Is it true that you should tip your head back to stop a nosebleed? I am wondering if it really cure a nosebleed or will it worsen things, like cause nausea or diarrhoea?
Dr Stephen Lee, Specialist in Ear, Nose & Throat Surgery, Raffles Hospital
You should tip your head slightly forward and compress the soft part of your nose between your fingers. This is because most nose bleeds originate from the front part of the nose, and so the above action will help to compress the bleeding vessel, and improve the situation.
You should not tip the head back, because it just makes the blood flow back to run down the back of the throat. You will probably swallow that, and swallowed blood can irritate the stomach and precipitate vomiting. Vomiting tends to make the bleeding worse or start it again. So it could cause nausea through this mechanism. It is better to spit out any blood that gathers in the mouth and throat rather than swallow it. It would not generally cause diarrhoea.