Understanding Nosebleeds: Types, Symptoms, and Causes

Jakarta –

Nosebleed or Epistaxis is a condition when you lose blood from the tissue that lines the inside of the nose. Nosebleeds are usually caused by a combination of dry air and small blood vessels.

Nosebleeds are common, about 60% of people will experience at least one nosebleed in their lifetime. Only about 10% of cases are severe enough to require medical treatment.

But before knowing the causes of nosebleeds, you must first know the types of nosebleeds, as follows:

Types of Nosebleeds

Causes of nosebleeds can come from injury, infection, or dry air. There are two types of nosebleeds, anterior and posterior viz

1. Anterior Nosebleeds

This nosebleed occurs because the blood vessels in the front of the nose are damaged or torn, resulting in bleeding. Generally, anterior nosebleeds are common in children.

2. Posterior nosebleed

This nosebleed occurs behind or in the deepest part of the nose due to damaged or torn blood vessels. Posterior nosebleeds are usually more common in the elderly.

Symptoms of nosebleed

Quoting from the Cleveland Clinic, other than blood coming out of the nose, other symptoms of nosebleeds are rare. If you have a posterior nosebleed, some of the blood can flow down the back of your throat and then into your stomach. This can cause a bad feeling in the back of your throat and make you feel nauseous.

Causes of nosebleeds

There are several causes of nosebleeds including:

1. Dry air

Quoting from Healthline, the most common cause of nosebleeds is dry air. This hot climate with low humidity can dry out the lining of the nose in the deep tissues.

This dryness can cause hardening of the skin inside the nose that clumps into a crust. The crust may be itchy and irritated, so that when you scratch or pick your nose it can bleed.

2. Cold Infection

Reporting from the Cleveland Clinic, infections of the upper respiratory tract (colds) and sinusitis can be causes of nosebleeds. Especially when sneezing, coughing, and blowing the nose repeatedly excessively can make nosebleeds or blood come out.

People with this condition blow their nose more often. In addition, the inside of the nose may experience irritation and pain during a viral infection, making it more susceptible to nosebleeds.

3. Allergies

Allergies of the type allergic and non-allergic rhinitis (inflammation of the lining of the nose) can also cause nosebleeds.

4. Scraping the inside of the nose

The next cause of nosebleeds is scraping the inside of the nose. Especially when scraping the nose with long fingernails can scratch the inside of the nose. This can tear blood vessels and cause nosebleeds.

5. Clash

The nose can bleed when hit by a hard impact or blow, this is because the fine blood vessels in the nose are damaged, causing anterior nosebleeds.

6. Being on the Plateau

Causes of nosebleeds can also occur when you are in the highlands. With increasing altitude, the availability of oxygen decreases, thus making the air drier. This is what causes nosebleeds to suddenly occur.

7. Use of Certain Drugs

Drugs can also cause nosebleeds, blood thinners such as aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), warfarin and others can cause nosebleeds if consumed in excess.

8. Chemical irritant

Chemicals in cleaning supplies, chemical fumes in the workplace, and other strong odors can also cause nosebleeds. This is because breathing in the air is pungent and can cause irritation.

9. Septal deviation

Sometimes there can be an abnormal shape of the wall that separates the two sides of the nose. This condition is experienced when the dividing wall between the two nostrils is tilted or crooked which can bleed like a nosebleed.

10. Nasal spray

Frequent use of nasal sprays and medications to treat an itchy, stuffy, or runny nose. These medicines, antihistamines and decongestants, can dry out the lining of the nose.

And several other causes of nosebleeds that are not common, namely:

• Alcohol consumption
• Bleeding disorders, such as hemophilia or von Willebrand’s disease
• High blood pressure
• Atherosclerosis
• Face and nose surgery
• Nasal tumors
• Nasal polyps
• Immune thrombocytopenia
• Leukemia
• Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia
• Pregnancy.

So, those are some of the causes of nosebleeds that you should know about. Hope it is useful.

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