I'm sorry you were embarrassed, but I'm laughing at your Russian mobster theory. Who knows? Maybe you are right.

Because I can be a klutz, I always keep a white tee shirt and a black tee shirt in my car. Where I live, you are always too far away to return home for a quick change. Of course, the tee shirts didn't help much when I dropped a full Venti coffee with milk and soaked my pants, shirt and jacket. Luckily, I had the button up smock that I use when I get my hair colored handy in the car and was able to wear that for the drive home.

get some saline gel, use it often and it may help

I read you s/n apply anything once bleeding is in progress. As a preventive, yes but I forget.

Awww. Possiably the dryness irritates the small blood vessels. Your not on blood thinners??? This happened to one of my sons until he was around 20 and went to an EMT who cauterized him, that was the end of his spontainous nose bleeds.

I'm sure that was embarrassing but I love how you added some drama to the story to carry you through. I wouldn't have had a problem explaining I sneezed blood, I'd be more embarrassed if it was gravy or some kind of food.

Mama, did the procedure have any adverse effects? I have two boys who suffer through nosebleeds.

Go see an ENT (ear nose throat) doc, also known as an otolaryngologist. (EMT is someone who rides in an ambulance or fire truck)

Using a saline nasal spray is probably good advice. I have sensitive nasal passages, too, and have found that the sprays are soothing. I also use a tiny bit of coconut oil on the inside of my nostrils before bedtime, and that really helps.

Elmer, I have no idea what kind of people you are used to addressing. But I for one do not appreciate or require your pontifications and pronouncements on the blindingly obvious. My family are treated by the finest physicians at Stanford and PAMF. Not only that, but we have friends and direct family in all branches of medicine. I asked Mama a question about her experience with a procedure. I am well aware of what the otolaryngolost we consulted had to say on the subject. If I were to ever need advice from someone like you- which I cannot ever imagine- I will ask for you by name. If I ask a question of Mama, the question is for her and anyone who may share her experience. I hope this helps you better understand your position- though you clearly have no sense of your place in this world.

ETA to add a PS:

And Elmer, here is some unsolicited advice for you. See a psychologist about your inability to read people. By your age you should be able to judge how your remarks are received by your audience and have a better sense of people's positions. For example, you and I have been on enough threads together for you to be crystal clear that I do not lack the means or the education to receive appropriate professional advice on any subject. My question to Mama was conversational in nature. I was seeking her personal experience, like one might at the proverbial water cooler. Likewise everyone here knows plenty about you. From your professional credentials to what some might call your supercilious manner. It may not be too late to address these social deficiencies.

My late husband suffered from nosebleeds from childhood. When he had to go on blood thinners for clots, they became hemorrhages involving a bucket and mop and where VERY embarrassing. He finally went to an ENT and had the vessels cauterized. It too no time, was painless and he never had another nose bleed. He was furious that no one ever suggested it decades before!

Thank you, Anglo. I appreciate the personal account. We have been told to wait until the end of adolescence- the boys who suffer are 15 and 16- the frequency has diminished, but I am wondering if maybe we should go ahead and see if now would be a good time. I'll check in with our doc after summer vacation.

GF was suffering with nosebleeds -- turns out she had very high blood pressure. Good thing she found out as her mother died of a stroke...

I had horrible nose bleeds for close to 10 years. I finally saw an ENT who advised me to use the saline gel but it didn't help me. He also advised me to take an allergy tablet. The one that really helped me was the generic for Sudafed. The nose bleeds stopped completely. I took it for about 6 months and have now been off for 3 months . So far they haven't returned.

Sudafed isn't an allergy medicine, it's a decongestant.

Years ago I had to go to the ER and had cauterization done. No bleeding since but I did need HBP medication and needed to lose some weight.

Rita, I suffered from nose bleeds throughout my adolescents and under medical direction, finally had both nostrils cauterized in my early teens. It was a blessing and I've had no negative after effects either then or through the years that followed. I would certainly rely on your doctor's advice but can add from personal experience that the procedure was minimally annoying at the time and I've never regretted having it done. At the time, my nose bleeds were so severe that I had to stand over the bathroom sink until they abated to the point that all that was needed to return to the day was a few tissues.

Thank you, Andi. It's nice to hear how smoothly this went for everyone. I had the same problem when I was little, and I grew out of it. Two of my sons appear to not be growing out of it. I'll see about having the procedure done when we get back from vacation. I really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced this.

Bossy, I apologize for the thread highjack- and my outburst if you saw it before someone had it deleted. I felt some pent up frustration with someone's condescending attitude ...

Daily use of aspirin to combat cardiovascular problems can increase the tendency for nose bleed. My Cardiologist initially recommended that i take 325 mg of aspirin per day. However, when I mentioned that it increased my tendency for nose bleeds, he said that I could cut back to as low as 81 mg per day (low dose). He said the important factor was to have some aspirin in the blood stream to reduce clotting. I keep a bottle of coated 81 mg aspirin and that allows me a wide range of dose management. Taking 1 to 4 tablets provides a dose range of 81 to 324 mg of aspirin. Most days, I take 81 mg.

Aspirin hangs around for considerable time. It takes 12 to 14 days for your body to clear out one dose of aspirin, therefore, taking a daily dose causes an accumulation of aspirin.

Rita, Matthew had no problems with anymore nose bleeds and no side effects. He was in and out of the office and back to work. I'll ask him if it was painful but I think I remember it being almost pain free.

Nose procedure is interesting. May look into it though mine don't seem as severe as some you describe, except my recent incident.

Rita I had nosebleeds when I was little to and even into maybe high school. I did grow out of it. So maybe just give it time. Especially if it's not too bad.

I was also going to suggest coconut oil in the nostrils to help moisturize. :)

Rita, I missed your comment. Sorry. Please allow me a few words in response.

Look at the time stamp at your comment and mine, the time is roughly the same. I'm not sure I'd seen your post before completing my own brief one.

" the question is for her and anyone who may share her experience. I hope this helps you better understand your position- though you clearly have no sense of your place in this world."

RIght. I had the same problem and the solution was a quick in-office cauterization. Same for one of my kids. Does that affect my place in the world in some way?

As for my place in the world - I'm male, I speak directly. I'm sure that's well known. I try not to be insulting but I am direct all the same. The two genders speak, act, and react differently from one another (it's part of what makes the world interesting) and this is an almost entirely female tribe. Male comments will always sound a bit off the norm, direct ones all the more so.

Otherwise, thanks for your personality diagnosis.

Mama, thank you for the info. I appreciate hearing about your son's experience.

Elmer, I apologize for my rant. I am a direct person as well. I played with boys much more than with girls growing up for this reason. However, I think you can be direct and not hurt people's feelings at the same time. Many times I have read you tell people to ask a professional about the questions they have. I ask professionals for their advice at the drop of a hat- because I can afford to. Sometimes people ask friends and acquaintances for advice because they need help determining if they need to spend the money on pro advice. Other times people ask a question as a way of working through a process of information gathering and comfort, as in my question about the cauterization procedure.

I am very sorry for being rude to you.

Rita I ask my son what the cauterization felt like. He said there was just a tiny feeling of burn, not at all painful. He also said a test for the flu where they put the qtip swab up your nose is much much worse. He also said he had an itchy nose for a few days.

Well said, Rita. Elmer, at times it does seem as if you don't understand that many people don't have the discretionary (or even necessary!) money that you have.

Rita, I'm glad you apologized to Elmer. I was quite taken aback by your post. It's never good to post "in the heat of of the moment". I may be the only one, but I appreciate Elmer's posts, and find little error in anything he says. I work in a male dominated profession where one needs to be direct in communications, so that may explain why I "get" him.

I liked that you said what it is that people are often trying to do: just get an idea before jumping in. I am paraphrasing of course.

Sleeper- I am a JD/MBA whose work focused (I no longer work outside the home) on secured transactions (stocks and bonds.) Even within the world of corporate law firms, mine was a pretty testosterone intensive one. Directness was not my objection.

And yes, it is never good to post in the heat of the moment- especially when you are being unkind as I was. I could have made the same point without the vitriol.

Now having read all comments, something I usually don't do and hadn't before either of the two things I'd said, may I say:

-Rita, no harm, no foul. An "oops, it looks different in daylight" would have been fine without any added contrition but thanks for taking the time to restate your thoughts. I read both versions and understand the thoughts (sans emotion).

- My first comment (that I guess Rita found offensive) was spoken to bossyvossy concerning her first comments to start the thread and not to Rita at all. BV was thinking out loud/ruminating and it was in that context I made the ENT suggestion.

- sleeper, you're too kind. Stay as you are and never speak with my wife or the undeserved pedestal will surely topple!

Thank you, Elmer.

I DID IT guys! Thank you so much for suggestions to see an ENT. I knew nobody who had actually gone to an ENT, so I relied on Healthgrades, which is like medical Yelp. I picked the highest scoring guy and was not disappointed.

Dr told me he could easily see exposed artery inside my right nostril and proceeded to cauterize right then. I believe he used topical anesthesia and then froze the artery w/liquid nitrogen, I think. He was excellent at explaining what he was doing. I came back home with OTC Afrin, saline and Vaseline. Post procedure discomfort would be comparable to how tender your nonstrils feel when you walk out into very cold temps. Not pain, just a little discomfort. Today, 24 hrs after procedure, I feel nothing. It felt good to do something about this and that my most serious medical procedure has been a nosebleed cauterization, praise God.

PS: I think the scariest part of this procedure is the term cauterization. It conjures all kind of pains in my head, ha. Not so.

again, thanks to all who volunteer their experience on various topics. I would have gone on embarrassing myself out of lack of info.

I'm glad to hear that it was an easy fix! Cauterize is a scary word to me also :-)

Good for you, you'll benefit from the good decision you made.

Fantastic, you asked and you recieved, love it.

The air in my house is dry now that our temperatures are going below zero every night, that has set me up for easy to start nose bleeds. Aspirin can aggravate the situation. If you are taking a therapeutic daily dose of aspirin, that can make the nose membranes more susceptible to bleeding. Daily doses causes your overall aspirin level to rise more than you might expect. It takes about 14 days to clear a dose of aspirin from your body, therefore, daily doses pile up.

I've been sleeping with a humidifier running during the winter months. I don't have severe nose bleeds but it has helped with nasal dryness.

Is this forum just the greatest! We all learn so much from other peoples problems. Elmer, luv ya, but sometimes you do try to over educate us. I took the EMT as a typo error.

Bossyvossy, glad you had the procedure done and have such positive results. No more worry about nosebleeds for you

The climate where I live is very dry and I experience nasal dryness but not to the point of nosebleeds. Per doctor's suggestion, I use a nasal spray once a day which really makes a difference. We are currently in Thailand which has a humid climate and I haven't needed to use the spray since we arrived here nearly two weeks ago.