Tag Archives: nose bleed

Hydrogen Peroxide to the rescue!

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This morning Mathew woke up in a bloody mess. He had a bloody nose and amazing as it seems, slept while the blood flowed from his nose over his beloved Ryan (his stuffed bear), over the sheets and through the mattress cover (thank goodness the mattress cover is thick and the blood didn’t get into his mattress. Mathew has on occasion experienced a nosebleed, but this time the amount of blood and the fact he slept through it was quite impressive. The bloodstain was larger than the size of his head. Don’t worry, I didn’t take any pictures.

So how does one deal with this situation? It’s 5am and there is quite a mess to clean up.

First, I clean-up Mathew’s face and made sure his nose is not bleeding anymore. It’s isn’t, YAY!

Next, take the soiled sheets, Ryan, and mattress cover over off to the laundry, remake the bed, and put Mathew back to sleep.

Now, what to do about the bloody mess? Hydrogen Peroxide to the rescue! First, I rinse as much blood out as possible with cold water, then pour hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain, presto like magic, the bloodstain starts to foam and disappear. The reason why it foams is because blood and cells contain an enzyme called catalase. When we bleed, there are both blood and damaged cells, so there is lots of catalase floating around. When the catalase comes in contact with hydrogen peroxide, it turns the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water (H2O) and oxygen gas (O2). Catalase does this extremely efficiently — up to 200,000 reactions per second. The bubbles you see in the foam are pure oxygen bubbles being created by the catalase.

Ok, so once I removed most of the blood, I simply wash the sheets in cold water with detergent. But before I put them in the dryer, I re-check to make sure all blood is gone. If I missed some stains, I just repeat the steps above. It’s important to never dry blood stained sheets/clothes, as the heat will set the stain and it will be close to impossible to get it out.

Hopefully, you will not have to use this trick, but here you are just in case.

 

Up your nose with Yarrow

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The other day Mathew came to me and told me his nose was bleeding.

Here’s how our conversation went:

Me: “What happened?”

Mathew: “Well, I was picking my nose like I usually do and I pulled out a big piece and it had blood on it.”

Me: “What did you do with it?”

Mathew: “I ate it of course.”

Me: “Can I put yarrow up your nose to stop the bleeding?”

Mathew: “Sure.”

Mathew with yarrow up his nose to stop the bleeding

I picked several long yarrow leaves and crushed them between my fingers to release the alkaloids, which have styptic/ hemostatic properties; in other words, the alkaloids help stop bleeding. I gently put the long leaves up each nostril making sure part of it was still hanging out for easy removal.  Within two minutes, the bleeding had stopped.

Two minutes later – no more bloody nose

I didn’t really know Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), before this year. I bought some for my garden since we didn’t have any growing on our land. One benefit among yarrow’s many is that its roots’ secretions will activate the disease resistance of nearby plants; and it intensifies the medicinal actions of herbs; therefore, making healing plants more powerful. It seemed like a good plant for our medicinal garden.

Unfortunately, after it was planted, and started to bloom, I noticed the blossoms were a beautiful deep red, not cream colored, which I read has the strongest medicinal properties. In general, ornamental species are bred for smell or color, not usually for medicinal value. Fortunately, the variety of yarrow we have still has the hemostatic properties we need for a bloody nose.

Yarrow’s uses have been noted throughout history. It’s Latin name, Achillea millefolium, is derived from Achilles, the Greek god who used this versatile herb to stop wounds from bleeding during the Trojan wars. It was once a sacred plant in ancient China, as it was valued as the perfect union of yin and yang energies, because the hard strong stem is filled with a soft pith. Interestingly, the 50 wooden sticks in the I-Ching ritual, which are used to make key decisions, were made from yarrow stems.

Yarrow’s folk name – nosebleed – also attests to its long-standing use as a styptic to stop bleeding.  In addition, it has the ability to stop blood flow internally as well as externally. Today, yarrow is one of the best-known herbal remedies for fevers, the flu, stomachaches, sore throats, menstrual problems, as well as to improve circulation and strengthen weak veins.

Recently, I read that yarrow is a great insect repellent. So, I have tinctured some and will let you know how that works out. I look forward to getting better acquainted with yarrow. Please share your experiences, too.

PS: Mathew gave his permission to print this very personal blog.

 All information is shared for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat any condition.