s ds1- would consider it if it was ds2. (no-one;s seen inside him mouth, looke din his ears etc for 3 years- he freaks- so I'm sure you can inagine what an op would be like).

Report
Pamina3 · 01/03/2005 15:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jimjams · 01/03/2005 15:54

re-read my message after reading yours and thought I sounded anti-cauterisation which I'm not It was just meant int he same way as I say "no way am I taking ds1 on a plane" iyswin

Report
Snowbell · 01/03/2005 16:04

Bambi06, my DD, age 3 gets nosebleeds, just like your DS, mainly at night and usually when she has a cold. I've only mentioned it once to the GP, and she didn't seem too worried. I had not thought of cauterisation and I don't know if I would be happy to go down that route. I know what you mean about the work involved - soaking sheets and pyjames in the bath! I just worry that it might make her anaemic.

Report
Pamina3 · 01/03/2005 16:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pamina3 · 01/03/2005 17:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bambi06 · 01/03/2005 20:27

thanks everyone ..im hoping that tonight will be o.k ive been manically washing everything tonight and have put thing s in his room to night to prepare myself. dr didnt say anything much apart from if it happens again cauterisation could be a possibility.. i`m avoiding that if i can.. i dont think i could get him even near the hospital for that!!

OP posts:
Report
foxinsocks · 01/03/2005 20:56

Both my husband and ds and dd get nose bleeds at night. Ds occasionally gets them during the day. They normally come when they've had colds (for dh and ds) - either they are about to get one, have one or it's on the way out. Dd normally gets them at night if she's too hot. Hers don't seem to be related to having colds. The summer of 2004 (when it was so hot), if someone had looked at my washing, it must have looked like I was slaughtering animals there was so much blood.

When I asked the doctor about it, she was so disinterested. Ds had them as a newborn and even then they told me that as long as they always stopped bleeding and it wasn't an everyday occurrence then they weren't bothered! I've not figured out anything that stops dh or ds nosebleeds (although I think keeping the room humid can help) - dd's stop at night as long as she's cool.

If I was you, if it's happening all the time I would go to the GP - just so they can check his nose to see what's going on.

Report
bambi06 · 01/03/2005 21:22

i`ve put a wet towel on r adiator with some oils to keep room moist as dr did say it can be to do with temp of room and my son does tend to bury himself under duvet

OP posts:
Report
80sMum · 01/03/2005 21:38

I used to get quite severe nosebleeds as a child. Remember being taken home in the teacher's car holding a bowl under my nose because it just wouldn't stop! Had it cauterized at age 8 and can honestly say have never had a single nosebleed since. So, if that's the problem then the answer's simple.

Report
HunkerMunker · 01/03/2005 21:40

I used to get nosebleeds almost every day during the summer when I was younger (up to about the age of 11) and fairly often during the winter. On a bad day in the summer I'd have ten. I had my nose cauterised twice using silver nitrate - it tingled but didn't hurt. Didn't really work though.

I used to get them more on days with high atmospheric pressure - more often during the summer, but sometimes this happens in the winter.

Never make a child with a nosebleed (or an adult for that matter!) tilt their head back. I found the best thing was squeezing the bridge of my nose and applying cold (ice or cold water) to the bridge of my nose and the back of my neck (seemed to cool me down enough for the bleeding to stop). Sometimes they'd be so bad that I would choke on congealing blood even though I was leaning forwards - the last one I had was a couple of years ago and I nearly went to hospital as it wouldn't stop and I was having trouble breathing.

My MIL swears blind that squeezing your nostrils together is the way to stop a nosebleed, but I found that it just meant it all clotted together and started to bleed again when I let go when I tried this (long before I had a MIL too!).

To return to the point of the original post (), I used to also get nosebleeds at night around the time of a cold - I think when you have a cold, your nose can be quite itchy, so rubbing it or blowing it may trigger a nosebleed.

One last thing, people also told me not to blow my nose when I had a nosebleed, but I found that giving it a good blow often got rid of the 'plug' of blood and allowed it to clot properly and more comfortably.

I'm gonna gt a nosebleed tomorrow, aren't I?!

Ooh, just thought of another thing - bambi06, you say that your DS has had them two nights running - again, not uncommon IME - once you've had one, the blood vessels in your nose need time to heal and one good rub of the nose can cause another bleed easily. Hope your DS is OK tonight - I remember all too well the tickly sensation of a nosebleed starting just as I lay down to go to sleep and knowing I'd have to get up to deal with it (I was a bit older than your DS by the sound of it when I remember this though!).

I'm going to stop writing about noses now

Report
bambi06 · 01/03/2005 21:54

fingers crossed .hes ok so far but its wierd but ehs had them start at exactly the same time each night ..1 am bizarre and its nothing to do with when heating goes off as its just going off now.

OP posts:
Report
Snowbell · 02/03/2005 09:25

Just remembered that my DD had a lot of nosebleeds at night last summer when it was hot. Someone told me to rub vaseline inside the nostrils, as it is the dry air drying out the lining of the nose that causes the nosebleeds. We tried vaseline and it did work. There is probably a similar problem with central heating in winter. I got DD to do this for herself, as she doesn't want my big finger up her nose!

Report
Fastasleep · 02/03/2005 09:27

I was just thinkiung vaseline before I read the last post...doh! It is really common though, I had lots and still do, seemingly at random times but I think it's due to the capiliaries in my nose being a little closer to the surface than most peoples...the amount of times I've awoken to find my face in a pool of blood yuck! They've never caused me any harm though.

Report
Fastasleep · 02/03/2005 09:28

Ugh @ my typing today!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.