Need advice quickly please. To go to A&E? Waiting for a call back from 111 - beginning to really panic *MNHQ content warning for blood*

[TheKhakiBee]

Hi, my daughter has been having a nosebleed for the past 20 minutes or so. Have tried everything to stop it, head forward, pinching the soft part of the nose continously. There is ALOT of blood. Waiting for 111 to call back. AIBU to A&E for this? I don't drive, don't know if a taxi would take us. Photo shows some of the blood.

I would not call an ambulance for a nosebleed unless it was absolutely spurting, and it doesn't look like that was, but I absolutely would go be seen for a nosebleed that didn't stop. Unfortunately A&E might really be the only option. A GP can't always cauterise and might not be able to see you quickly.

The tampon trick is a good one though. I forget what they're called, but doctors use something similar. They put pressure on the vessels from inside.

My ds used to get bad nosebleeds, the only thing that worked at home was to roll up a piece of tissue or a cotton wool pad into a tampon shape & put it up his nose then leave it as long as possible. You could set off for A & E & it stop on the way. Get her to suck ice & an ice pack on the bridge of her nose to shrink the blood vessels.

Ds was eventually prescribed antibiotic cream to use & the nosebleeds stopped.

Is it one nostril or both? As it’s restarted I would take her to A&E. they can ask ENT to take a look and run some bloods.

Hope your daughter is OK. Just to say that this happened to a family member of mine and they went to the GP after 2 instances of it. Oddly enough, while they were there it started again and they took them to a&e in an ambulance. They called me and I offered to drive them instead but they said no due to the amount of blood. So I would say at least go to the GP to let them know what happened.

If bleeding doesn't stop after 20 mins or so and is heavy, i'd say it's ok to go.

What do you count as an emergency?

I was once at dinner with my friend S, who's a TA and has has loads of training for kids with quirky medical conditions. My nose started to bleed and she immediately checked her watch and began a timer. It stopped once I'd utterly ruined a white linen napkin, but it struck me as a good idea - time moves oddly when you're in a situation like that, either as patient or carer.

Perhaps make a GP appointment and request a referral to ENT?

This is absolutely a great idea. Time skips or stops depending on your personality and neither is helpful medically.

My daughter went through a nosebleed phase where she would bleed like this every few days! I’d be clearing clots out of the sink, it was honestly awful.

She went to the GP who told us to go to A+E to have it cauterised.

Fortunately they stopped after about a year, and she hasn’t had one for about 2 years now.

Probably based on those lucky women like a friend of mine, who get nice light 3 day periods. And not on the rest of us who aren't so lucky. A few tablespoons covers just half of the first day for me