Bleeding, severe

All healthy, active children get cuts and scrapes from time to time, and for the most part these minor injuries can be treated at home. But if your child receives a severe external wound that spurts or causes a great deal of steady bleeding, it is possible that an artery or vein has been cut. Arteries carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and heart to the rest of the body; veins carry oxygen-poor blood back to the heart and lungs. If an artery is cut, it will bleed oxygenated blood that is bright red in color. Oxygen-poor blood coming from a cut vein is a dark, bluish red.

The body of a toddler who weighs twenty-five pounds contains only about one quart of blood. An older child has from three to six quarts of blood, depending on body size. Hundreds of miles of blood vessels run to every living organ and tissue (except for the cornea of the eye). If blood flow to any part of the body is cut off, that part will die. Brain cells die after three to four minutes without a fresh supply of blood.
If your child is bleeding heavily, emergency treatment is necessary.

Supplements and herbs

The herbal treatments that follow are directed at supporting recovery once appropriate emergency medical care has been administered and your child ,is well enough to leave the hospital. If your child is bleeding profusely, seek emergency medical care immediately.

See age-appropriate dosages of herbal remedies

• A child who has suffered a blood loss may become anemic. Floradix formula is an herbal iron supplement that can be used to slowly help replace some of the iron lost through bleeding. Follow dosage directions on the product label for two to three months.
  Note: Floradix is best for mild anemia. If your child has an anemic condition documented by a blood test, a more concentrated nutritional iron supplement may be a better way to rebuild his blood.
• Nettle and yellow dock help build healthy blood cells. After the crisis is over, give your child one dose of either or both herbs, twice daily, for one to two weeks. Note: Some children experience stomach upset as a result of taking nettle. If this happens, stop giving it. Nettle should not be given to a child under four.

Homeopathy

Bleeding is usually an acute situation; the chosen remedy can be taken in a low or medium potency, as frequently as every 15 minutes.

• China
  Exhausting after-effects of blood loss. Faint, dizzy, weak, apathetic, pale, tinnitus, coldness. Bleeding from nose, mouth, rectum, ears, internal organs.
  Menses: early, profuse, dark clots, pre- and post-partum, miscarriage.
  Great abdominal distension, flatus. Nervous, sensitive to light, noise.
  Worse: touch, night, draft. Better: pressure, warmth, loose clothing.
• Ipecac
  Bright red, gushing bleeding from stomach, lungs, nose, bladder, hemorrhoids, bowels, uterus, miscarriage, menses; heavy breathing, nausea.
  Intense nausea, salivation, vomiting. Short of breath, rattling mucus.
  Deathly pale, blue under eyes. Irritable, whining, capricious. Thirstless.
  Cold sweats where covered, weak pulse. Worse: warmth. Better: open air.
• Hamamelis
  Bleeding of dark blood from anywhere. Injury to, or bleeding from veins.
  Bleeding from wounds, cuts, nosebleeds, intestines, rectum, stomach, hemorrhoids, varicosities, ulcers. Chronic effects of injury, bruises.
  Eye hemorrhage: black eye, as well as bleeding in iris, retina, inside eye.
  Worse: pressure, open air, jarring, motion, exertion, touch, cold, humid.
• Lachesis
  Dark, black blood. Blue-black swelling, mottled spots. Poor coagulation.
  Bleeding from retina, gums, hemorrhoids, tongue, nose, dental work.
  Small wounds bleed freely. Hemorrhage in alcoholics, menopause, hemophilia. Bleeding scars or ulcers, bleeding eruptions. Varicosities.
  Worse: heat, after sleep, night, touch, constriction. Better: open air.
• Phosphorus
  Bleeds and bruises easily; slight wounds bleed much. Slow bleeding.
  Blood is thin, bright red, clots slowly. Pale, bright red or dark blood.
  Bleeding from eyes, ears, lungs, stomach, intestines, anus. Bloody saliva, vomit or stools. Nosebleeds when blowing nose. Bleeding gums.
  Worse: lying down, washing face with cold water (causes nosebleed).
  

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