Nose Bleed Solutions

If you look at the instructions on any Q-Tip box, you will see the various "approved" uses for the cotton-tipped swabs. They include cleaning snot out of a child's nose, polishing the silverware, applying make-up, removing said make-up, applying nail polish, cleaning gunk out between an infant's toes, wiping your keyboard, and building crafty tiny snowmen. You know, everything EXCEPT cleaning out your ears, which is probably the most common use of these things. Oh, sure, you can clean out your dog's ears with them, but not your own.

Cue eye rolling here.

Yeah, well, ears aside, my nose has been bleeding pretty much since I arrived here in the desert. The dry air is doing in my sinuses with a ferocity not seen since my Amazon water snorting days (and that would be the river, not the company).

After nearly a month of this, I finally starting using the cotton swabs on a stick to clean out the caked blood from my nose. It's not pretty. It is actually really gross. But the swabs are actually really really effective.

After a couple days of gunk-free nose breathing, I realized that could actually heal the nose faster with the Neosporin that I carry around pretty much everywhere with me these days. It is a liquid in the desert heat, but it works stunningly well.

So, Neosporin and Q-Tips for the win against dry air induced bloody noses.

Now if I could just get my sense of smell back, I'll be all nose-set.