WEBVTT - Would Psychic Powers Really Cause Nosebleeds?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and you've seen the trope. A

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<v Speaker 1>mental battle rages between a heroic character and her nemesis.

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<v Speaker 1>As the struggle wears on, we see the first signs

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<v Speaker 1>of the toll. It must be taking a trickle of blood.

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<v Speaker 1>Ruby red appears at one nostril. The strain of invisible

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<v Speaker 1>psychic abilities is admittedly difficult to illustrate in a visual medium.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps that's why so many authors of comic books, television shows,

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<v Speaker 1>and movies turned to this tried and true trope, the

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<v Speaker 1>psychic nose bleed. When blood comes from a character's nose,

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<v Speaker 1>it signifies that the character is exerting themselves. After all,

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<v Speaker 1>blood vessels can rupture things to physical exertion as many

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<v Speaker 1>a weight lifter nose, So perhaps psychic powers could cause

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<v Speaker 1>some sort of cranial pressure build up. It's concise and

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<v Speaker 1>visceral in a way that a mere facial twitch, drop

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<v Speaker 1>of sweat, or vein throb can't cover. It's become such

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<v Speaker 1>a common way to imply a mind push to its

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<v Speaker 1>limits that the Comics meets Medicine blog Polite Descent has

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<v Speaker 1>been tracking its appearance in comics for nearly a decade.

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<v Speaker 1>The site even gave the fictional phenomenon a name, epistaxis telepatheca,

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<v Speaker 1>the medical term for a nosebleed being epistaxis. The psychic

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<v Speaker 1>nosebleed has appeared in more than just comics, of course,

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<v Speaker 1>beyond comic book adaptations like the two thousand five film

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<v Speaker 1>Fantastic Four and the TV series Smallville, and media directly

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<v Speaker 1>influenced by comics like Heroes and Chronicle to other genre

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<v Speaker 1>media like The Fifth Element, Star Trek and Carnival. It

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<v Speaker 1>also features prominently in the Netflix series Stranger Things, in

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<v Speaker 1>which a mysterious girl called Eleven escapes a creepy government laboratory,

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<v Speaker 1>then uses her telekinetic powers against her former captors and

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<v Speaker 1>some trans dimensional creepy Crawley's The internal severity of these

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<v Speaker 1>psychic abilities is evidenced by the blood that trickles sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>from Eleven's nose. Stranger Things pays homage to pop culture

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<v Speaker 1>from the nineteen eighties, with the Spielberg meets Carpenter meets

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<v Speaker 1>even King sort of vibe, So it's fitting that one

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<v Speaker 1>of the earliest cinematic instances of the psychic nosebleed appears

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<v Speaker 1>in the four film adaptation of Stephen King's fire Starter.

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<v Speaker 1>A seven year old girl named Charlie starts fires using

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<v Speaker 1>the power of her mind evidence to not only buy flames,

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<v Speaker 1>but by the occasional nosebleed. But for some of the

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<v Speaker 1>earliest psychic nosebleeds, we're going to have to go back

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<v Speaker 1>to the paranormal thriller Scanners from David Cronenberg. It's the

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<v Speaker 1>first film to clearly connect nasal bleeding with psychic exertion.

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<v Speaker 1>In the movie, Scanners are people born with telepathic and

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<v Speaker 1>telekinetic powers, the extreme use of which makes them subject

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<v Speaker 1>to nosebleeds and more. But if psychic powers really existed,

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<v Speaker 1>how might this work. There's a theory that using psychic

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<v Speaker 1>powers could raise the pressure of your cerebro spinal fluid.

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<v Speaker 1>But pressure in this fluid, which surrounds the brain and

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<v Speaker 1>spinal cord, would not cause a nosebleed. It would cause

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<v Speaker 1>a coma. It's actually more likely than nosebleed would be

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<v Speaker 1>brought on by enthusiastic nose picking. The scientific term for that,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, is epistaxis digitorum. While the appearance of

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<v Speaker 1>nosebleeds adds to the nostalgic eighties drama of stranger things.

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<v Speaker 1>Actual nosebleeds can be dramatic and horrific on their own.

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<v Speaker 1>Anytime a body part starts spouting copious amounts of blood,

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<v Speaker 1>it's bound to cause a ruckus. It seems but a

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<v Speaker 1>small leap to connect nosebleeds to fictional worlds, but that's

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<v Speaker 1>all it is. Fiction. Nosebleeds are not caused by how

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<v Speaker 1>hard we use our brains. If that were true, think

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<v Speaker 1>of all the situations would need to choose for tests,

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<v Speaker 1>job interviews, presentations. Surgeons might bleed more than their patients.

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<v Speaker 1>The majority of nosebleeds in real life are caused by

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<v Speaker 1>fist versus nose or finger versus nose collisions. Infections, allergy

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<v Speaker 1>and irritations, and foreign bodies can also be to blame,

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<v Speaker 1>and high blood pressure can cause one, although it's lower

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<v Speaker 1>on the list of dangers than strokes or heart attacks.

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<v Speaker 1>Most nosebleeds occur during winter months and are exacerbated by

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<v Speaker 1>climates that are dry and cold. The vast majority about

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<v Speaker 1>of nosebleeds are of the and or variety, caused by

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<v Speaker 1>the rupture of a blood vessel at the front part

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<v Speaker 1>of the nose. These nose bleeds are relatively easy to

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<v Speaker 1>control and usually stop within a few minutes. Posterior nose

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<v Speaker 1>bleeds are a different story and are caused by an

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<v Speaker 1>arterial rupture at the back of the nose. A most

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<v Speaker 1>common and elderly people. Posterior nosebleeds are difficult to stop

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<v Speaker 1>and usually require hospital admission. Of course, all of this

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<v Speaker 1>isn't to say that we're not prepared to suspend our

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<v Speaker 1>disbelief just in case fiction starts bleeding over into reality.

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<v Speaker 1>We wouldn't want to think about it too hard. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode was written by Laurie L. Dove and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>Bloody Pool topics, visit our home planet has stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com.