Ever since he was a baby my son has been getting about 1 nose bleed a year every spring or summer, the first time it was quite alarming because it happened while he was sleeping and blood was all over his crib and face (oh goodness). However, this spring (he just turned 4) he started getting very regular nose bleeds. They don't seem to be triggered by him picking or rubbing his nose, it's just like a faucet of blood is turned on...it's really quite terrible actually...someone told me to try feeding him raisins because the iron in them is highly absorbable and that did seem to make them go away for quite awhile, but now they are back, they aren't as bad as before, they seem to stop right away better than they did previously, but today alone he has had 3 (and 2 last night) :( I called the doctor and am going to see what he says...I'm fairly certain they are being triggered by allergies in some way since he only gets them in the spring and summertime...anyone else have this happen with their kids?! Did you find a solution? My dad says he used to get nose bleeds like that but he grew out of them.
Thank you all for your responses :) Some of you were just as smart as my doctor! hehe The doctor says his mucous membranes are getting dried out due to his seasonal allergies, he should grow out of it (as his nose gets bigger the blood vessels won't be so close to the surface). He recommended just putting vasoline in his nose a couple times a day (we already had a humidifier in his room but I guess that wasn't cutting it...hard to believe he has such a dry nose in all this humidity! But poor thing, I passed my allergies on to him...and it took me 30 years before mine stopped!). So far just the vasoline has irradicated the nose bleeds, I also did some research and found that the hours of 10am-2pm are the times when there are most pollen and mould in the air so we try not to be out at those times (not always possible). Keep your fingers crossed but so far so good!
my neice is suffering from this, i just found out today. it is very humid where she is so i don't understand how it could be dry sinuses. Please let us know what the dr says. thanks
I took my 6 year old daughter to the doctor just this past week for this problem. She would have gushing bloody noses. Her pediatrician had me take a q-tip and coat the front of the inside of her nostrils with Aquafor twice a day and had me run a humidifier in her room at night. Also making sure she was not touching the inside of her nose. She hasn't had a nose bleed in a week. It's working so far. The doctor said if they continued she should see a ENT and they may have to cauterize her nose. Thankfully we haven't had to come to that.
My daughter is the same way. Her Dr said allergies. He said if the nasal spray for the 6-8wks (during her allergy season) doesn't keep them at bay, then he'd consider coderizing (sp?) her nose. He explained that it isn't painful. It's a cold coderize. And that this is a pretty common occurance in kids from ages 2-10. He also explained that it can be hereditary (my uncle had them for years). She had hers more frequently at night and first thing in the morning. Also, if she was outside a lot during the day, whoa nelly! She's gotten to the point (I have too), where she knows if she's going to get a nose bleed that day or just about to get one.
What our pedi said is... The blood vessels through the nose are very close to the surface and if there's an irritant and the blood vessels get inflammed for any reason, you get a nose bleed. He also said that the reason kids are more likely to get one is because the nose is small which means the blood vessels are that much closer to the surface. The blood vessels are the same size in your nose at 2 as they are at 22 so having a smaller nose will make it more likely.
Ok, I'm rambling now. I think that made sense.
I got these as a kid and through high school when I would get allergies. Many of them would occur when I was sleeping, but they could happen at any time - and no, it wasn't a result of nose picking. One time I got one in the allergist's office, he cauterized my nose right then and once that healed, I didn't get any more. I don't know if the allergies caused pressure in the nasal blood vessels, if the vessels are closer to the surface, or what the cause is. Don't know if doctors have learned anything new since then, but i don't think they had any real solutions when I was a kid.
it sounds like it he have dry nasal passages. my son also has this condition. his peditrician told me to try AYR gel. they have a nasal spray and the gel try those and see if that works. good luck!
my son was the same way we finally took him to a ear throat and nose dr and it was his sinasis that did it they irragated his sinus and put him on some nose spray and it helped alot he still gets nose bleeds but not as bed.
I have read that bleeding problems could be a sign of low vit K.
My husband gets them all the time...his nose is really dry. Take just a tiny bit of vaseline and rub on the inside of his nose. This will keep it moist. My daughter would get them every once in awhile too and this worked perfectly!
we got a humidifier for our daughter's room at night and it helped a ton.
I'd sugest going to your pediatrician. Mention the problem and suggest that your son see an ENT. ENTs are WONDERFUL!!!
With DD, we found that her nosebleeds were "cured" (dare I say it), by the pediatricians suggestion we add a daily vitamin C supplement to her diet.
She takes one time released vitamin C daily and has no issues... but when she rebels and skips a few days, especially in the fall or winter, her spontaneous nose bleeds return. Usually that's enough for her to be great about taking that daily vitamin C again!
My son had the same problem. We discovered, finally, that the skin in his nose was thin, he did have allergies...actually started on shots when he was 3 and they made a world of difference. But the short term solution was to have some of the spots in his nose cauterized which helped a lot also. It didn't take long for him to learn to carry tissues and know what to do when one did strike as he got older. He's now 24, still gets them very occasionally and lives with it.
Use a humidifier in his room at night, it helps me in the winter when its super dry (which an air conditioned house can be sometimes).
My husband and son has had the same problem for years and the Dr. says the same as Kim L.--the inside of the nose is dry..he said he could presrcribe something but vasiline would do the same thing and is cheaper.. use a Q-tip and apply a thin amount of vasiline...if there is no other problems it should do the trick....
Good Luck
mom of 3.. grammy of 3
The humidifier is great. I got a humidifier for my youngest child and I wish I had gotten one before. I also had nosebleeds when I was young and grew out of them. I think a lot of it is that my allergies are not as bad. I just got through taking my oldest to the doctor for nosebleeds and she had a bacterial infection.
