Nose wicks are bandages used to limit swelling and bleeding after nasal surgery or shock. Used by surgeons and healthcare professionals, they are also available over the counter for home use. Find out how nose wicks work and when to use them.

The wicks for the nose are bandages used to limit swelling and bleeding after an operation of the nasal sphere or a shock, an accident, an untimely bleeding. Long used in rhinoplasty, they have lost ground in favor of other techniques. However, nasal wicks are still very useful in many cases.

Made of different materials, wicks for the nose are very absorbent, they expand on contact with blood like a sponge.

Some wicks are reserved for hospitals and health professionals while others are for family use, to slip into their first aid kit, their medicine cabinet if necessary. Medical devices are hemostatic and healing, they have a compression action and can also act on coagulation.

Composition

There are absorbable and non-absorbable wicks. The latter are used a little less because they are uncomfortable or even slightly painful at the time of removal. Some surgeons prefer the so-called “almost painless” soft silicone wicks during removal. There are also wicks for the nose of vegetable origin (calcium alginate fibers, regenerated oxidized cellulose), animal (collagen, gelatin) or synthetic.

There are different types of wicks. Some have an absorbent aim while others have a compressive aim. Drill bits for surgical use have several actions. They are notably placed in the cavities of the nose at the end of a surgical intervention (rhinoplasty, repair of fracture of the bones of the nose, septoplasty, surgery of the inferior turbinates), for as needed:

• control nosebleeds and prevent bleeding;
• compress the nasal mucosa after septoplasty (deviated nasal septum);
• immobilize cartilages and bones;
• limit swelling;
• avoid the formation of an accumulation of fluid or blood.

Public concerned or at risk

Nasal wicks are used in people with hemostasis disorders, following surgery, shock, etc.

The stages of operation

Drill bits for the nose can be used in different ways:

• in case of nosebleeds, it is enough to cut a wick to the right length and introduce it into the nostril;
• to stop bleeding at puncture points, put a wick through the nose until the bleeding stops;
• to stop bleeding from a small wound, apply light pressure with the drill bit on the area

When to use it?

In a hospital environment, the placement of wicks for the nose depends on the surgeon’s habits and the needs related to the operation. In the family setting, nasal wicks can be used by people with fragile nasal mucous membranes, prone to regular bleeding. The bandages can be inserted into one or both nasal cavities for a few minutes, a few hours or even a few days.

Precautions to take

For family use wicks, it is important to keep your head straight throughout the wick application. Nasal wicks should not be used on children under 5 years old.

For family use, there are different brands in pharmacies. The purpose of nasal wicks is to stop nosebleeds. Check that the wicks are intended, depending on the cases concerned, for adults, pregnant women and children. When inserting the wick into the nose, make sure that part of the wick protrudes beyond the nostril.