29.03.2024

Causes of nosebleeds in infants

Breast age for mothers (especially young and raising first-born) is the most turbulent period in the life of the child.

The slightest deviations from the norm, violation of sleep and wakefulness, the occurrence of inflammatory processes and other different moments associated with the development and growth of the baby are alarming.

One of the reasons for parental experiences is nosebleeds, which often occur in newborns. We will try to answer questions about why there is blood from the nose of the baby, and also give tips on stopping nosebleeds.

Causes of bleeding

Medical specialists distinguish two types of bleeding: anterior and posterior. Their difference lies in the fact that in the second case, the blood moves along the back wall and enters directly into the esophagus.

Despite the fact that most of the time the baby spends in a horizontal position, while almost always he is under close attention from adults, the causes of nosebleeds (epistaxis) are numerous.

Scratch

The most common factor affecting the appearance of bleeding in a newborn is that it is scratched involuntarily. This can occur both in the process of sleep and wakefulness. This is due to the fact that coordination of movements in children of this age is not well formed. However, in babies this problem is easily solved by timely care of the nails or the use of special mittens.

Nose cleaning

An equally common cause is improper nose cleaning. Moreover, many mothers are often perplexed: I clean them gently with the help of special hygiene products, but often there is blood spouting.

Specialists draw the attention of parents to the fact that cleansing with the help of special cotton swabs is considered far from safe. In this case, the mucous membrane can be damaged even after a slight touch on the inside of the nasal cavity. In this case, the risk of peeling of the cotton wool or leaving its particles in the nose of the child is not excluded. Such manipulations lead to damage to the capillaries, causing bleeding.

Other reasons

In older children, aged two to three years, the causes of nosebleed are more serious, while most of them are non-infectious.

In this case, they include:

  • bruises leading to a violation of the integrity of the capillaries;
  • excessive air dryness – provokes the formation of condensed crusts in the nose, after removal of which blood can go;
  • overstrain caused by severe coughing or sneezing, which entails the bursting of blood vessels, however, a similar process can be associated with vitamin deficiency;
  • overheating of the body;
  • an increase in blood pressure or a sharp change in body temperature is considered a less dangerous phenomenon;
  • the influence of irritants of chemical or physical etymology is excessively dusty air or strongly gasified.

Additional factors affecting the occurrence of bleeding include the entry of a foreign body into the nasal passages and the use of vasoconstrictor drops over a long period of time. In some cases, frequent bleeding from the nose occurs due to congenital pathology of the nose (curvature of the nasal septum).

Bleeding as a symptom of a pathological process

There are frequent cases when the causes of nosebleeds are very serious and require immediate medical attention, especially if this phenomenon is regular. The most common diseases that provoke the appearance of nosebleeds include the following:

  • the presence of benign neoplasms or polyps in the nasal cavity – their tissue can easily be damaged, and the growth of polyps can provoke severe nasal congestion and compression of the paranasal sinuses;
  • the occurrence of an inflammatory process in the area of ​​the paranasal sinuses – is a complication due to the transfer of various kinds of infectious diseases, which entails the formation of a purulent process;
  • pathology of the kidneys and cardiovascular system – provoke an increase in blood pressure, which in turn has an additional burden on the capillaries;
  • diagnosis of oncological diseases – mainly respiratory organs, while bleeding intensifies when using chemotherapy and drugs of increased toxicity;
  • detection of hemophilia in patients or other pathological processes associated with bleeding disorders – bleeding caused by a similar cause is difficult to stop without the use of special medications.

Whatever the reason that the nose is bleeding, this process requires immediate treatment. The main thing is to identify and eliminate the primary causes of pathology.

For this, a full examination of the newborn’s body is prescribed, according to the results of which it is important to choose the treatment technique in a timely and competent manner, since frequent bleeding can cause depletion of the child’s body, reduce the body’s overall resistance to viral and infectious diseases, and also develop anemia.

The therapeutic methods are selected exclusively by the attending specialist on the basis of the results of the examination and taking into account individual characteristics.

Often, the traditional method of treatment may not be enough, so doctors resort to surgical intervention. This will not only cope with the main cause of nosebleeds, but also prevent the development of numerous chronic respiratory diseases in the future.

Ways to stop bleeding

There is a certain algorithm of actions that must be performed in order to stop bleeding in infants.

It is a series of mandatory medical measures aimed at providing first aid for the elimination of nosebleeds in infants:

  1. It is imperative to calm the baby and prevent blood from entering the throat, as this can cause nausea;
  2. Lock the position of the child so that the head is slightly tilted down. A napkin is recommended for 10 minutes on the nose. After the specified time, you should check how much bleeding has decreased. In the event that it remains unchanged, experts recommend applying a cold compress to the nose bridge. If this method also becomes ineffective, then you should immediately contact a specialist in a medical institution. To prevent fear in a child from such a procedure, you need to distract his attention with the help of toys.

At the same time, throwing the head back or laying the baby on the back is strictly prohibited, since such a position of the body leads to difficulty in the outflow of blood through the cervical venous arteries, provoking an increase in bleeding.

This situation is also dangerous because blood can enter the pharynx, and then into the respiratory tract and cause blood to enter the tracheobronchial tree or lungs (aspiration), leading to pneumonia.

The famous doctor Komarovsky, to all of the above, advises not to talk with the child during manipulations during the stopping of bleeding, and also categorically forbids self-guided nasal tamponade in infants.

Preventive actions

Many parents are interested in the question: what needs to be done in order to prevent the occurrence of nosebleeds in a child in infancy.

There are a number of preventive measures that can prevent nosebleeds:

  1. Regular strengthening of the immune system through hardening (especially with the help of water procedures). They will make it possible to reduce the number of emerging infectious diseases;
  2. Timely treatment of the common cold and other inflammatory processes of ENT organs;
  3. Careful monitoring of the cleanliness of the room in which the child is located and maintaining optimal air humidity;
  4. Regular and timely preventive examinations of specialists (especially in the first year of life) in order to early identify possible pathological processes;
  5. Compliance with the daily routine, daily walks in the fresh air;
  6. Full, high-quality and balanced diet.

Experts draw the attention of parents to the fact that the above preventive measures will not be able to protect the baby from injuring the nose, as a result of which blood can go. They advise parents to carry out cleaning procedures with extreme caution and use specially designed products for this, while not forgetting the basic rules of hygiene.

Practice shows that in most cases, the appearance of blood from the nose in infants is relatively calm. In such a situation, the main task of adults is to stop bleeding as quickly as possible and eliminate the causes of its appearance. It is important to control the frequency of bleeding and to prevent an increase in their number.

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