★★★★★
As a small boy, I had frequent nosebleeds most commonly in the mountains or in dry deserts. As time progressed, so did my nosebleeds. I am 55 and even in San Francisco at sea level with 50% humidity I am still getting them. I was tested and confirmed to have a low platelet count.
My biggest frustration is when the bleeds occurred. I had no control: at a business presentation, friends party, or the beginning of a family trip. Once I get them I would pinch to get it stopped and rest quietly for the next few days with no activity. I would go to the Ear / nose / throat doctor 10 times a year and have had at least 20 different bleeders cauterized.
The good news, is, with trial and error over the last 4 years, I have found a home remedy, safe, and easy to manage.
Initially I assumed my trigger point was humidity. So, for years I tried ointments and saline sprays, but I still got the nosebleeds. I tried drinking more water 80 ounces a day (I am a 165 lb person) to be better hydrated, not much help.
One day I had a big client meeting and worried as my sinus felt dry. I decided to look at what my doctor sees in my nose. I purchased a small 3” convex compact mirror that has 15 x magnification and a high intensity pen light. This was unbelievable. It was the beginning to finding the solution. You may need to get a nose hair trimmer to see more clearly. You now can at any time, (I do this every morning before work) take a look in the mirror and see if there is a possible nose bleed that may occur in the next several hours .
You can determine if there are dry scabs which make break away to cause a bleed; you can also see the healthy tissue. I was now able to decide my activity for the day based on how the tissues look. Pink and moist : excellent, not to worry. Scabs evident and dry: trouble .
With the mirror and flashlight, I could now experiment. I tried the saline spray, ointments, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, etc. Nothing really made a difference. Red wine the night before, you bet, lots of scabs in the morning. Interestingly, the scabs seemed to be more evident in the early morning and as the day progressed, the scabs got smaller.
Randomly one day I had severely bloody spots in my nose. I drank an 18 ounce Gatorade, and about 1 hour later and I looked into my nose again, the bloody spots were GONE! All these years I assumed it was the outside environment; at the end of the day, it was internal hydration. Gatorade has sugar, salt, potassium, magnesium which give you electrolytes and somehow it was able to hydrate me unlike plain water.
Because of all the sugar in Gatorade, I came across a product and I swear by them. They are small tablets that come in a sleeve which I keep in my overnight bag (along with an extra mirror and pen light). They are ½ the cost of Gatorade and they have NO SUGAR. I play squash, swim, and run regularly, and these tablets are fantastic energy as well. The electrolytes make a significance in my endurance.
Now, Anytime I see scabs in my mirror, I take a tablet in a 12 ounce of water and in one hour, I am safe to play in any activity, even at elevations, or dry deserts.
So, to finish this story with a happy ending, it has been over 2 years, and I have not had a single nose bleed. Anytime I am flying longer than 3 hours, hiking in the mountains, I take my electrolyte tablet.
I wish you all the best and I hope this story can help you reduce or even eliminate your nosebleeds too.
