Special Request Monday

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I'm in the midst of a dreaded cold. I'm sure my nose blowing and coughing was annoying to the people that sat by me at Saturday's seminar. But I digress. I've spent a good part of the past two and a half days blowing my nose to get rid of the head and nasal congestion. At work today, someone heard me blowing my nose and said that they heard that you're not supposed to blow your nose because it actually makes the mucus stay in your passages. I mentioned this to some other coworkers and they'd never heard of it either, but one of them urged me to research it and post the findings in TWIT.

It didn't take long to find information on this and it turns out that my coworker was right. Sorta. An article in the New York Times a couple of months ago reported that Coughing and sneezing generated little if any pressure in the nasal cavities. But nose blowing generated enormous pressure that was equivalent to a person's diastolic blood pressure reading, and shot mucus into the sinuses every time. The doctor that did the research and testing said it was unclear whether this was harmful, but said that during sickness it could shoot viruses or bacteria into the sinuses, and possibly cause further infection. The doctor did say that it was okay to blow your nose one nostril at a time.

Another coworker and I were discussing this and decided to conduct our own tests. We both grabbed Kleenax and attempted to blow our noses using both nostrils. We had to agree with the doctor on this one. When we tried it, almost nothing came out of our noses, leading us to believe that the doctor was right in saying the mucus shot back up in your passages. Yet when we blew our noses one nostril at a time (which, I add, is the way that most people blow their noses) out came the mucus.

So there you have it. The next time you blow your nose, make sure you blow it one nostril at a time. I know I will.