Very Active 4Yr Son with Nose Bleeding

My 11 yr old son has nose bleeds and my daughter, 8yrs old, gets them all the time. Doctors said it was okay and not to worry - they would probably grow out of it. Also said that it could be their noses are too dry.

I use Melaleuca oil for them. My whole family is healthier because of Melaleuca.

J.
www.livetotalwellness.com/janislanz
single mom to three kids, working at home so I can also be a full-time mom.

A.,

My son is 15 and has the same problem. His nose doesn't bleed when it is hit. He has had 2 nose bleeds this past week. I think it has something to do with allergies. He had this problem when he was a lot younger and the doctor recommended saline nasal drops at night. It keeps the nasal passages from getting dried out at night. He hasn't had a nose bleed in a long time until now so I am trying the saline nasal drops again. You can buy them at any pharmacy. Let me know if you find anything else out about the nose bleeds.

Thank you,
L.
www.mymagnoliamall.com

I have a son who has had some horrible nose bleeds. He has some serious allergies and we noticed a pattern with the changing seasons. For some reason when the weather dries out he's more inclined to have a bloody nose. But also whenever he swims in a pool he'll have a bloody nose that night. He got better at telling me he had bloody sheets so I could try and wash them before they stained. It helped when he was more relaxed and less worried over the bloody nose. There was never a proven medical reason and they were never consistent enough to be a problem, but they were frequent enough to be a pain. He's 21 now and every now and then he still has a "gusher" out of the clear blue.

My name is Gaby,mother of 4 children(ages 11girl,9girl,4girl,20months boy)I'm a stay home mom.
I have an 11yr old daughter who had the same problem.At first I wouldn't think much of it.She started bleeding at nights when she was aslept.She couldn't be outside playing because her nose would bleed.I took her to the pediatric and the pediatric send her to a ear,nosie,& throat clinic.This visit was very helpful,they gave some nose spray that help her out alot.She hasn't nose bleed since.Sometime I still worry when she bumps her nose but she been ok.

There are several thing that can cause this in children. When I was small, I had the same problem. (I couldn't throw the usual tantrum and do the "hold my breath" thing because it would make my nose bleed which caused more attention than I wanted.) I would even wake up and discover that I had had a nosebleed while sleeping. It was the result of the blood vessel that runs across the bridge of the nose being very close to the surface of the skin. There was never any way to tell when my nose was going to bleed. It might be because I got upset about something, weather changes would set it off, allergies...and the list goes on. There was talk, for a time, about cauterizing it (understand that this was over 40 years ago and methods have improved) Anyway, I threw a fit, which caused my nose to bleed, which got me the sympathy of my mother's baby sister and the procedure never took place. The problem basically disappeared as I grew up. I still get an occasional nosebleed but they are few and far between. They are now usually triggered by allergies (the last one was because a co-worker applied perfume during a primping session at her desk) or dry air cause by central heat/air. I can't control co-workers' inconsiderations but the dry air is easy. We have a hot plat and I keep a pot of water on one of the burners. I bring it to a boil and then turn it down to a simmer. The steam helps moisten the air. I hope your son's nosebleeds are simple like mine were. If they persist or get worse, I would ask your pediatrician to check it out for your peace of mind.

If his nosebleeds happen at night, it could be that your house is too dry. Try a humidifier in his room and see if it helps.

If his nosebleeds happen during the day, he might be picking his nose. All it takes is a tiny scratch to cause a huge nosebleed because of the concentration of blood vessels in that area. All little kids pick their noses sometimes, and once a nosebleed happens, they tend to pick more because the healing tissues itch. When they itch, kids scratch and tend to open the wound or open others, causing more nosebleeds. Keep his nails cut as short as is comfortable for now (don't cut into the quick, of course) and make sure he washes his hands frequently.

I hope this helps!

Hi A.,

To be on the safe side I would take your little one in to the doctor to be checked out. There's probably nothing wrong, but it's better to err on the side of caution. It could be allergies or, when he bumped his nose he could have weakened a blood vessel somewhere in there. I had that for a while and it's finally resolved on it's own without having to have it cauterized (sp?... sealed). I hope everything works out and I'll be praying for your son.

K.

Hi my name is B. and I am a sahm. I have a little boy that is 8yrs. old. He started having nosebleeds at the beginning of the school year when he was 7 yrs. old. They were really, really bad. I have never seen so much blood. We took him to the doctor to find out that the vessels in his nose were worn thin. The Dr. Carterized his nose; meaning sealing the vessels. It worked!! We also have to sleep with a humidifier every night. The process was not painful but scary for my little boy. Dr. Lankford at Austin Regional Clinic did the procedure it took about 2 min. She is AWESOME!!

Hello A.
Yes, I had the same problem with my son.
I took him to the ENT and he discovered that my son had an infection, gave him Bactroban Nasal Ointment and that was that!
I think you will need to take him for a check-up. Chances are that the injury may has started a small infection too, you never know.
All the best
Jewel

My 3yr old son had nose bleeds and I was told by his ENT to use a saline nose spray before bedtime. He just had dried sinus. This seemed to help alot. I would try it and if his nose bleeds continue take him to an ENT.

Hi A..

Of course, first of all I want to recommend that you see your Pediatrician, but I also want to offer some words of comfort.

Everyone in my family suffers from Nosebleeds. Beginning with My Father, Older Sister, Myself, and now my thirteen year old son. The nosebleeds seem to be quite frequent as children, and then seem to dissappear during our teenage years. Although my sister's were so bad the Doctor did actually do something to stop hers.

For my 13 year old, they always come around when the weather changes. Cold fronts are always a factor, then at the beginning of Summer when it starts to get humid. I have just had to teach him how to handle them. You know, getting some tissue and sitting very still on the couch with his head tilted back. All of us have gone to our doctors about them and we have all been assured that they are just aharmless nuisances, but again I hate to give you any advice and you not talk with your own healthcare provider.

I hope this alteast helps you feel better about them.

Hi A., the issue is that the weather has been so wishy washy lately, and it dries out the nasal passages, normally this wouldn't be a problem, but your son mosst likey( like me) has veins very close to the surface of his nasal caxaty, and it just gets dry and bleeds. The fix is to take him to an ENT doctor to have his nasal cavaties cauterized with i think it's silver nitrate. Hope this helps!
S. s

My son also experienced frequent nose bleeding at that age. There was usually no trauma to the nose and happened sometimes in the middle of the night while he slept. The frequency of the nose bleeding was causing him to become anemic. Throughout the years of trying saline drops, vaseline, and humidifiers to keep his nose moisturized, I went to an ENT. At age 8, he cauterized his nose (precise surgical burning, by applying silver nitrate or by tying off the blood vessels with tiny stitches). His nose was deadened before the silver nitrate was applied. However, once the anesthetic wore off (after the procedure, later that evening), he experienced some pain. The nose bleeding did stop for a couple a years. He had to have the procedure repeated at age 10 but so far, he has not had a nose bleed since.

Hon, my next to the oldest granddaughter has the same problem and so does her 8 yr. old sister. Their pediatrician said it is from the inside of the nose being dried out..and he recommended my daughter apply a thin layer of vasoline to both nostrils with a cotton swab...and I would have to say it sure has helped them a lot. They would wake up in the morning with blood on their faces and on their pillow slips and this seems to have been the solution for them...

My son (age 6), me, my sisters, mom & grandmother all get nose bleeds with allergies. Especially in pollen seasons. What works best for us is to sleep with a cool mist humidifier, and keep the inside of our noses moist with saline spray during the day and a little dab of vasaline spread around in there at night. Two in our family have had the carterizing (burning off) done to vessels in the nose that wore too thin (like one of the previous responders mentioned) and it was helpful to stop the major non-stop bleeding. I take Clariten-D, too, which is helpful - but not very many Rx allergy meds have long-term studies done for kids, so I don't let my kiddos take them. Better safe than sorry, I'd rather tough out a few nosebleeds. Best wishes to you & your son!

Hey A.,
This sounds like the exact same thing I had as a child. It has nothing to do with your child being weak or getting injured, and everything to do with DRY WEATHER. Try a humidifier or vaporizer every night next to his bed, and menthol under his nose during the day. Other than that the only thing you could do is move. *LOL*
J.

I would second the advice for the humidifier, but I'd make it clear water. Just keep it moist in his room. He may very well have scratched inside with the incident, and it just hasn't had time to heal quite right. :-)

My oldest daughter began having the same nose bleeding. The dr just said to give her plenty of oranges. It worked wonders and I think it was because of the "stringy" part of the orange. In other words, orange juice isn't the same.

Hope this helps. I'm a 77 yr old great grand of 7, raised 7 daughters and hope I don't forget all the things all that has taught me! : ) m

The blood vessels in the nose are very close to the skin. My son as a preteen was having nosebleeds almost daily for no apparent reason. Our family doctor referred us to an ENT. The ENT looked inside his nose and immediately saw the problem. He carterized the area that was bleeding and he has not had any more problems. Carterizing is done with a chemical that burns the skin to create scar tissue that will cover the affected area. It sounds tough but my son said it didn't hurt at all and it took less than a minute. I was impressed and thankful that such a simple procedure corrected the problem. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Sometimes kids get nose bleeds because their environment is too dry. You might try using a humidifier in his bedroom at night. You might also try using a small amount of ointment or vaseline in his nose to keep it moist. I would suggest applying the ointment gently by means of a Q-tip. Try to keep your son from picking his nose which may also increase the risk of bleeding. If you continue to have problems I would suggest to bring it up with your pediatrician to make sure there are no other issues causing him to have nose bleeds.

I have had this with my youngest daughter everytime the seasons change, especially as we get into the cold of winter. She has GUSHER nose bleeds for about 2-3 weeks and then once her body is adjusted, they go away. She usually gets them when her blood pressure goes up, like after playing or while fighting with her sisters (all joking aside.)

We moved here in September, and in the first month we were here, she had really bad ones. They went away about a month after we got here. The climate where we used to live was normally cold and damp and it was still in the high 90s here. I think these were the worst nose bleeds for her because we had just moved here, so she was under a lot of stress.

Try putting a humidifier in your son's room at night. If you are running the heat or air conditioning, and the temperature change between inside and outside is EXTREME then that could be causing it. Air conditioning and heat demunidify the air, so adding some moisture may help.

Nose bleeds do go away as kids get older and blood circulation lessens. If the number of occurences doesn't slow down or stop, you should probably see a doctor.

I don't know if it would work, but I got them alot when I was pregnant. The Dr had me drink oj everyday-he said it strengthened the capilaries in the nose. Worked for me.

My daughter fell at 10 mo. old and severely bruised her nose, the hospital said they couldn't do anything for her at that age. She had busted a blood vessel or two.Her nose could be just barely bumped, she could have just laid on her face on the pillow, even to sneeze, would cause her nose to bleed, probably until she was 9 10 yrs old. I don't think it's healed she just changed her activities.
My advise is to make sure you always have tissues.

Hi A.! I suffered with nosebleeds throughout childhood and occasionally as an adult. The humidifier helps a great deal in decreasing the frequency of the nosebleeds. The moisture helps the tissue inside the nose to heal. I still have to use the humidifier during the winter when the air is very dry. I hope this helps!

My daughter had this problem and still has nose bleeds from time to time. My pediatrician suggested using a q-tip and neosporin and swabbing it around the inside of her nostrils as they can tend to get very dry and the blood vessels may crack and bleed. Although it is not a fun thing to them having their nostrils swabbed,, it does seem to help. Also, the summer heat approaching will make the nostrils even drier.

you might want to have that checked out. Myself and my youngest daughter go through that alot. But its always been that way. Our problem is seasonal and mostly allergies. but, the first time it happened to her it was terrifying to her and her dad. they couldn't understand why and naturally all the blood scare the crap out of her. she was about three i guess. but, we have learned that over time every time we travel it will happen for a while after we return...

good morning. my daughter had the same thing when she was growning up. Dr. Dabbs in Clovis New Mexico told me to feed her jello. I thought he was crazy but by gosh it really worked. I gave her a bowl of jello three time a day. Just the plain old jello different fruit flavors some times i would add fruit to it. good luck... kf

Dear A., Have you had a Doctor check him out?
I have a 24 year old son who had nose bleeds for no apparent reason. The Doctors told me that some people just have them. The Doctors said that he was fine. Sometimes there can be medical reasons behind the bleds but most of the time it is just sensitive sinus cavaties. The children usually out grow them by adulthood.

Hi A. -

My oldest was a nose-bleeder. This usually was brought on by allergies and very hot days when he was out in the sun a lot; and he would get several bloody noses during the week. Saline spray is very good, as their little nose membranes get very dry and this sometimes causes the bleeding.

Eventually he was bleeding so much that the blood was coming out of his tear ducts at times and really scaring him - just too many bloody nose incidents. We had to get both sides of his nose cauterized (spelling?) and my son was really afraid of this procedure, however it was painless and the doctors were great. My son was so proud to have gone through it. After that my son had no more problems with his nose.

Hope this helps,
Alli