Basically, I was sick. Just not affected in anyway I'm used to being sick.
Thursday morning, as I was getting out of bed and getting going, my nose felt
sore. When I bent over to put on my socks, I got a sharp pain in my
right nostril. The kind of sensation that makes you grab at the hurting
part. Next thing I know, I'm bleeding like a stuck pig. Not just
from the right nostril but the left, and pouring down my throat. After
20 minutes of squeezing my nose, it was looking like it wasn't going to slow
down on its own. After an hour I was sure it wasn't going stop, so
we headed up to the ER to shove a balloon up my nose. If you haven't
experienced the joy of that, let me just tell you: it hurts like a
bitch. Chances are anything they could do to make it hurt less would
also hurt like a bitch for a while.
The balloon didn't work, either. I could see the Dr. pump some water into it to put pressure on the inside of my nose, although he called it a nasal tampon. That didn't stop the bleeding. In his defense, it's got to be hard to see up there with blood running like that, and I think he just missed it. The second try worked better, positioned closer the bottom of my nostril.
After the second trial, I was able to come home and try to get by with
it. I still had what looked like clear water coming out of the left
side, tinted light red from residual blood on that side. By Friday that
was stopping.
Last night, though I had a low fever of about 100, and the achy-all-over
feelings typical of a cold.
The ER Doc who took the balloon out (not the one who put it in) told me I
should go see an ear, nose, and throat surgeon. He said it looked pretty
messed up in there.
And I've got to tell you this. Don't ever try to look up a picture of Billy Gibbons as Carrie from the Steven King book and movie. It's a waste of time. I just thought given how much Billy and I look like each other, it was the best way to go.
If it's Sunday afternoon the 21st as you're reading this, the Axiom Ax-2 mission to the ISS is set for 5:27 PM EDT. Video coverage starts about 2:00 PM EDT.
Getting old is the real bitch. At 77 I doubt it will improve.
ReplyDeleteMan,that sounds frikken awful. I've never had a bloody nose, but my sister used to just start bleeding out of nowhere. Having a water balloon inflated while it's up my Nose? Aww, Hayull Naw.. Sounds like some eye watering moments.
ReplyDeleteHope you never need that kind of help again.
Welcome to old age...where mucus membranes become thin, fragile and easily compromised. In ER it's called Epistaxis....and we see it regularly. Always in people old enough to have Medicare. Do see the ENT. There may be an issue they can resolve to prevent it from recurring.
ReplyDeleteThey say "with age comes wisdom" but I never heard the wisdom was "stop touching it!" as Tam said about your concealed carry rig.
DeleteThe ER referred me to some practice out of town so I'll be calling my GP for his input and referral in the morning.
Point Of Order:
DeleteStrictly speaking, the correct nosebleed advice is not Tam's "Stop touching it!"; it is actually "Stop letting go of it every two minutes to see if it's stopped!"
FWIW, we call people who fail to heed that repeated instruction "slow learners".
10 unabated minutes' direct pressure, minimum, just below the bony prominence of the bridge of the nose. Longer if you're on rat poison, or other anticoagulants. Saline-soaked cotton balls on the inside of the nasal passage assist in the effort. If it's bleeding higher up than that, then you need the Rhino Rocket et al nasal tampon therapy.
When last I looked, they were commercially available without prescription, if you just want to keep a couple handy, and/or in a kit. Most folks lack the willpower or steadiness to self-administer, which is where Urgent Care or the ED comes into the picture.
Saline nasal sprays on the reg to prevent dryness in the nasal passages is never a bad idea if you have this problem more than a couple of times.
Point of information, please. When you say, "saline-soaked cotton balls" do you mean the saline they sell in pharmacies for spraying your nose, or some other concentration? And if "some other" is the answer, what concentration? Higher or lower?
DeleteBoth saline nasal spray, or actual Normal Saline (i.e. 0.9% NaCl in water) which is isotonic, will do fine.
Delete9 gms of non-iodized table salt in a liter of water is how you make your own dunking solution. (Things going up your nose needn't be sterile.)
Hypertonic solutions just burn more. The point is wet cotton balls are easier to eventually remove than dry ones.
You can get to the same place using a modicum of petroleum jelly mashed into the cotton ball instead, so it's non-adherent, and you don't rip a scab out and re-start the problem a day or three later.
A squirt of Afrin, a vasoconstrictor, may also assist in stopping the problem. Follow label directions for dosing.
If you can get the bleeding to stop without inserting anything up your nose, just using direct pressure, so much the better.
And prevention (saline nasal sprays, Navage, etc.) beats curing after the fact, 100:1, esp. if you're prone to frequent nosebleeds, on anti-coags, and/or both.
Happened to me all the time as a kid. I found out my allergies and my nasal passages having thin walls contributed to this. Now that I'm 70 I can attribute it to coumadin and a bout of sneezing. I stuff salt water infused cotton balls up the nose and it works every time. Have to flush the nose with saline when the clotting is finished to getthe cotton fibers out.
ReplyDeleteSuch is life in the fast lane,,,
I'll make sure to have cotton balls and saline in the kit. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear, SiG. Your BP been normal? I know it's not the altitude or the humidity!
ReplyDeleteI never got a bloody nose until we moved here. The first Winter of 8~10% RH changed that. Hope it's just some fluke thing, and nothing serious.
Also happens from nose jobs. It's a strange thing, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, get a specialist to look at the issue. Pronto or faster. As people with low clotting factor can bleed out. How do you know you have low clotting factor? By bleeding... out. Not so cool.
They do make quick-clot for nosebleeds, though I'd get that pesky ENT doc to okay it for you.
Judging by the size of the clots I was spitting up all morning on Thursday, I'd say I don't have a low clotting factor.
DeleteLet me just add, "yuck! Deees-gusting!"
Ouch. Get well soon. :(
ReplyDeleteI was a chronic nosebleed case all through grade school. I could get one just thinking about it. I was about 12 or so when I was finally referred to an ENT. He went in and did "electrocautery", basically arc welding up my nose. And yes, it hurt like you describe. He then packed it with gauze and told me to come back in two weeks. Ever live with the stench of burnt flesh for two solid weeks? The idea was to build scar tissue around the fragile surface veins to keep them from constantly rupturing. It worked; problem mostly solved. I've had a few bleeds since, but nothing that wouldn't heal up after awhile. Now I'm running into more of those "limitations of age", like thin and friable skin. Not on any "blood thinners" or rat poison as Aesop so eloquently puts it. But do be aware that fish oil supplements also can prolong clotting ability.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you've ever seen diagrams or images of sinuses, it is astounding the amount of space that we have in the middle of our skulls.
I called and told my English doctor that I had a bloody nose. He said, "We all have noses, old chap."
ReplyDeleteLate I know. In the interest of general discussion there is a genetic condition called... Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), which can cause massive nosebleeds, among many other negative bodily issues. It is greatly underdianosed (my wife, unfortunately, has the condition), takes a DNA test to truly determine. If anyone has lots of bleeds it might be worth investigation.
ReplyDelete