Don't take nosebleeds lightly, it may be a "red signal" from the body!

Nosebleeds, this seemingly ordinary symptom, sometimes hides unknown health risks.

Did you know? Nosebleeds may be a potential warning sign of high blood pressure!

Hypertension, a disease known as the "silent killer", often has no obvious symptoms in the early stages, but over time, it can cause serious damage to the body's vascular system.

When blood pressure rises, especially when blood pressure is poorly controlled for a long time, the risk of nosebleeds increases.

This is because high blood pressure can cause spasms, sclerosis and other lesions in small arteries, which weaken the elasticity and increase the fragility of blood vessel walls.

◆ Be alert! Nosebleeds may be a sign of uncontrolled blood pressure

For patients with hypertension, nosebleeds may not only be a local problem, it may reflect poor blood pressure control and possible vascular lesions.

This type of bleeding may be difficult to stop on its own, and may even cause anemia when the amount of bleeding is large.

1. Poor blood pressure control: blood vessels are in a state of high pressure for a long time
2. Risk of vascular disease: systemic arteriosclerosis may have occurred
3. Warning of serious complications: increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, etc.

◆ Attention! Nosebleeds ≠ Hypertension

Of course, nosebleeds are not necessarily caused entirely by high blood pressure.

It may also be caused by the pathology of the nose itself, such as the following factors:

• Nose problems: trauma, inflammation, nasal septum deviation, hemangioma
• Systemic diseases: blood diseases, liver diseases, vitamin deficiency
• Environment and habits: dry climate, nose picking, drug effects

Therefore, when nosebleeds occur, we cannot simply think that it is caused by high blood pressure, and we need to comprehensively consider multiple factors for analysis and diagnosis.

◆ How to prevent nosebleeds caused by high blood pressure?

For patients with high blood pressure, it is crucial to actively control blood pressure. By improving lifestyle, such as low-salt diet, moderate exercise, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, and the rational use of antihypertensive drugs, keeping blood pressure within the ideal range can help reduce the occurrence of complications such as nosebleeds.

Keeping the nose moist is also one of the important measures to prevent nosebleeds. When the weather is dry, you can use a humidifier to increase the humidity of the air, or apply some chloramphenicol ointment to lubricate the nasal mucosa.

◆ The correct way to stop nosebleeds

• First of all, stay calm to avoid excessive tension causing high blood pressure and aggravated bleeding.
• You can sit down and tilt your head slightly forward to prevent blood from entering the esophagus and trachea. Then pinch the nose wing on the bleeding side with your fingers for 10 to 15 minutes to stop the bleeding. You can breathe through your mouth throughout the process.
• If the bleeding is severe and cannot be stopped, please seek medical attention as soon as possible.

After a nosebleed, most people will instinctively "raise their heads". Although it seems that the bleeding has stopped, this is just an illusion: because the head is tilted back and the nostrils are facing up, under the action of gravity, the nosebleed cannot be seen coming out of the nostrils.

However, the nosebleed will flow along the posterior wall of the pharynx to the digestive tract and irritate the gastric mucosa. Some nosebleeds may even flow into the trachea, coagulate into blood clots, and cause suffocation.

Nosebleeds may be a potential warning sign of high blood pressure. For patients with hypertension, they should be highly vigilant about the occurrence of this symptom. Actively controlling blood pressure and improving lifestyle habits can effectively prevent the occurrence of complications such as nosebleeds.