Especially important in children
Children often place small objects in their nose or ear: beads, toy parts, seeds, pieces of foam rubber. The sign of a foreign body in the nose is a unilateral purulent discharge with an unpleasant odor, sometimes several days after the episode. Button batteries are especially dangerous: they cause a chemical burn to the mucous membrane within a few hours, so in this case, help is needed immediately. The doctor removes the object with a special hook under visual control, without pushing it deeper.
When you need emergency ENT care
Some ENT conditions cannot be postponed: nosebleeds that do not stop within 15–20 minutes, a foreign body in the nose, ear or throat, a purulent abscess with increasing swelling, a fresh injury to the nose.
Delay here worsens the outcome: blood loss increases, the foreign body moves deeper, the abscess spreads to the surrounding tissue, and the nasal bones fuse in the wrong position after 7–10 days.
What you shouldn't do on your own
- trying to reach a foreign body with tweezers or a cotton swab - it goes deeper
- throw back your head when you have a nosebleed - blood flows down your throat
- warm the abscess area - heat accelerates the spread of pus
- straighten your nose after an injury with your own hands