Children never cease to amaze and sometimes frighten parents. Sometimes the father or mother is surprised that their child put something small in his nose, such as a cube, a small ball, or a battery stone, and he cannot get it out.
Queensland Children’s Hospital in Australia recently reported that more than 1,650 children came to the hospital’s emergency department over the past ten years due to foreign objects being placed in their noses. Studies have shown that pre-school children have a growing sense of curiosity about the world around them, and that they tend to explore the surrounding environment through the senses such as sight, smell, and taste, which prompts some of them to place strange objects inside their mouths or nostrils.
The Medical Express website, which specializes in medical research, reported that parents should always be vigilant to realize that their child has placed an external object in his nose, and indicates that symptoms may be in the form of pain or itching inside or around the nose. The child’s nose may run or bleed, and the child may express feelings of pain or discomfort.
Sometimes a child complains of difficulty breathing, or is exposed to wounds on the inner wall of the nose if a sharp-edged object is inserted into his nose. Note that some small batteries used in watches and electronic devices cause burns within 15 minutes of being placed inside the nose.
When a father or mother discovers that their child has put an external object in his nose, he or she must first be calm and not react with anxiety or tension, because this feeling may be automatically transmitted to the child and arouse in him a feeling of dread and fear.
It is then necessary to evaluate the situation, determine the type and size of the object that entered the child’s nose, and find out whether the child feels any aches or pain. The child must then be urged to blow his nose quietly, as this could lead to the foreign body expelling.
Some experts advise placing the child in a sunny place, as exposing him to the sun for a minute or two may arouse in him the desire to sneeze, which may lead to expelling the object out of the nose. According to the Medical Express website, doctors warn against trying to remove the object using tweezers, cotton swabs, or other tools, so that this does not lead to pushing the external object deeper into the nose.
If it is not possible to remove the foreign body from the nose using the previous methods, it is necessary to go to the hospital where specialists can remove the foreign body from the nose using medical methods in order to preserve the child’s safety.
Researchers confirm that prevention in such cases is definitely better than cure, and therefore parents are advised to keep any small or shiny objects out of children’s reach and always warn them against putting any objects into their mouths or noses.