Noted: Dr. Diane Heatley, an ear, nose and throat specialist for children, echoed the pinch-and-hold method in a piece on the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s website, noting that an ice pack is also useful as, much like your fingers, cold surfaces work to constrict blood vessels in the nose. However, she also said that these cold items must be applied to the nose only — so if you’ve heard others tell you to place an ice pack near your neck or mouth, it wont help. Said Dr. Heatley, “A cold cloth or small ice pack on the bridge of the nose will also slow blood flow by constricting blood vessels. … But an ice pack on the back of the neck won’t do much.”
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