What happens to people who pick their noses every day? Their nose hairs become less...

In the minds of ordinary people, picking your nose seems to have nothing to do with elegance.

I remember a news report some time ago about a five-year-old boy whose face became swollen like Ultraman because he picked his nose.

Picking your nose is not only a habit for children, but also for many adults. To us, the nostrils are like black holes that hide treasures, and we all pick our noses from time to time.

Although it feels good to pick your nose for a while, but are there really so many boogers in your nose waiting for you to pick? (And some children, driven by curiosity, will directly put the fresh boogers they just picked into their mouths. Does this operation bring back your childhood memories??)

How boogers are made

Before "criticizing" the act of picking your nose, we need to first understand how boogers are formed.

In our daily lives, we habitually call the secretions of our organs "shit": what the eyes secrete is eye booger, what the ears secrete is earwax, and what the nose secretes is naturally called "nose booger."

It is a product formed by the mucus in the nasal cavity and the particles in the air drying and scabbing. As a product of organ metabolism, nasal mucus is a normal physiological phenomenon, so you don't need to worry too much about it.

According to incomplete statistics, more than 90% of people in the world have the habit of picking their noses, and children pick their noses an average of 4 times a day. If the boogers do not enter the mouth, they will most likely be rolled into a ball and then, bang!, ejected or rubbed against the wall.

Why do we pick our noses?

Picking your nose sounds fun, especially when you get started. Just like opening a blind box, you never know what shape and weight of booger you will pick out. With this unknown emotion, people will psychologically immerse themselves in the pleasure of picking their noses. Although it sounds a bit disgusting, it is true~

On the other hand, it is to meet physiological needs. If you leave the mucus unattended, it will accumulate in the nasal cavity, and finally break through the obstruction of the nose hair and come out to see the "prosperity of the world". In order to avoid embarrassment, many people will "take the initiative" and take the initiative to clean the mucus.

Moreover, the human body needs to inhale 15,000 liters of air through the nasal cavity every day. If there is too much nasal mucus, it will block the entry of air and inevitably cause a certain degree of "harm" to the body. Therefore, picking your nose is not only for pleasure, but also for your health (do you believe this?).

The harm of picking your nose

Although picking your nose can help the body breathe better, you can't just pick your nose whenever you want. If you're not careful, it might turn into "Ultraman".

The nose is located in what we usually call the "facial danger triangle". This area is rich in blood vessels, and any infection on the face may spread here. In addition, our nasal veins are connected to the intracranial veins. Once the nasal veins are damaged or infected, bacteria will be transmitted to the brain through the blood, and then brain diseases such as meningitis or brain abscess will occur.

Image source: pexels

In addition to the low-probability events mentioned above, picking your nose can also cause a lot of unexpected harm to the body, the most direct of which is "picking blood".

When picking your nose, if you use too much force, your nails will scratch the nasal mucosa, causing blood vessels to rupture and bleeding. If the nasal mucosa is subjected to mechanical stimulation for a long time, it is easy to cause nasal inflammation.

In addition to physical damage, nose picking can also cause serious biochemical attacks on the body. People who frequently pick their noses will have a large number of Staphylococcus aureus around their ears, noses and throats. This is the most common pathogen in human suppurative infections. It is widely present in the environment and has very strong vitality, which can cause a variety of serious infections.

At the same time, since the nasal cavity is connected to the respiratory tract, if our fingers are not clean when picking our noses, the bacteria on our hands will enter the respiratory tract and increase the probability of pneumonia.

Whether it is physical damage or biochemical attack, long-term nose picking will lead to a decrease in the number of nose hairs. Without the protection of nose hairs, the defense and secretion functions of the nasal cavity will be greatly reduced, and various diseases will "take advantage of the opportunity to enter."

At this time, it is particularly important to pick your nose scientifically and elegantly.

Picking your nose: being elegant to the end

At the beginning, we mentioned the process of nose booger: mucus in the nasal cavity mixes with particles in the air. Wearing a mask when going out can help you reduce the production of nose boogers from the root. With less nose boogers, I believe the number of times we pick our noses will also decrease accordingly.

For general secretions in the nasal cavity, it is recommended that you clean your nostrils with clean water once in the morning and once in the evening. A moist nasal cavity can also better protect the nose.

If your nasal cavity is filled with hard mucus particles, do not use violence to pick them out directly. This process is likely to damage the nasal mucosa. The correct way is to rinse it with saline solution, wait until the mucus softens, and then clean it with a cotton swab.

There is so much knowledge in a small booger. Now that you have learned this trick, please remember to pick your nose elegantly next time~

END

Review expert: Yuan Xiandao, associate chief physician of the Department of Otolaryngology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, Doctor of Medicine.

Tadpole Musical Notation original article, please indicate the source when reprinting

Editor/Heart and Paper