Nose Bleeds Due to Dryness- How to Get Relief?

Due to increased use of heating appliances these days, dry skin and mucosa, such as that of nose, are often seen.

Dry skin causes itching. Whereas, dry inner lining of the nose can even cause bleeding. This is not good and the problem should be promptly attended to.

Steps to Relieve Symptoms

The best options are still the conventional measures and not medicines.

• Always use a humidifier along with whatever heating appliance your are using. This is the safest and probably the most effective way to deal with this problem. Different mist type humidifiers may be tried. This mistifies the surrounding air being inhaled. Immediate relief from dryness can be felt within 2 to 3 hours.
• If the problem doesn’t improve, saline sprays are helpful. But it might not be a good long-term solution.
• Consume lot of water and fluids everyday. Avoid excess of tea, coffee as they cause further dryness.
• Avoid the use of fan or blower.
• Avoid using cold decongestant medications since they may worsen the problem.

The nasal secretions are increased by a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. So, theoretically speaking, any medication capable of enhancing its action (called cholinergic drugs) should cause increased nasal secretions, thereby preventing dryness. But in practice these medications have lot more side effects; mostly quite undesirable. Hence these medications are not used for the nasal dryness problem.