I woke up around 6:30am to my oldest knocking at his door. I always promptly let him out so he doesn't wake his younger brother, who is NOT a morning person and needs his sleep! After getting my oldest situated on the couch with a granola bar and movie I started to get ready for the day. Unfortunately I felt the need to blow my nose which resulted in a HUGE nose bleed!
After 30 minutes of trying, quite unsuccessfully, to stop the bleeding I had to wake up my Husband. He gave me the tip of laying down which just made me sick to my stomach. We decided to give in because I'm pretty anemic right now. I was concerned it would just keep going and I'd end up sick. With my Mother watching the kids, my Husband and I headed into the ER.
Upon arrival they attached this awful clip to my nose to keep the pressure stable. Well, I removed the kleenex I had been using and it was pretty much empty. We were already there though so we decided to stay and make sure it was actually done. Unfortunately, the nose bleed had pretty much stopped on its own but we were already being seen so my nose bleed cost us a pretty $75! How frustrating!
I've always wondered how Doctors and nurses can walk into a room and see a patient with a huge clip on their nose and NOT laugh. Well, the Dr succeeded in staying professional but the nurse did not! She immediately laughed and commented on the "look" the clip gave me. I admit, it looked hilarious! I just found it funny that the nurse couldn't contain her laughter!
However, I did learn some tips on stopping stubborn nose bleeds:
*Apply continuous pressure for a MINIMUM of 15 minutes at a time. Don't remove the pressure to check and see if the bleeding has stopped or the clot might break free causing the nose bleed to start up again!
*Put pressure right under the bone in the middle of your nose. Just pinching your nostrils or the top of your nose will not stop the bleeding.
*Apply ice to the bride of your nose. Ice helps the clotting process.
*If after the first 15 minutes of continuous pressure your nose is still bleeding, apply pressure for another 15 minutes. If the nose is still bleeding at this point you should think about heading into the ER to have it cauterized or packed.
*Also, sit down as soon as your nose starts bleeding and focus on something else. Seeing the blood will cause your blood pressure to rise, as will standing up. A rise in blood pressure causes your blood to run faster so you need to sit and relax to decrease it.
Now that we know better, hopefully we won't encounter any further $75 ER trips for nose bleeds!
No comments:
Post a Comment