Stroke Bleeding from Nose and Mouth: What You Need to Know
A stroke can occur when there is a sudden loss of blood flow to the brain. This can lead to several complications, including bleeding from the nose and mouth. If you or someone you know experiences stroke bleeding from the nose and mouth, it is important to seek medical attention right away. In this blog post, we will discuss the causes and symptoms of stroke bleeding and how to get help.
Stroke: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment
A stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted. This can happen due to a blockage, such as a clot or bleeding. When this happens, the brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. This can lead to paralysis, coma, and even death.
There are two types of stroke: ischemic and hemorrhagic. Ischemic stroke occurs when there is a blockage in the blood vessels supplying the brain with oxygen-rich blood. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is bleeding in or around the brain.
Hemorrhagic stroke
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when blood from an artery suddenly begins bleeding into the brain. As a result, the part of the body controlled by the damaged area of the brain cannot work properly.
There are two main types of hemorrhagic stroke:
- Intracranial hemorrhages, when the bleeding occurs inside the brain
- Subarachnoid hemorrhages, when the bleeding occurs between the brain and the membranes that cover it
When a blockage causes a stroke in an artery that reduces blood flow to the brain, this is known as an ischemic stroke.
Symptoms of stroke include:
A person experiencing symptoms of a stroke needs immediate emergency care. The sooner medical treatment begins, the fewer brain cells are damaged.
The signs of a stroke are:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion
- Sudden trouble speaking
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking
- Sudden dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
Symptoms of intracranial hemorrhages and subarachnoid hemorrhages include:
- A sudden, severe headache
- Changes in vision
- Loss of balance or coordination
- Weakness, inability to move, or numbness in an arm or leg
- Seizures
- Loss of speech or difficulty understanding speech
- Confusion or loss of alertness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of consciousness
Additional symptoms may include:
- Paralysis of one side of the body
- Sensitivity to light
- Stiffness in the neck or neck pain
- Frequent fluctuations in the heartbeat and breathing
- Hand tremors
- Difficulty swallowing
- Abnormal taste in the mouth
If you experience any of these symptoms, it is important to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away.
Stroke treatment depends on the type of stroke. Ischemic stroke is treated with clot-busting drugs and/or surgery to remove the blockage. Hemorrhagic stroke is treated with surgery to stop the bleeding and repair damaged blood vessels.
What are the types of stroke?
There are two types of stroke: Ischemic stroke, which occurs when there is a blockage in the blood vessels supplying the brain with oxygen-rich blood. The second type of stroke is hemorrhagic stroke, which occurs when bleeding in or around the brain.
A blockage causes ischemic stroke in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. A clot, plaque, or other debris can cause this blockage. Ischemic stroke is the most common type, accounting for about 87% of all strokes.
Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is bleeding in or around the brain. This can happen if a blood vessel ruptures or leaks. Hemorrhagic stroke accounts for about 13% of all strokes.
Face-arm-speech test (FAST) for stroke prevention
There are three main types of stroke: ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and transient ischemic attack (TIA). Ischemic stroke is the most common type, accounting for 87% of all strokes. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when bleeding in or around the brain and accounts for 13% of all strokes. Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a mini-stroke that produces symptoms similar to a stroke but typically lasts only a few minutes and goes away on its own.
The best way to prevent stroke is to live a healthy lifestyle and manage any underlying health conditions. Some other ways to prevent stroke include:
– not smoking
– maintaining a healthy weight
– exercising regularly
– eating a healthy diet
– managing diabetes
– managing high blood pressure
– managing high cholesterol.
If you or someone you know is having a stroke, it is important to seek medical attention immediately. Early treatment can save lives and improve outcomes. Symptoms of stroke include sudden onset of weakness or numbness on one side of the body, sudden onset of confusion or trouble speaking, sudden onset of trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden onset of dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and sudden severe headache with no known cause. If you experience any of these symptoms, call 911 right away. A stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment, so every minute counts! Early treatment can save lives and improve outcomes.
Stroke and Nosebleeds: The connection
Sudden and inexplicable nosebleeds may seem scary, but typically they’re not. To put you at ease in case you have one, we’ve assembled a list of common culprits, as well as tips on how to treat a bleeding nose and when to seek medical care.
Underlying health conditions can cause nosebleeds. Liver disease, kidney disease, chronic alcohol consumption, or Heart conditions like hypertension (high blood pressure) and congestive heart failure can also cause nosebleeds, as can a hypertensive crisis — a sudden, rapid increase in blood pressure that may be accompanied by a severe headache, shortness of breath, and anxiety, according to the American Heart Association (AHA).
Because blood clotting is a necessary step in preventing or stopping a nosebleed, any medication that changes the blood’s ability to clot can cause a bloody nose — or make one harder to stop. Examples include anticoagulants like Coumadin or Jantoven (warfarin), the anti-platelet medication Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate), over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, and prescription or over-the-counter NSAIDS like naproxen.
Many people with the heart condition atrial fibrillation (afib), and an irregular heartbeat, take anticoagulant medication to prevent blood clots from forming. And if you’ve had a heart attack, your doctor may have recommended a daily aspirin to help prevent a recurrence. Blood clots can lead to a stroke or heart attack if they travel through the blood and reach the brain or heart, but the anticoagulant medications commonly used to prevent clots carry an increased risk of bleeding.
Stroke and Nosebleeds: What treatments are used?
Many medications and treatments can help in treating a hemorrhagic stroke. Those drugs and treatments often do so in one of two ways: regulating your blood pressure or helping your blood to clot more effectively. Sometimes, a person might need surgery when bleeding is severe or has certain effects.
Blood pressure management
Because high blood pressure is the most common cause of hemorrhagic strokes, so a top priority for treating these strokes is lowering your blood pressure and keeping it safe. Doing this can reduce the amount of bleeding in your brain. It also makes it easier for blood to clot and seal the damaged blood vessel.
Clotting support
Under normal circumstances, bleeding anywhere in your body triggers a process known as hemostasis (“hemo” means “blood”, and “stasis” means “standing still”). This process is how your body forms a clot to seal an injury and repair the damage.
For many people with a hemorrhagic stroke, their body’s ability to form a clot sometimes doesn’t work as it should. For those situations, the priority is to support the body’s hemostasis processes and make them more effective. Doing that usually involves the infusion of medications or blood factors that make clotting easier. Examples include vitamin K therapy, prothrombin, or clotting factor infusions.
Surgery
One of the most dangerous complications of a hemorrhagic stroke is when accumulated blood puts too much pressure on brain tissue around the bleeding blood vessel. When this happens, emergency surgery is sometimes necessary to remove the accumulated blood and relieve the pressure buildup in your brain.
Stroke rehabilitation
It’s common for people to have some lingering effects from a stroke in the days and months that follow. For many, the effects of a stroke will get slightly worse in the first few days after the stroke, and then they’ll improve.
Because it’s common for people to have lingering problems from a stroke, different types of therapy and rehabilitation are especially helpful for people recovering from a stroke. In some cases, therapy simply helps you return to how you were before your stroke. In other cases, this kind of therapy can help you relearn how to do certain things.
Your brain has a remarkable neuroplasticity ability (pronounced “new-row-plass-tiss-it-ee”). That means your brain can adapt and change when it needs to. In some cases, your brain will “re-map” an ability, transferring control of that ability to an undamaged part of your brain. Many stroke therapy methods take advantage of that ability and speed up the process.
Stroke rehabilitation can take many forms, including:
- Speech therapy. This type of therapy focuses on the parts of your brain that manage your ability to speak and understand others when they’re talking. It also can help if you have any kind of weakness or loss of ability to control muscles in your mouth and throat. Speech therapy can not only help you talk but can also help with breathing, swallowing, and eating or drinking.
- Physical therapy. This therapy approach focuses on improving muscle strength and control, especially with muscles in your arms, hands, legs, and feet. This therapy can help you regain abilities like walking, dressing, or eating. It can also help you adapt if you have a permanent or long-term loss of an ability.
- Cognitive therapy. This kind of therapy helps strengthen your mental abilities. The main focus of this kind of therapy is improving your thinking, concentration, and memory abilities.
Other treatments are possible, depending on your case and circumstances. Your healthcare provider is the best person to tell you what kind of treatments can benefit you.
How can I prevent stroke?
You can do several things to help prevent stroke:
- Live a healthy lifestyle.
- Manage any underlying health conditions.
- Don’t smoke.
- Maintain a healthy weight.
- Exercise regularly.
- Eat a healthy diet.
- Manage diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Early detection and treatment of stroke are also important, so if you or someone you know is having a stroke, call 911 immediately.
What should I do if I think I’m having a stroke?
If you think you or someone else is having a stroke, it is important to seek medical attention immediately by calling 911. A stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment, so every minute counts! Early treatment can save lives and improve outcomes. Symptoms of stroke include sudden onset of weakness or numbness on one side of the body, sudden onset of confusion or trouble speaking, sudden onset of trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden onset of dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and sudden severe headache with no known cause.
Patient Education
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a stroke, it is important to learn as much as possible about the condition. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to manage your condition and make lifestyle changes that can improve your health and quality of life. Here are some resources to get you started:
– American Stroke Association
– National Stroke Association
– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
– National Institutes of Health
With so much information available, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out what is most relevant to you. That’s where we come in. Our team of stroke experts is here to help you every step of the way.
References:
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/h/hemorrhagic-stroke.html
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23969-hemorrhagic-stroke
https://www.mountsinai.org/locations/cerebrovascular-center/conditions/stroke/hemorrhagic-stroke
