A pregnant woman has come to the emergency department with complaints of nasal congestion and epistaxis. What is the correct interpretation of these symptoms by the practitioner?

a. These conditions are abnormal. Refer the patient to an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

b. Nasal stuffiness and nosebleeds are caused by a decrease in progesterone

It should be noted the options for the question are not complete. But the answer is,

As capillaries become engorged, the upper respiratory tract is affected by the subsequent edema and hyperemia, which causes these conditions, seen commonly during pregnancy.

Explanation:

Nasal congestion is a situation where the nasal passage become blocked. This is due to the swollen of the tiny blood vessel lining the nose. This is because the blood vessels have been inflamed.

There are many methods which can be adopted to relieve it. Some of them are

* Drinking lots of fluid

* Breathe in steam from a container with warm water

* using vaporizer

* Avoiding chlorinated pools.

Epistaxis is known to be bleeding from the nose. This can be caused by been exposed to dry air, which can cause the damage of the tiny blood vessels.

One of the methods that can be use as treatment is cauterization. This is the use of chemical swabs to cautirize the nose, and this eventually seals the damaged blood vessels.

This is an emergency situation in a pregnant woman because, it may may reduce the amount of oxygen required by the unborn baby.