During yesterday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets outfielder Kevin Pillar was struck in the face by a 95 mile-per-hour fastball and suffered what appeared to be a gnarly bloody nose.
According to emergency room doctor Brian Sutterer, M.D., however, Pillar may have been more fortunate than the footage made it appear: His injury could’ve been much worse.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel yesterday, Sutterer broke down the injury and provided advice on what people can do if they’re ever faced with a bloody nose—hopefully, it goes without saying, not one resulting from a fast ball thrown by a major league pitcher.
After a brief explanation of some medical jargon and a tutorial about where most nose injuries occur, Sutterer provided some basic tips. For starters, don’t tilt your head back—that’s a common myth. Instead, tilt your head forward and apply pressure on the “squishy” part of your nose. Hold your nose for at least five minutes, but it may take up to 15 or even 20 minutes. “These blood vessels have to clot off in order for the bleeding to stop,” Sutterer says, “so you can’t just hold it temporarily and release.”
If you can’t stop the bleeding on your own, you may need to go to the hospital—an ER doctor will have more aggressive tools to stop your blood vessels from bleeding, including medication or even cauterizing the wound. Sutterer also says you should look out for damage to the septum. When a blood clot forms there, “if not treated appropriately, it could actually cause that tissue to die off and lead to complications,” he said.
Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to have been the case with Pillar, who later responded on Twitter that he’s doing just fine. “Thanks to everyone that has reached out!” he wrote. “Scary moment but I’m doing fine!” #RBI #gamewinner
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