Yesterday my 2 1/2 year old son fell face first in the living room, luckily he was on carpet. His nose did bleed for about 15 minutes, and then for the next 2 hours when he would blow his nose (he has a cold) bright red blood would come out. His nose was swoller, but not black and blue. After he fell he acted totally normal, eating dinner and playing.
All of this happened when I was at work and he was at my parents house. When I got there to pick him up, I noticed his swollen nose and my parents filled me in on what happened. I made the decision to take him to urgent care, because he was still blowing out blood. Well, urgent care was a disaster and we waited forever and eventually had to leave because of the time.
My dad is watching him again today and I just called and he said that he's fine and that his nose if not swollen. So my question is: should I still follow up with a doctor. I'm actually a pretty "laid-back" mom, bumps and bruises don't bother me.
Any suggestions? Thanks for all of your help!!!
I'd talk to your ped. An x-ray and/or exam may not be out of the question, just to make sure that the injury isn't obstructing his breathing passages.
Tammy,
I would touch his nose and see if it hurts, if by moving it around he complaints and says it hurts, then take him to the doctor. If it doesn't bother him, then just let it go. Except if you see some obvious changes to it.
Wait and see what he does when you move the nose around and take it from there.
Go to the doctor just to reassure yourself. It isn't unusual to have blood come out after a nose injury. There are tons of little arteries that need to heal when broken. There is also not a lot they can do if his nose is broken. However, if you go, at least you will know what kind of damage, and therefore how long it will take to heal, you are dealing with.
Follow your instincts. Call your regular doc, explain what happened, and see what he says. There's a good chance it's nothing, but if you're worried, it's worth it to even take him in to the regular doc (even if you have to pay another copay and take time off work) to get the peace of mind.
My doc always says she trusts a mother's instincts and prefers that we bring kids in just be sure (when it ends up being nothing at all) than ignoring worries and not bringing them in.
call his peditrician and run it by him/her.
The problem is knowing if there are any breathing changes in your son. A) He has a cold, so asking if he can breath easily through both sides may be difficult to determine. B) He is 2.5, he may not be able to explain this to you even on a good day. I am an athletic trainer and have seen many a broken noses, excessive bleeding isn't too normal. Catching the break early is the key so they could just re-set the nose if there are any deviations. If down the road there is a problem they would have to "re-break" the nose to solve the issue. Deviated septiums are the main concern, these cause all the issues down the road with chronic sinus issues etc....
I agree with most postings, call your pediatrician and see if you can get in. Like others said, some get bruising and some don't it is so hard to tell.
Good luck and I hope I have helped some! I hope he feels better soon.
I would call your ped and see if they think he should be seen. My 3 year old had surgery last week and there was a 5 year old there that had fallen and broken his nose and it didn't look discolored to me so you never know..
yeah, I'm laid back too /// but this is the face we are talking about ..
The rest of his life is using that one face.
I would check with a specialist. the Dr. can touch and look into the nose and instantly know if there is a problem.
Swelling is a response to some kind of damage, even if temporary. The bleeding may not be a big deal since the nost has soooooo many capillaries and such. But 15 minutes of bleeding? .... that's a little much.... it only stopped bleeding because blood clots up and seals the wound...
My point is that there is some kind of damage ...so there is risk of infection, even when the damage is no big deal. end of story.
Let me just say...I am NOT an alarmist at all! I let most things go and don't think about them.
I draw the line at the incidents that happen when I am not there. I think that I would take him to the Dr/Urgent Care if I were in your shoes. I would want to make sure that there was no shifting or damage to the nose. Because I have broken my nose before and know what damage can cause later on in life, I would take my kids, just to be sure that I am not setting them up for other problems.
