How to Fix a Broken Nose Yourself
I made it through my entire childhood with no broken bones. Then, I had kids. This past summer, I broke my neck while playing baseball with them. However, before my broken neck, my son broke my nose. It was then that I discovered how to fix a broken nose.
Before we get into my story and advice, I just want to tell you that my official position is that you should always receive help and treatment from a medical professional. Their expertise is particularly important in the cases of torn muscles and broken bones.
Okay, now that no one can sue me, on with the story!
The Incident
We were on a family vacation at Silver Dollar City. At the time, we only had one son, and he was about 22 months old. It’s important to understand that he is very big and, around 1:00, he gets very sleepy.
Me with my nose breaking bandit a couple of days after the break.
Because we had so much to do and see, we tried to skip the nap. He’s almost 2, we thought. Surely skipping nap time just this one day won’t hurt. We were wrong.
With all the excitement, he was even more tired than usual. Sometime after lunch, he completely lost it. He turned into a giant, flailing sack of potatoes.
My husband pulled out all his best dad tricks to quiet our boy and get him to sleep, but it didn’t work. Our boy squirmed and fussed and cried for his mama. I reached up for him and, as I did, he dropped his giant potato head right on the bridge of my nose.
I felt a rush, a flood of fluid. It was like someone opened a dam and the only path was straight to my nose. Oh my God, I thought. He broke my nose. He broke my nose and now I’m going to be spraying blood in front of all these nice people.
Out of instinct, I shoved him back to his dad. This made the boy cry louder, but I didn’t care. My eyes filled with tears as my hands covered the central part of my face. As my husband calmed our son, who was newly upset by the bonk he got on his head, I noticed there was no blood coming out of my nose.
Okay then. Time to get to work.
How I Fixed My Broken Nose
My nose was broken right on the bridge. Because of how my son hit, the lower part of my nose was slightly to turned to the left side. I decided to use my thumbs as temporary splints. Here’s what I did to set my broken nose:
1. Assess the situation.
Do you need to go to a doctor or do you think you can figure something out yourself? Personally, because the bone seemed to stay relatively aligned and because I was standing in an amusement park, I decided to align it myself. If you are in significant pain or your nose looks like a zig zag, please go to the doctor. Some broken noses can be handled at home; some require medical help or even surgery.
2. Think logically.
You know you want your nose to be straight, so it doesn’t make sense to align it with a finger on one side and a thumb on the other. You want equal pressure throughout.
3. Carefully feel around.
In particular, notice what’s happening around the break. This is the area that will need to heal, so pay good attention here. You will be tempted to pay attention to the base of your nose because it will be in an incorrect position, but don’t worry. When your nose gets set correctly, it will move back to the correct place.
4. Take gentle action.
In my case, I noticed that the broken part of my nose was lower than the other part. Gently, I used my thumbs to help coax the bone up into place. Then, I very gently pulled (again, with just my thumbs) to help slide the bone into place.
By getting your up/down alignment correct, you will probably fix your right/left alignment. If not, use your thumbs to gently pull on your nose as you slightly push and rotate it into the desired position.
5. Follow up.
I hate to say it, but this isn’t a one and done situation. You will need to follow up on your adjustment daily. The first couple days after the accident, you will probably complete these steps to reset your nose four or five times a day. For about two weeks, you will want to check daily to make sure your nose is still in the desired position. When your nose stays in the correct place for a full day, you can start checking its location less often.
6. Get some ice.
Now that everything is set and healing, get some ice. As you ice your nose, make sure you have symmetrical icing. The last thing you want to do is have to immediately repeat this process because you were foolish.
7. Don’t do anything foolish.
Now is not the time to throw around the football or wrestle. Make sure to give your nose plenty of time to heal correctly.
I hope that you never actually have to use these tips. However, if you do, I hope they work as well for you as they did for me.
Have you ever set your broken nose? What did you do? Let us know in the comments below.
Thank you for reading this article. If you enjoy the information supplied, please consider supporting this website!
Sign up for my newsletter to get more tips for health and happiness! Also, you can find me on Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest as Custom Pilates and Yoga.