Why You Probably Shouldn’t Pick Your Nose

Most likely, nose-picking won’t kill you, but it’s not exactly a healthy habit either. Poking your nose not only looks disgusting, but it also leaves the door open for dangerous bacteria that want to summon your nose into the house.

In this video from YouTube’s Tech Insider, Dr. Erich Voigt , an otolaryngologist at New York University, explains what’s going on in your nose when you pick it. When you mine gold for your nose, your nails cause tiny abrasions in your nasal cavity. These abrasions bleed and your blood becomes food for all the microbes that live there. Microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus are a common cause of skin infections such as abscesses, respiratory infections such as sinusitis, and foodborne illness. In fact, one study from the University of Cambridge published in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology suggests that nose picks are significantly more likely to transmit Staphylococcus aureus.

Of course, many are picking their noses, and they are all right. One study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry even found that 90% of those surveyed admitted to doing it regularly. Nose picking is rarely a serious problem in healthy people, but it can be a problem for people with weaker immune systems. In addition, having fewer harmful microbes such as staphylococcus in the body is usually good – even for healthy people. So if you are a collector, this is not the end of the world. But you might consider blowing your nose the next time, or at least grabbing a napkin before digging.

Why picking your nose is bad | Youtube

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