Why did he almost lose his life just because he was cutting his nose hair?

Many people like to trim their nose hairs, because it is very embarrassing if the nose hairs are long, so trimming nose hairs has become a daily routine for many friends. For example, in May 2023, there was a news report that Mr. Zhang from Hangzhou paid special attention to his image, and shaving and trimming nose hairs were "must-dos" every day. But a while ago, he found that when he washed his face, he would bleed from the nose with a slight touch. He went to the hospital for a check-up and found that the tissue infection was caused by trimming nose hairs.

What's going on?

Let's take a look at nose hair. First of all, hair is an accessory structure of the skin. The hair on the body is divided into head hair, armpit hair, pubic hair, nose hair, etc., especially men have very abundant body hair. Among them, nose hair is a special kind of hair, a kind of auxiliary tactile receptor, growing in the nose, and is the first line of defense against respiratory diseases. Nose hair can form various small holes through the dense effect, blocking dust, bacteria, etc. in the air, allowing the human body to inhale filtered clean air. Tests show that nose hair can completely block large particles larger than PM 50. The cilia movement of nose hair can also help the nasal cavity excrete secretions and effectively protect the moisture of the nasal cavity.

Some people have abundant nose hair. In addition to genetic factors, it generally indicates that the body secretes more male hormones. Because the growth of body hair is related to the level of hormones in the body, men are more likely to have nose hair protruding from their nostrils. If the body remains healthy and the endocrine system is stable, male hormones can be secreted. Under the action of hormones, the hair follicles maintain good function and nutrients can be obtained in time. Usually, the hair will continue to grow. In addition to the need to shave, the nose hair will slowly grow longer and be more abundant.

Back to Mr. Zhang at the beginning, the doctor who treated him analyzed that "the patient has nasal cellulitis. It may be related to his nose hair cutting." Here, let me first introduce cellulitis. Cellulitis is a widespread, diffuse, purulent inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. The nasal mucosa is relatively fragile, and it is easy to cause tissue infection if it is accidentally damaged. It can be seen that the proliferation of Staphylococcus aureus, hemolytic streptococci or saprophytic bacteria will cause this kind of nasal inflammation. In daily operations, Mr. Zhang used the same pair of scissors for convenience every time he cut his nose hair and nails, and he did not disinfect them. Once he was in a hurry to clean up, when he was cleaning his nose hair, the tip of the knife pierced the nasal mucosa, which hurt a bit, but Mr. Zhang did not care, but it caused an infection. The infection is located in the nasal cavity, the legendary danger triangle. Here is a brief introduction to the danger triangle. The danger triangle refers to the triangle formed by the two nostrils and the center of the eyebrows. The veins in this area lack venous sinuses. If you squeeze them hard, the infection may move upward and lead to serious infection. For example, people often squeeze small boils and acne in the danger triangle with their fingers, but they don’t know that when squeezing, blood will flow back and bacteria can easily enter the deep veins, causing sepsis, septicemia, and even more serious consequences.

The picture comes from Tuchong.com

Here, because the inflammation caused by the infection of the nasal mucosa is difficult to control, he was fortunately treated in time. He was hospitalized for 12 days and received continuous anti-infection treatment, which saved his life. If it was not so timely, the inflammation and infection would have worsened and might have entered the intracranial venous sinus, which would not only cause severe cavernous sinus thrombosis and phlebitis, but also be accompanied by severe headaches, nausea, vomiting and even brain abscesses, which would be life-threatening.

So, after reading this, everyone should be careful enough. I remind you again that it is important to take care of your image, because it involves dangerous areas, so don't be careless when cutting nose hair. The precautions are as follows, please keep them well:

1. Clean and disinfect the repair tools. The nasal mucosa is a very fragile part. If the tools are not clean and carry bacteria during the nose hair trimming process, it is easy to cause nasal infection. If you are not careful, it will damage the skin or mucosa of the nasal vestibule, causing bleeding, and directly introduce bacteria into the wound, causing nasal furuncle. Therefore, before trimming the nose hair, clean and disinfect the repair tools first.

2. Choose a well-lit place to trim your nose hair. You should try to choose a well-lit place to trim your nose hair. This also takes into account the bifurcation and angle of the nose hair. Otherwise, the nose hair may be trimmed unevenly and easily cause tissue damage.

Finally, I would like to emphasize again that you should never trim your nose hairs at will, and never squeeze the dangerous triangle area! If you accidentally get an infection in this area, it is recommended to apply ointment and seek medical treatment in time.

This article is a work supported by Science Popularization China Starry Sky Project

Author: Zhou Yu

Reviewer: Cheng Fang (Chief Physician of Dermatology Department, Xingtai People's Hospital, Hebei Province)

Produced by: China Association for Science and Technology Department of Science Popularization

Producer: China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.