Epistaxis (nosebleed) and how Linguistics did me wrong

I've probably had half a dozen nose bleeds my whole life. Not too many, but I've had my fair share-- including the time I got hit in the face by a soccer ball. Before this winter, I never really thought much about nose bleeds because it always seemed like such a random unfortunate event. But this winter has been (I wish I could say WAS, the past tense, but it's snowing right now) very cold and very very dry. This winter I've had more than my share of nosebleeds-- that was until I finally bought a humidifyer. Anyway, it's caused me to have a personal interest in them, so when I saw this article about epistaxis, I was curious to see what medicine was up to in this arena.

Overall, I thought it was kind of hilarious to read common Dr. Mom advice written in Scientific Jargon:


Most anterior nosebleeds are self-limited and do not require medical treatment. They can be controlled by pinching the anterior aspect of the nose for 15 minutes, which provides tamponade for the anterior septal vessels. The patient should relax, if possible. The head position can be either forward or backward, whichever is more comfortable, but it is important for the patient to avoid swallowing or aspirating any blood that may be draining posteriorly into the pharynx. A common mistake is for the patient to attempt to compress the area along the nasal bones. Pressure should be applied more distally by compressing the nasal ala against the septum.
Schlosser 2009 NEJM.



My mini-glossary:
epistaxis- nose bleed
tamponade- stopping bloodflow with pressure
aspirate(1)- MEDICAL: entry of foreign materials or secretions into trachea or lungs (breathing in)
aspirate(2)- LINGUISTICS: the strong burst of air accompanied by the release of certain sounds. The candle test tells you whether or not you aspirated. Both sounds 'p' and 'b' start with an aspiration and then followed by a voiced (use of vocal cords) "uh." The difference between the 'b' sound and the 'p' sound is how long after you aspirate do you then voice the "uh" sound. Interesting studies have been done to find a fuzzy border around 60 ms. If it takes longer than 60ms before you voice the sound, it is recognized as a 'p,' less than 60 is a 'b.' But the closer to the boundary at 60ms, the more confusion there is.

Sort of sad to me at this point that I had to look up the medical definition of aspirate, but could write pages about the linguistic use of the term... not to mention it feels like the linguists tried to borrow the word and got the definition backwards... IT SHOULD BE AN INWARD BREATH, NOT OUTWARD! This actually caused me great confusion when Jess was telling me about someone in the wards who aspirated something... But I was like, "they breathed out??? How could that cause you harm!?" She looked at me puzzled. Damn you Linguistics! So close.

PS funny word from this article: rhinorrhea. Can you guess it? Rhino + Rrhea. Rhino, like rhinovirus or that rhinosauruses have big noses (I guess??)... and _ _ _rrhea. You guessed it: rhinorrhea is a runny nose.