why do both max and eleven get nosebleeds

[karen of mental illness]

what is the science to it

[Riddler]

I don't think there's a scientific explanation for that. I think the powers of both girls come from their brains. So nosebleeds are added to show that the use of these powers is associated with great efforts and can also have negative health consequences. Max's nosebleeds are also always associated with severe headaches.

So maybe it's the higher blood pressure in the brain that bursts blood vessels. I have no idea ;)

[charly4711]

Uhhh ... I kinda doubt there is any such thing as "higher blood pressure in the brain" (but of course we can imagine any kind of weird science to explain rewind capabilities.)
I feel like fainting and random nosebleeds are just conventional signs in fantasy literature that something weird, possibly inexplicable, is going on with somebody. If you want to up the mystery, you throw in recurring nightmares, visions, stigmata, etc. (oh, dying animals, the ten biblical plagues, the plot thickens.) But then, I'm always inclined to see things as plot devices, esp. when the authors don't give us much to go by as far as explanations are concerned, and deliberately too, I suppose.

[the Coroner]

the idea could be that the time travel ability applies very much physically strains for Max.

[autumndragonfalling]

It is a regular trope to show what the character is doing causes physical strain.

[the Coroner]

Originally posted by autumndragonfalling:

It is a regular trope to show what the character is doing causes physical strain.

sorry, i forgot the half, i guess it's physical as well as psychical Stress, so it could also be a psychosomatic symptom.

[high mmr replays v2 (pinned mess]

Life is stranger things.

[Crazy Gamer]

who is eleven

[CZBGR Icepick]

I'll get back to you people on this....

[the Coroner]

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

I'll get back to you people on this....

who exactly and what about?

[darkdisciple1313]

As others have said, it's a trope used often to add visceral clues to the fact: "Hey, man, this zhit hurts!"

In Max's case, one could argue that the nosebleeds represent her brain over-compensating for her travels through the multiverse, in that her body has to catch up with what is going on in her mind. In some ways, her brain is attempting to kick her in the butt and tell her, "Uh, hey, you wanna stop this now? Part of your amygdala is still three 'verses back that way..."

[Riddler]

Originally posted by Crazy Gamer:

who is eleven

http://strangerthings.wikia.com/wiki/Eleven (Spoilers!)

[autumndragonfalling]

I wanna say in a Stephen King story with psycic powers involved the characters got nose bleeds too. Firestarter?

[Protectron]

It doesn't necessarily happen in novels, because there the writer could easily describe what the character's sensations are like in detail.

On the small and big screens, however, this wouldn't work well. So it has become a TV trope for great mental exertion. It shows rather than tells the audience that whatever the character is doing comes at great cost and thus limits its use.

[darkdisciple1313]

Originally posted by androtceran:

It doesn't necessarily happen in novels, because there the writer could easily describe what the character's sensations are like in detail.

On the small and big screens, however, this wouldn't work well. So it has become a TV trope for great mental exertion. It shows rather than tells the audience that whatever the character is doing comes at great cost and thus limits its use.

Yeah, I'm trying to remember if books like Firestarter, Carrie or The Dead Zone, all of which featured some kind of mental ability beyond the ken, mentioned physical ailments such as nosebleeds. At least it's not like the movie Scanners, where heads go boom. Messily.

[Crazy Gamer]

Originally posted by Riddler:

Originally posted by Crazy Gamer:

who is eleven

http://strangerthings.wikia.com/wiki/Eleven (Spoilers!)

ok i see, have never watched that show , thanks for the info