Key Remedy Rescues Indian Princess

Q. I have read with interest your columns reporting keys as a solution for nosebleeds. I’ve been reading “A Princess Remembers:The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur,” an autobiography by Gayatri Devi.
In talking about palace guests whom she particularly admired as a child of 11 (in the early 1930’s), she describes: “…the especially thrilling Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., the great swashbuckling film star. Later he came to Cooch Behar on a shoot and I had an even more unexpected bit of luck. My nose began to bleed and (he) looked after me and put a key down my back to stop the bleeding.”
I’ve never had nosebleeds but can’t help being intrigued by this lore.
A. Thank you for sharing this fascinating anecdote. We have heard from dozens of readers that putting cold keys down the back of the neck can stop a nosebleed quickly. Who knows where Douglas Fairbanks learned this folk remedy, but it has obviously been around for a very long time.