For many people in colder climates, winter means nosebleeds. Learn more about what causes these frustrating events and how you can stop the bleeding.
As we enter the true middle of winter, we move from the joys of the holiday season to the unpleasant surprises of nosebleed season. At this time of year, environmental and lifestyle factors conspire to make us more susceptible to bloody noses, those inherently alarming medical incidents that can send us scrambling for tissues to staunch the bleeding. You can plan as best as you can for every incident—from a trickle to a spray—by understanding some of the most common causes of nosebleeds and what you can do to keep them at bay.
Dry Air
We’ll begin with the most obvious cause, and the one that is often the catalyst for other secondary causes. Cold, dry air is the worst enemy of your nasal mucosa, the mucous membrane that lines the nasal cavity, including your nostrils. This membrane is rich in tiny blood vessels whose flow warms the surface of the membrane. When you breathe cold, dry air, it dries out the membrane, causing ruptures of those blood vessels. If you find that you’re especially prone to nosebleeds this season, make use of a humidifier to keep the air you breathe from being too hard on the sensitive tissue in your nose.
Picking
Introducing foreign objects into the nose is a bad idea at any age. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean picking your nose with a fingernail. Even using a tissue to extract a pesky accumulation of dried mucus can be enough to cut or scrape the nasal lining and cause a nosebleed if conditions have made the membrane fragile enough. Avoid causing trauma to the nasal lining, especially at this time of year.
Allergic Reactions
Dry air and attendant cuts and scrapes are the primary causes of nosebleeds in the winter, but persistent allergies can contribute to nosebleeds as well. The body’s reaction to foreign airborne particles such as dust, dander, and mold spores can send the immune system into overdrive, overworking the mucous membranes as they try to flush the invaders. This can have the same effect on the membranes as the bracing winter air, leaving you with the symptoms of a nagging cold as well as a bloody nose.
Nasal Sprays
Nasal sprays are a miracle to many sufferers of mild allergies, the likes of which cause so many nosebleeds. But we must remember to keep everything in moderation because even the nasal sprays themselves can be among the most common causes of nosebleeds due to misuse or overuse. Chronic antihistamine application can begin to irritate the nasal mucosa, and even the applicator itself, if not properly placed, can bump against and abrade the nasal lining, causing nosebleeds. Use these with care.