Why do wounds form in the nose? This organ is the first barrier to nasopharyngeal infection. Its mucosa has a very high sensitivity to external irritants and quickly reacts to everything with inflammation, dryness, an allergic reaction, etc. It is not surprising that wounds, crusts and inflammations often appear in the nose.
Types of wounds
An experienced doctor can make a preliminary diagnosis already at the first visual examination:
- Herpes. Painful turbid vesicles - after 2-3 days they open and ulcers, wounds, erosions arise, which bleed systematically. Then crusts appear. In total, all 4 stages take about 10 days.
- An inflamed formation with purulent contents is most often an inflammation of the hair follicle. It occurs inside the body cavity. With a decrease in immunity, the wound in the nose does not heal for a long time and the inflammation is sluggish.
- White, smooth growth - polyp. With growth, it can block the nasal passage and disrupt nasal breathing.
- Sores accompanied by itching, pus - mechanical damage and purulent rhinitis can cause them.
- Abscesses, wounds - a constant occurrence in HIV infection.
- Blood crusts with a fetid odor - atrophic rhinitis (ozena). The etiology of it is unknown.
- Blood sore, which tends to grow - oncology is possible.
- A white crust elementarily appears when the air is too dry in the room.
- Yellowish and green crusts on sores indicate the attachment of a bacterial infection.
- Mucosal bleeding may indicate vascular problems and viral lesions.
Common Non-Pathological Nose Damage
The cause of non-pathological sores may be:
- Prolonged use of nasal drops with a runny nose. They contain vasoconstrictor substances that can simply dry the mucous membrane and cause the appearance of crusts and wounds.
- Bad habit picking your nose.
- Dry indoor air.
- Allergy to dust, wool.
Disorders of the mucosa in various pathologies
The causes and treatment of purulent wounds in the nose are interconnected, that is, therapy depends on the etiology:
- Boil is the most common causative factor. Caused by staphylococci with a decrease in immunity. Inflammation begins with a small papule, which is replaced by a dense knot under the skin. The skin turns bright red and pain appears. It will hold and strengthen until the contents of the abscess breaks out (in the absence of treatment).
- Disorders of the mucosa can also be caused by colds, endocrine pathologies (diabetes mellitus), chronic runny nose and other ENT diseases.
- Staphylococcus aureus causes another lesion of pustular skin, but more superficial - sycosis. Usually occurs at the place of hair growth - mustache, beard, nose, ears. There is a painful accumulation of small abscesses on a dense base, scarlet. The villi peep out of them. After drying, the skin becomes covered with yellow and green peels. They periodically disappear for a while, then appear again, as the process of inflammation continues. Often, eczema and sycosis are combined together, which complicates the diagnosis.
- Herpes is a viral infection in which watery vesicles appear in the nasal cavity. Then they burst, and erosion is revealed under them.
- Eczema of entry into the nose is the result of purulent runny nose and sinusitis. With them, nasal mucus itself and active blowing, with finger cleansing, injure the mucous membrane. Sore wounds in the nose arise precisely for this reason. Sometimes general eczema appears inside the organ.
- Erysipelas of the nose is the causative agent of streptococcus. It occurs with mechanical damage to the nasal mucosa, squeezing acne near it, during operations, sinusitis.
- Rhinophyma and rosacea - chronic inflammation of the skin, often in the elderly. Red nodular eruptions appear on the nose and inside, similar to a cockscomb. The nose is deformed, and its constantly red color is often taken by others as a sign of alcoholism.
- Polyps of the nose are smooth whitish formations. In advanced cases, they can grow outside the nose, blocking breathing.
- With secondary syphilis, various rashes occur in the form of papules and pustules. They are accompanied by redness and swelling of the mucous membrane, bloody or mucopurulent discharge. With the decay of papules, painful cracks form.
- Benign and malignant tumors - behave like an ever-increasing and bleeding ulcer. With the papilloma virus, proliferation will resemble cauliflower.
- Allergic rashes in the nose - occur as a response to cosmetics, nasal ointments and aerosols. They can lead to ulcers and infection of the rashes.
Causes of poor mucosal wound healing
If the wound in the nose does not heal for a long time, this indicates an incorrect diagnosis and, accordingly, the absence of the effect of treatment. In this situation, the general condition of the patient may worsen. Decreased immunity is the main reason. If the discomfort remains, and the wound in the nose does not heal, and the disease is complicated, a trip to the doctor is necessary to clarify the diagnosis.
Such problems, and even with inflammation and itching, often occur with diabetes. It should be borne in mind that while blood sugar is not normalized, you should not count on the healing of wounds in the nose.
Treatment methods
How to treat a wound in the nose? Therapy is carried out after clarification of the diagnosis. In chronic infections such as syphilis, tuberculosis or HIV, narrow specialists are involved in the treatment. But in any case, at least during therapy, stop checking the contents of the nose and stock up on a room humidifier.
If the wounds in the nose do not heal, treatment in these cases involves selecting the right drug. Wrong choice will only worsen the situation. In some cases, the use of ointment is generally unacceptable. Therefore, the use of drugs alone is not recommended. Most of them have contraindications that you may not be aware of.
To restore the mucous membrane and its work, you need an ointment. A universal remedy for all diseases has not yet been invented. There are a lot of varieties of drugs. These are moisturizing, reparative ointments against viruses, bacteria, fungi, hormonal preparations. Your doctor may prescribe them topically or orally.
Drug treatment
The choice of drugs depends on the cause of the wound:
- Antiviral agents - are used for herpes, papilloma virus, SARS. They are used topically and internally: "Acyclovir" and its analogues, "Herpevir", "Valacyclovir", "Zovirax", "Rinovir" and others.
- Hormonal drugs are used for allergies. These are Sinaflan, Prednisone, Fluorocort, Fenistil, Hydrocortisone Ointment.
- Reparative preparations - are indicated when erosion and ulcers appear, well eliminate dry nose and promote healing. The best are Bepanten, Panthenol, Solcoseryl, etc.
- Nasal wound - how to smear? Antibacterial drugs - well help with purulent and ulcerative processes. Prescribe "Tetracycline", "Lincomycin", "Ichthyol" ointment, "Levomekol" (see instructions for use for wounds below).
- Combined medicines, for example, Triderm - heals and destroys microbes.
What makes the ointment
The ointment has always a soft greasy base. This means that on the surface of the mucosa, it will create an impermeable film that helps to prolong the action of the active substance. But on the other hand, it also creates a greenhouse effect and reduces the work of the protective hairs of the mucosa. It turns out that ointment is not always a good way out. It is strictly forbidden to use it if the wound in the nose bleeds. Ointment works best in the presence of peeling, drying of the mucous membrane, to soften the crusts.
Why does the tetracycline ointment help, for example? It is useful for dry purulent crusts. In all other cases, liquid agents work better: sprays, drops and solutions for washing the nose.
Useful Tips
Before applying the ointment, the mucous membrane must be cleaned. To do this, the nose is washed with salt solutions or preparations of "Aquamaris", "Aqualor", "Salin", "Humer", "Dolphin". When washing, keep your head slightly tilted sideways and forward, in the opposite direction from the lesion.
This procedure even by itself helps to soften and moisturize the mucous membrane. If the reason is only dryness, you can generally limit yourself to just washing.
A detailed overview of the range
Popular remedies and their action:
- Solcoseryl. The base is natural, heals and regenerates wounds and tissues. Moisturizes the mucosa with crusts, erosion, atrophy.
- Sinaflan. Hormonal ointment, is not absorbed into the blood, acts only locally. Eliminates dryness with eczema, relieves inflammation and itching. Use pointwise, without smearing. Addictive.
- What helps the tetracycline ointment? This is a well-known antibiotic, with a fairly wide spectrum. They can treat skin and purulent infections, damage to the mucous membranes. It suppresses bacteria proteins: staphylococci, streptococci. Enhances tissue epithelization. Often it is prescribed for herpes, but not because it acts on viruses. He does not allow them to capture new areas of the skin.
- Fleming ointment. It is a homeopathic remedy with anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic and analgesic effects. Disinfects and heals. May be prescribed to children and pregnant women.
- "Acyclovir." The ointment selectively acts on the herpes simplex virus, is highly effective. But it should be borne in mind that the drug is used only externally, inside it is not used on the mucosa.
- Levomekol ointment. The instruction for use in wounds states that it is an antibacterial agent that is indicated for purulent lesions, boils, ulcers. It relieves inflammation, especially in the nose. Turunda with ointment up to 4 times a day is inserted into the nasal cavity alternately in the nostrils for 15 minutes.
- "Pinosol". The ointment contains essential oils, vitamin E, antiseptic thymol. The effect of the drug due to this is moisturizing, disinfecting. For allergies, you can not use.
Is it worth ripping off the crust
Crusts in any wound should not be torn off by yourself. This will only expand the area of inflammation. The same applies to squeezing out formations. The crusts are removed with a cotton flagellum after preliminary softening. Then the mucous membrane should be lubricated: vitamin A, olive, sea buckthorn or rose hip oil.
Furunculosis and other inflammations
Furunculosis occurs more often than others and requires complex treatment. Antibiotics of a number of penicillins are usually prescribed. For treatment, anti-inflammatory ointments are used:
- "Vishnevsky."
- "Ichthyol."
- Levomekol.
- "Tetracycline."
If a wound with a crust in the nose appears due to sycosis, antibiotics and ointments are also prescribed:
- "Bactroban" - contains a new antibiotic mupirocin.
- "Fucidin" - contains the antibiotic Fusidic acid.
- Disinfectants, such as Furacilin, hydrogen peroxide, Chlorhexidine.
To alleviate the symptoms, emollients are used to eliminate crusts: an ointment with decamethoxin, chinosol. For eczema of the nose, “Flucinar”, Boro-naphthalan ointment, “Baneocin”, etc. are prescribed. When wet, Burov’s liquid, “Rivanol”, silver nitrate, “Etericide” are indicated.
Burov's fluid
The product contains alum, acetic acid, calcium carbonate. The current principle is alum. The liquid exhibits the following properties:
- anti-inflammatory;
- astringent;
- disinfectant - suppresses putrefactive processes;
- relieves pain, tension, itching.
The drug is used externally to relieve the inflammatory process on the mucous membranes and skin. Great for eczema. When purulent processes are not prescribed.
Ways to use drugs
Regenerating agents are prescribed for the healing of cracks and abrasions. Prior to their application, the mucosa is treated with an antiseptic. The use of ointment: a cotton turundochka is lubricated with ointment and inserted into the nostril.
To accelerate the regeneration of the mucosa, physiotherapy is prescribed: electrophoresis and ultraviolet irradiation (UV). Electrophoresis will enhance blood circulation, UVD has bactericidal, anti-inflammatory and reparative properties.
Is it just possible not to treat a wound with a crust?
If there is a crust in the nose, you should not particularly worry. It can only be the result of dry air. Just rinse the cavity with saline. If the wounds in the nose are purulent, it is necessary to rinse with a solution of “Chlorhexidine”, “Miramistin”, “Furacilin”, and then grease with ointment. Vasoconstrictive drops should not be used.
Another thing is if the appeared wound in the nose does not heal, has a crust, hurts and burns, blood and pus oozes from it, and the general temperature rises. This indicates severe inflammation and requires urgent treatment by a specialist.