Nasal Injury patient information leaflet

Your nose has two bones at the top and some cartilage at the bottom. A nasal fracture is when the bones are broken.

The nurse or doctor in the Emergency Department will look at your child’s nose to make sure there is no internal bleeding affecting the cartilage.

You can use ice packs for the swelling and painkillers such as paracetamol for the pain.

We don’t do any X-rays of the nose as they don’t help.

If you think your child`s nose has changed shape 5 days after the injury, please call the Emergency Department on day 5-7. They will make you an appointment in the ENT nasal injury clinic. Please phone 0141 452 4603 between 9am and 1pm Monday to Friday.

If the bones are broken but the nose is still the same shape, we don’t need to do anything. The bones will heal back together after a couple of weeks. Just make sure your child doesn’t injure the nose again while the bones are healing. It is best to stay away from any contact sports and PE lessons for 3 weeks after the injury.

If you think your child’s nose is a different shape after the injury then we can try to fix it by pushing the bones back into place. This only works while the bones are broken. Once they heal back together it won’t work. This is why your child must attend their ENT nasal injury clinic appointment at the date and time you are given.

Most of the time, we can push the bones back into place using local anaesthetic. This means numbing the nose so it isn’t sore. Sometimes for very young children, we might suggest doing it under general anaesthetic
(asleep).

Once we have pushed the bones back into place they will heal back together after a couple of weeks. Just make sure your child doesn’t injure the nose again while the bones are healing. It is best to stay away from any contact sports and school PE lessons for 3 weeks after the procedure.