Shoving pork up one's nose is a folk remedy for nosebleeds in some cultures. Now medical researchers think that it may be an effective and safe treatment. The Guardian quotes a recent medical journal article:
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: Flickr user TheDeliciousLife
"Cured salted pork crafted as a nasal tampon and packed within the nasal vaults successfully stopped nasal hemorrhage promptly, effectively, and without sequelae … To our knowledge, this represents the first description of nasal packing with strips of cured pork for treatment of life-threatening hemorrhage in a patient with Glanzmann thrombasthenia."
They acknowledge a long tradition of using pork to treat general epistaxis, ie nosebleed. The technique fell into disuse, they speculate, because "packing with salt pork was fraught with bacterial and parasitic complications. As newer synthetic hemostatic agents and surgical techniques evolved, the use of packing with salt pork diminished."
Link -via Dave Barry | Photo: Flickr user TheDeliciousLife
Another effective treatment is placing and ice cube between the top lip and gum directly under the nose.