a cold..nosebleeds & plavix

[Ihatepalps2]

Hi! My 69 yr old dad is on Plavix (blood thinner) and aspirin therapy. So...his blood is intentionally VERY thin. My question is....he has a bad cold. Well, just in the normal course of blowing his nose, he has gotten nosebleeds. Why?
Yesterday, he was driving, and looked down, and a nosebleed had started spontaneously. Hes only had 4 so far, over a 4 day span, since hes gotten the cold....but....why?

[GeorgeMbcs]

I am also on plavix and i have frequent nosebleeds. Usually, pressure and ice, or packing my nostril with tissue will stop it quickly. Today, however, I had one that persisted for over an hour. Whenever I released pressure or took out the tissue packing, it started again. I went to the drugstore and asked he pharmacist for advice. He recommended visine, which is a constrictor. I saturated a cotton ball with in and packed the nostril.  When I removed the cotton about 15 minutes later, the bleeding had stopped. I will always keep this product on hand.

[Enoch Choi, MD]

how's the nosebleeds going?  if they're better, how'd you get them to stop?

[OtoHNS_MD]

Nosebleeds most commonly happen after trauma....that even means picking or blowing the nose.  The lining of the nose is very thin with blood vessels underneath.  Even someone not on any blood thinners could get a nosebleed after trauma.  This is increased when the lining is dry (we see way more nosebleeds in the winter).  Aspirin and Plavix is a pretty potent combination to increase bleeding so your dad is at a much higher risk for bleeding.

I would recommend using a humidifier and starting a nasal saline spray (over the counter) a lot (every 1-2 hours while awake).  Depending on the severity of the bleeding and the reason for taking aspirin and Plavix, it may be possible to temporarily stop those medications.  But check with your dad's primary MD or cardiologist (whoever prescribed them) first, especially if he has had a recent cardiac stent.