Nosebleed
Most nosebleeds can be stopped without the need for medical attention, but occasionally further treatment may be required.
To stop a nosebleed:
If the bleeding eventually stops, you won't usually need to seek medical advice. However, you should still follow the recovery advice outlined below.
Contact your GP or call NHS 111 if:
Ask someone to drive youtoyour nearestaccident and emergency (A&E) department or call 999 for an ambulanceif:
Find your nearest A&E department .
If you see your GP or go to hospital with a nosebleed, you will be assessed to determine how serious your condition is and what's likely to have caused it. This may involve looking inside your nose, measuring your pulse and blood pressure, carrying out blood tests and asking about any other symptoms you have.
The two main treatments that your GP or hospital doctor may use to stop your nose bleeding are cautery and nasal packing. These are described below.
If your doctor is able to identify exactly where the bleeding is coming from, they may carry out a minor procedure to seal the bleeding blood vessel bycauterising (burning)it.
This is normally done using a stick of a chemical called silver nitrate. A local anaesthetic will be sprayed into your nose to numb it and the silver nitrate stick will be held against the bleeding point for up to 10 seconds.
If cautery is ineffective or your doctor is unable to identify a specific bleeding point, they may recommend packing your nose with gauze or special nasal sponges to stop the flow of blood by applying pressure to the source of the bleeding.
Packing will usually be carried out afterlocal anaesthetic has been sprayed into your nose. Thegauze or spongesoften need to be left in place for 24-48 hours before being removed by a health professional. You'll usually need to be admitted to hospital to be monitored during this time.
If the treatments above don't help, you may be referred toa hospital specialist such as an ear, nose and throat (ENT)doctor for further treatment.
Additional treatments that may be used in hospital include:
Once your nose has stopped bleeding, you should follow the advice below to reduce the risk of your nose bleeding again and to stop you picking up an infection:
If you seeaGP or ahospital doctor about your nosebleed, theymay give you a prescription for an antiseptic nasal cream once the bleeding stops. This should be applied totheinside of yournostrils several times a day for up to two weeks to help prevent further bleeding.
If your nose does start to bleed again, follow the first aid advice above and seek medical advice if the bleeding doesn't stop.
Read about the causes of nosebleeds, how to treat them at home and when you should seek medical advice.
Find out about some of the main causes of nosebleeds.
Find out how to stop nosebleeds, when to seek medical advice and what treatments are available from your GP or hospital.