How long should we ice her nose for?

Question

My 15 month old daughter fell earlier today and got a bloody nose. I did take her up to emerge. She developed a slight black eye and the doctor said he nose is very slightly broken, but too small for any splints or anything.

She's very nasaly right now, as to be expected. The doctor said to ice her nose every few hours for the next few days to help the swelling go down, but did not say for how long.

How long should we ice her nose for and how far in between ices should we wait? Also, is there anything else we can do to make her more comfortable?

Answer 1

Ice it for 20 min but half way through take it off for a few min.  Do this every 2-3 hours.  It will help the swelling significantly.

Answer 2

For adults, it is generally not wise to leave ice on an injury for longer than 15 or 20 minutes.  For a small child, I would say no longer than 10 or 15 minutes at a time.

Answer 3

Never ice any injury for more than 15-20 minutes (but 10-15 is better for a toddler's delicate skin) , and never put ice directly on the skin.  You can cause damage to the skin and even make swelling worse.  I'd only do it once an hour at most.

Get some witch hazel and put some of that on several times a day as well, it helps get rid of bruising.  Witch hazel is available at most drugstores on the shelf with the rubbing alcohol.

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/arch...

Limit ice applications to 10 minutes

If an injured area is compressed and elevated while it is being treated with ice, the potential increase in blood flow can be partially controlled, but Meeusen still believes it is important to strictly limit the time duration of an ice application in order to minimise the chances that a tidal flow of blood will sweep into an injured joint or muscle. Fairly brief applications of ice also diminish the risk of frostbite-like damage to superficial tissues which are in close contact with the ice. For these reasons, the Belgian researcher and physiotherapist suggests that ice applications should be limited to about 10 minutes or so.

Sceptics who contend that it takes longer than 10 minutes to adequately refrigerate an injured inner region of the body may scoff at the idea of applying ice to a damaged area for such a brief period, but Meeusen's research has turned up some interesting facts which support his contention. For one thing, Meeusen has found that when ice is applied to an injured part of the body for 10 minutes and then removed, the temperature of the skin in the affected area will begin to rise immediately after the ice removal, but the temperature of the muscles and other tissues beneath the skin will actually continue to drop for a few minutes, even though the ice has been taken away.

The continued drop in inner muscle temperature, even after the removal of the ice, occurs because the layer of fat found beneath the skin functions as an insulating material which keeps heat from moving inward to the muscle from the skin and outside world. In addition, the blood vessels leading to the damaged muscle stay constricted for a while in response to the icing (they haven't been chilled enough in 10 minutes for them to open up yet), leading to an actual continued decline in muscle temperature.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sprainss...

Watch the clock.

Ice for 15-20 minutes, but never longer. You can cause further damage to the tissues, including frostbite, by icing for too long.

Answer 4

You should not ice her nose for longer than 10-15 minutes to avoid frost nip and if you're lucky enough for her to sit there long enough :o). You should be able to give her tylenol to help with any pain or swelling.

Answer 5

you have to wait it out. ice it for as long as she can handle. wait until it SLIGHTLY swells up before you ice it again

Answer 6

You should call your doctor and ask him. I hope she feels better:):):) Best of luck:):)

Answer 7

I would ice it for about 15 minutes every 3 hours or so.

Answer 8

i would do it for about 15 minutes a few times a day....

Answer 9

ice her nose for 10 minutes or so every 3 hrs.

Answer 10

i would say 15 min evert 3 to 4 hours

Answer 11

dont leave the ice on for more than 5 mins at a time...if she starts complaining thats it hurts or that its way too cold take the ice off. like the doctor said, every few hours so like 2-3 times a day

a good way to stop a bloody nose is to chew on an ice cube while lying down. it sounds dumb but it works.

Answer 12

Yup 15 minutes

Answer 13

Ice it every hour for five minutes the first day.  Ice it every 1.5 hours for five minutes the second day.  Ice it every two hours for five minutes the third day.  Ice it every four hours for five minutes the fourth day.  You do NOT have to ice it when she's asleep, since she'll be lying down and the 'blood flow' won't be so strong to her head.  After the fifth day you may 'warm it' if she complains it hurts, but ONLY if she complains, and use very little warmth, since she's so young.  As for the black eye, the icing should help that go away ... if it is not gone within two weeks (you can't see even a hint of 'bruising' around her nose or eye) go back to the doctor for a check-up.  There will be probably nothing wrong, so the check-up will be more for your sanity than your daughter's health, but your sanity is extremely important, too ... Better safe than sorry is the thing to think of right now.  That 'nasal sound' you hear is not uncomfortable, really, because your daughter probably feels just a bit 'stuffy' like she would if she had a very mild cold ... and she may have it until she's in puberty, since her nose is 'broken' ... and you may have to have it operated on ... but most doctors today don't do ANY operations on nasal problems until the person is over 18 and 'full grown' because the scars from the surgery cause MORE damage than the original injury, and that is WORSE when a person is still growing.  I know ... my son had his nose broken four times, each one worse, and had to have surgery when he was 18.  He's fine now, but has a 'crook' in his nose because of all of the breaks.

Answer 14

For the next 3 days or so ice her nose for like 4 hours. Put it on for like 10 min. wait like  5 mns. and put it on again. and repeat doing that so that it can heal down. to make her more comfortable just put on a nice song and play with her and make her laugh so she can feel okay.

hope she feels better.