
If your child's nose bleeds after a blow or injury, see a doctor right away. The doctor will check whether the nose is broken and see if any other injuries need to be treated.1 2
The advice here applies to repeated nosebleeds that happen for no clear reason.
Nosebleeds usually come from broken blood vessels inside the nose, near the nostrils. Repeated nosebleeds in children can be caused or made worse by:
- Picking the nose1 2 3 4
- Having an object stuck in the nose2 4
- Having an infection in the skin inside the nose3
- Using nasal drops or sprays too much to treat a runny nose.4
Very rarely, nosebleeds are caused by a problem with the structure of a child's nose, or by a benign growth (a growth that is not cancer).3
Frequent nosebleeds can be a sign of a serious disease, but this is very rare. Diseases that affect the blood's ability to clot and some cancers can cause repeated nosebleeds in children, but this is extremely unusual.3 If your doctor suspects a serious cause for the nosebleeds, he or she may order blood tests or refer your child to a specialist.
- Medline Plus. Nosebleed. Available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003106.htm (accessed on 28 May 2008).
- American Academy of Family Physicians. Nosebleeds: What to do when your nose bleeds. Available at http://familydoctor.org/132.xml (accessed on 28th May 2008).
- Burton MJ, Doree CJ. Interventions for recurrent idiopathic epistaxis (nosebleeds) in children (Cochrane review). In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 1, 2004. Wiley, Chichester, UK.
- Kucik CJ, Clenney T. Management of epistaxis. American Family Physician. 2005; 71: 305-311. 15686301








