If bleeding continues, a health care provider may have to pack the nose. Sometimes cauterization of the bleeding vessel is necessary. In some cases surgery to clip the vessels may be done. Blood loss from a nosebleed can be considerable and there is danger of hemorrhagic shock. Sometimes nosebleed has serious underlying causes.
Arteriosclerosis is a possible cause in the elderly.
Polyps and other fleshy growths in the nose, food allergy, hypertension, vitamin deficiencies, or any disease producing a bleeding tendency may produce nosebleed. Nosebleeds in children are sometimes a sign of rheumatic fever. If the nose bleeds often or profusely or if the bleeding is difficult to stop, a physician should be consulted. Bleeding from the nose that does not originate in the nose itself is a serious indication that some damage has been done internally, either by injury or disease. Medical attention is necessary to trace the bleeding to its source.