Nosebleeds are not generally considered to be serious from the perspective of Western medicine, but in lifestyle medicine I think of the little symptoms as warning lights on the dash, and frequent nosebleeds are an indicator that your lifestyle is impacting on your blood and/or your liver chi. You are on the way to, or may already have, the dreaded ‘liver fire blazing upwards’ pattern. It can make you feel that life sucks, like every day is a battle; everyone is your enemy, everyone is in your way and everyone annoys you. I’ve treated lots of clients with this pattern who, halfway through an intense discussion or outburst, get a sudden nosebleed. The nosebleed is not the presenting symptom (it is usually anger issues they present with) but they’d also have the yellow coated tongue (indicating heat in TCM) and other signs of liver fire blazing upwards. Some people do become concerned that ongoing nosebleeds are a sign of a serious medical condition but when they have tests done no medical cause is identified.

In TCM all patterns can be reversed, and nosebleeds can be treated through lifestyle. The cause is usually either a hectic lifestyle or suppressed emotions from difficulty managing stress or anger. The former is about the lack of yin and this is nourished by Chinese herbs, acupuncture, chi practices and specific foods; and for suppressed emotions follow the chi-cycle lifestyle and you will naturally develop the skills to manage stress and process emotions effectively. For a detailed lifestyle plan to prevent symptoms from developing book in for a holistic lifestyle consultation. You can also read all about how to make your lifestyle medicinal in my book Clock On To Health.