What is the medical term for a nosebleed?

The medical term for a nosebleed is epistaxis. The word comes from the Greek epistazein, meaning “to bleed from the nose,” and refers to bleeding originating in the nasal cavity.

Most nosebleeds are anterior bleeds, arising from Kiesselbach’s plexus, a dense network of blood vessels near the front of the nasal septum. Dry air, nose picking, forceful nose-blowing, allergies, minor trauma, and blood-thinning medicines can make these vessels rupture.

A less common posterior nosebleed begins deeper in the nasal passage and can be heavier or harder to control. Epistaxis is not the same as hemoptysis, which means coughing up blood from the respiratory tract, or hematemesis, which means vomiting blood. A nosebleed is usually managed by sitting upright, leaning forward, and applying firm pressure to the soft part of the nose.