Nosebleeds

The mucous membrane inside the nose is fed by many blood vessels, and it is not surprising that it bleeds from time to time. This may simply be a spontaneous event, or could be the result of repeated childhood or adolescent picking, and is now most often precipitated by high blood pressure in the adult. Nine times out of ten, nose­bleeds are not serious, and cause more shock than anything else.

How can you help?

These measures should be taken immediately:

• Sit the patient down in a chair
• Explain the situation calmly, without over-dramatizing things - the aim is to reassure the patient
• Get the subject to blow his or her nose very gently, so as to get rid of all the blood clots
• The patient should lean forward rather than back, as any blood that runs down into the back of the throat is liable to set off a coughing fit, and may get into the bronchial tubes
• Pinch the subject's nostrils gently between your thumb and forefinger for several minutes, and ask the person to breathe through his or her mouth
• Avoid any hasty or needless intervention that could make the situation worse, especially as most nosebleeds end of their own accord anyway
• Do not put any cotton wool in the nose, as it is very difficult to remove once it has dried

Homeopathy

Arnica and China

- Four 5c tablets of one or both of these remedies to be sucked slowly like sweets, three or four times in succession

Arnica montana

- Vegetable origin: the whole of the leopard's-bane plant is used
- The specific homeopathic remedy for traumatic injuries and bruises
- Be careful, arnica is a poisonous plant, it is not for internal use, and should not be applied to broken skin

China

- Vegetable origin: the bark of the cinchona tree, source of quinine
- The specific homeopathic remedy for the after-effects of haemorrhaging

• You could also try Lehning@ Arnica Complex 1. whose ingredients include Arnica 3x and China 3x:

- Sold in 30ml bottles of oral drops
- Fifteen drops to be taken three to four times in succession by adults; children should take five drops, three to four times

Herbal remedies

Nettle

- How to use it: a soup or herbal tea made from nettle leaves, which taste a little like spinach, can halt a nosebleed, and even reduce menstrual flow

Nettle

Though feared for its stinging leaves, nettle is a medicinal plant with many properties: it is a depurative, a tonic, a mild diuretic, an astringent and reduces allergic symptoms.

• You could also ask your herbalist to make up a 30ml bottle of nettle in a whole fresh-plant suspension (this formulation's cold stabilization process restores the full natural therapeutic effect of the plant). Take half a teaspoonful in a little water twice a day

Cypress, ginkgo, and common periwinkle for their benefits in protecting the arteries and capillaries.

- Ask your herbalist to prepare a 30ml bottle of mother tincture of one of these three plants. Take 25 drops in a little water, three or four times a day

Cypress

This conifer tree from the East has always held an important place in poetry, as well as in medicine for its power to reduce bleeding. In the past. its seeds were ground up and used to treat wounds. Cypress acts on the veins much as witch hazel does.

Ginkgo biloba

The ginkgo is an ornamental tree from China and Japan, with a legendary and mythical past. It acts a vasodilator, while also reducing the blood's viscosity. This capillary regulation results in improved circulation.

Common periwinkle

The common periwinkle, or Vinca minor, has astringent and haemostatic properties, which allow it to reduce menstrual blood flow or stop nosebleeds. It also improves blood flow to the brain, and has lent its name to a class of medicines used for that purpose, the vincamines.

• You could also try Ginkgo biloba 2000mg (Lamberts): each tablet contains, 40mg of a 50:1 extract of Ginkgo biloba:
  - Available in containers of 60 tablets
  - 1-3 tablets daily.