I remember when I was young I had pretty frequent nosebleeds. As I recall I never went to the doctor or hospital and they were never really more than a nuisance. My daughter, who just turned 5 in June, has been having frequent nosebleeds recently as well. They last no longer than a minute and usually take no more than 1 Kleenex to clean up but it concerns me because it has happened the last 3 nights about the same time. She has been having allergy problems lately as well and had been on Zyrtec daily for 2 days prior to the last 3 nights. Can allergy medication dry you up so much you have nosebleeds? She has her 5 year well visit on Tuesday and I will definitely be bringing this up with her pediatrician but still a little concerned. She handles it well and is very calm during the whole thing I'm just concerned that it has happened 3 nights in a row. She has no other problems at this time.
Also, I know I'll be asking the pediatrician the same question but What do you give your child with allergies? Is there something else I can give?
My sister took my niece to the ER because she had a nosebleed. The doctor diagnosed nosepickitis. Seriously. My niece must have been so embarrassed. LOL.
I had horrible nosebleeds as a child (lasting for hours at a time, sometimes). When I was a teenager, I was finally referred to an ENT, who figured out that I had a horrible sinus infection due to a congenital defect (there was no hole for my sinuses to drain out of on the right side). Apparently it's common. I had sinus surgery, and have never had a problem with nosebleeds since. So yes, it could just be allergies, but it could also be a sinus infection. I wanted to throw that in there because it took my doctor forever to figure that out!!
My youngest is my nosebleeder. For her, dry air from heat or airconditioning is the cause. A little moisturizer or vaseline (and really -- just a little) under her nose at night does the trick. In the winter, especially if she has a cold or is stuffy we'll also use a cool mist humidifier in her room.
And, yes, she's also my allergies kid. For her, Zyrtec made her very, very sleepy. We've found Claritin takes the edge off enough without side effects. It's not quite as good as a Benadryl, but it really helps.
Good luck!
I had them growing up ALL the time. And I mean all the time. If I ran, if it was hot etc. I was 10 and they decided to carterize the blood vessels in nose. Well, let me tell you that hurt like heck and I only let them cartarize the one side. Long story short....a few years later............I never had another nose bleed again. Yay me. I think I just "outgrew" them?
My son gets nosebleeds occasionally and I know that it is because of his allergies (my daughter doesn't have allergy problems and so never has any nosebleeds). I don't have him on any medications, but I do make sure that he is drinking plenty of water all day so that he isn't dehydrated. I also have to nag him about blowing his nose when it's stuffy so that he doesn't sniffle too much; sometimes he gets carried away with the sniffling and it can cause him to get a nosebleed, too.
I've heard that nasal rinses can help children with allergies. My husband and I use a Neti Pot with a saline rinse to help with our allergies, but I haven't tried it on my son because I'm fairly sure he would cry his eyes out and I don't think it would be worth the trauma (on him or me). But I have heard other moms say that they've tried saline rinses on their kids and it works great for them, so it could be something for you to look into. And definitely ask your doctor about the allergy meds connection (I know that they dry me out a lot, so you could be right about that). Good luck!
My youngest son had them frequently. It always concerned me. They always seemed to happen at bedtime. But he grew out of it.
I use natural supplements for allergies. If you are interested in those, let me know.
Victoria
My daughter gets this a lot. I've read that some people have thinner sinus/nasal walls than others, and are more prone to nosebleeds, especially when the air is dry or it's allergy season. Allergy medications can definitely dry up the sinuses and make you more susceptible to nosebleeds.
I use saline nasal spray for my daughter, and keep a humidifier running in her room during the night while she's sleeping, and even throughout the day when the air is particularly dry.
I haven't really had to put anything into/onto her nose aside from the saline spray, but I would use lanolin rather than Vaseline if you feel that you need to do this. Petroleum-based products such as Vaseline or lotions/creams that contain petrolatum may irritate the skin, and may even be carcinogenic. I've also read that coating the inside of the nose or the nasal passages with Vaseline or things like Vicks or Mentholatum can lead to lung problems, as the product breaks down and is breathed into the lungs.
Good luck.
Hi,
My 6 yr. old son also suffers from allergies (mostly hayfever) and nosebleeds. He was also on Zyrtec for a while.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of Zyrtec is nosebleeds :( so I had to discontinue it for him. If your daughter's nosebleeds started after you began giving her the Zyrtec, perhaps she is suffering from the nosebleeds as a side effect? Definitely something to ask the Dr.
In my son's case, I found that bathing him right before bed (to wash off any allergens on his body) and giving him the "Little Noses" allergy block. It's a gel you apply (you just apply a small amount under the nose before bed--it helps to keep the allergens from getting into his nose) really helped to keep his allergies at bay.
For the nosebleeds, I also put a very, very small amount of vaseline onto a q-tip and applied a very thin layer of it very gently just inside his nose at night. This helps keep the nasal membranes from drying out and reduces the chance for nosebleeds at night. There's nothing more scary than having your child wake you up in the middle of the night with a bloody face due to a nosebleed :(
Good luck---let us know how things go.
~tammy
I am not sure how well she would deal with nose sprays but I always gave my kids Ocean nose spray which is basically a saline solution for the nasal membranes. Sometimes my kids would get nosebleeds worse when they were having allergy problems. You could always try to put her to bed with a cool air humidifier.
My kiddies go through this every winter. Humidity is key. Make sure the house isnt dry, especially with A/C (summer) or heat (winter) on. Try a cool-mist humidifier in the bedroom. This made all the difference for us.
