Broken nose Treatment
| Broken nose |
Broken nose treatment
Content for Broken noses |
Treatment for broken noses differs depending on the amount of damage done. If you've got a small fracture or crack in the bone or cartilage, serious treatment is usually unnecessary. You might be instructed to use painkillers and keep your nose safe from any bump and any pressure.
If you've suffered a major injury, more complex treatment and sometimes surgery will be needed.
First aid for a broken nose
If you think your nose might have been broken, do this at first:
- Immediately after a hard hit to your nose lean a bit forward (just a little) and breathe through your mouth to stop nose bleed.
- Don't lie down and keep your head above your heart. Sit down if you've lost orientation but keep your head over your heart.
- Gently apply ice or any other cold material (for example frozen meat) over your nose. Don't place ice directly on the skin. Place towel between your skin and bag of ice to avoid frostbite.
- Use painkillers at once. Avoid using ibuprofens if bleeding (they remove pain but help bleeding). That is a good start for broken nose treatment.
Seek a doctor immediately if these broken nose symptoms appear:
- Nose misshapen hardly after accident
- Nosebleed doesn't stop 10 minutes after injury and/or
- A big and dark bump appears on the nose septum (it's a blood gathering) and/or
- Pain is getting unbearable.
Further broken nose treatment
Broken nose treatment always contains homecare and pain control but for more serious injuries more serious treatment is needed. Treatment is usually done within 4 to 14 days.
- So called closed reduction is done if your nose was not crushed really bad but was apparently misshaped. A doctor will realign bones and cartilages to their original places without the use of scalpel.
Don't worry about the pain. Your doctor will probably inject and/or spray local anesthetics over and inside your nose.
You might receive splints or nasal packing after surgery for nose protection and infection prevention.
- Surgery. If a broken nose was untreated for 14 or more days or nose fracture is more complex rhinoplasty surgery might be needed. Septorhinoplasty might be done if your nasal septum was damaged (this procedure improves breathing ability and straightens the crooked nose). Splints or nasal packing will be probably applied.
Usually patients can and do go home after any of these procedures and continue their broken nose treatment at home. Your doctor will instruct you about best homecare for you personally, but there are clear basics:
Homecare
- During healing process you may be wearing splint or nose packing over your nose and cotton packing inside.
- Use medicine that your doctor prescribed. It is usually antibiotics and painkillers.
- Apply ice bag over your nose for 15 to 20 minutes every hour for few first days to relieve pain and swelling. Remember to place a washcloth or a towel between your skin and ice bag to avoid frostbite.
- Lay comfortably with your head elevated over your heart. This helps to stop nosebleed.
- Save your nose from any even slightest bump or pressure and broken nose treatment will not take too long.
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