The nasal cream used after nosebleeds — and the one with a peanut allergy contraindication people miss.
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Naseptin is a nasal cream containing chlorhexidine, an antiseptic, and neomycin, an antibiotic. It is applied inside the nostrils rather than sprayed.
Its main use is after nosebleeds. The reasoning is worth understanding: the front part of the nasal septum has a rich network of small vessels sitting just under a thin, easily disturbed lining. Crusting, infection and picking all keep that surface from healing, and each cycle makes the next bleed more likely. Naseptin reduces the bacterial load and softens the crusts so the lining can settle.
It is also used to clear staphylococcal carriage from the nose, which is relevant for recurrent boils and before some surgery.
It is not a decongestant and not a steroid, so it does nothing for a blocked nose, hay fever or sinusitis.
Stopping picking and blowing hard matters as much as the cream. Both re-open a healing surface, and the cycle continues.
Keeping the air moist helps too — central heating and air conditioning both dry the lining and are common reasons nosebleeds cluster in winter.
Very little is absorbed, so systemic effects are not a practical concern with a standard ten-day course.
You have a peanut allergy, or a soya allergy. This is the important one and it is easy to miss: Naseptin contains arachis oil, which is peanut oil. Anyone with a peanut allergy should not use it, and a different preparation is needed.
Prolonged or repeated courses are avoided, both because of neomycin sensitisation and because repeated aminoglycoside use in the nose contributes to resistance.
Use in pregnancy only where clearly needed.
No significant systemic drug interactions.
No monitoring is required for a standard ten-day course.
What matters is not repeating it indefinitely. Recurrent nosebleeds that keep returning after treatment need a different approach — usually examination and cautery of the offending vessel, which is a definitive fix rather than a repeated one.
Recurrent boils alongside nasal staphylococcal carriage warrants looking for a cause, including a check for diabetes.
Yes, for straightforward recurrent nosebleeds in someone otherwise well, and for suspected staphylococcal carriage. This assesses adequately from a history, and the peanut allergy question is a simple one to ask.
What a consultation should cover beyond the prescription: the mechanical measures — how to actually stop a nosebleed correctly, which almost everyone does wrong — and whether anything else is driving it.
The things worth checking: whether you take aspirin, an anticoagulant or a nasal steroid spray; whether the bleeding is from one side consistently; and whether there is any easy bruising or bleeding elsewhere.
What needs in-person care: nosebleeds that will not stop after 20 minutes of correct pressure, heavy bleeding, bleeding after significant injury, recurrent bleeding from one side only in an adult, or any nosebleed alongside unexplained bruising. Persistent one-sided nasal symptoms in an adult need examining rather than treating remotely.
This page is information, not an offer to supply.
Naseptin is prescription-only and inexpensive — a course on a private prescription costs broadly what the England NHS prescription charge would. NHS prescriptions are free in Wales.
Recurrent nosebleeds that are disrupting sleep, school or work, and a proper assessment of whether something else is contributing.
Stop after ten days. This is a defined course, not an ongoing treatment.
The answer is usually not another course of cream. Persistent recurrent bleeding from an identifiable vessel is treated definitively by silver nitrate cautery — a quick in-person procedure that resolves it properly.
Other things worth reviewing: whether a nasal steroid spray is being aimed at the septum rather than away from it, which is a very common and easily corrected cause; and whether aspirin or an anticoagulant is contributing.
No — and this is the single most important thing on this page. Naseptin contains arachis oil, which is peanut oil. Tell any prescriber about a peanut or soya allergy, and mupirocin ointment can be used instead.
Sit up, lean forwards, and pinch the soft part of the nose — not the bony bridge — firmly for a full ten minutes without letting go to check.
Leaning back is wrong, and it is what most people do: it sends blood down the throat, which causes nausea and vomiting and makes the bleeding impossible to judge. Releasing early to see whether it has stopped is the other common mistake.
Most commonly dry air, picking, forceful nose blowing, or a nasal steroid spray aimed at the septum. That last one is worth checking — sprays should be angled outwards, away from the middle, and almost nobody is shown how.
It helps the lining heal, which reduces recurrence — but if a specific vessel keeps bleeding, cautery is the definitive answer rather than repeated courses of cream.
Yes, it is commonly used in children, who get nosebleeds far more often — usually from picking and dry air. The peanut allergy question applies just as much.
No. It does nothing for a blocked nose, hay fever or sinusitis. It is an antiseptic and antibiotic cream for the lining itself.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
September 5, 2026
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