On Health Day

Home Treatment

You can take steps at home to prevent bleeding and stay healthy.
Avoid certain nonprescription medications that can increase the risk of
bleeding in the stomach or intestines and can interfere with normal blood
clotting. Medications to avoid include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs),
  which include:
  • Aspirin.
  • Ibuprofen, such as
    Advil or Motrin.
  • Naproxen, such as Aleve or
    Naprosyn.
  • Ketoprofen, such as Actron or Orudis.
• Medications that contain the ingredient
  salicylate, which is closely related to aspirin. Alka-Seltzer, Pepto-Bismol,
  and many cough medicines contain salicylates.

Acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) is a much safer pain reliever for
people with bleeding disorders because it is less likely to cause bleeding in
the stomach or intestines than aspirin or other NSAIDs. However, acetaminophen
does not reduce swelling and inflammation. If you have von Willebrand’s disease
and need to treat swelling, you should consult your health professional.

If you know that you have
von Willebrand’s disease, make sure to notify all of
your health professionals. In most cases, you will need to avoid certain
prescription blood thinners, such as warfarin and heparin.

For type 3 (severe) von Willebrand’s disease

• Maintain a healthy weight for your height.
  Being overweight puts additional stress on joints and can cause bleeding
  episodes.
• Exercise to help keep your muscles flexible and control
  your weight. This can prevent damage to muscles or joints. To get the most out
  of exercise and to protect your muscles and joints:
  • Warm up with a few minutes of gentle
    stretching before exercise to prevent bleeding. If muscles are warmed up before
    exercise, they are less likely to bleed from being pulled or
    torn.
  • Try swimming, bicycling, and walking, which are safe
    activities because of their low impact on joints and low risk of
    injury.
  • Avoid football, hockey, wrestling, and weightlifting (with
    heavy weights), which are not safe activities because they increase your risk
    of injury that may lead to excessive bleeding.
• Recognize bleeding episodes. You can often feel
  when you are bleeding into muscles and joints. Clotting factors should be
  infused as soon as possible after you recognize bleeding.
• Learn to
  inject (infuse) replacement
  clotting factors in yourself or your children.
  Children also may be taught by age 10 to infuse themselves with clotting
  factors. Being able to infuse at home will speed treatment and prevent damage
  caused by excessive bleeding.

Author:
Kerry V. Cooke

Medical Review:
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine

Brian Leber, MDCM, FRCPC - Hematology