Explain why we like to pick our nose

Research by Indian scientists has provided a solution to the habit of picking up this unhygienic nose.

Explain the phenomenon of people like to pick their nose

Perhaps one of us knows, picking up a nose in public is a " not nice " habit. However, have you ever wondered why picking your nose makes you so excited? Will the habit of sniffing the nose reduce the frequency just because you know it's not a nice action? The following article will answer all your questions regarding this strange habit.

In-depth study of nose-picking habits - the medical term ' rhinotillexomania ' was first performed by two American scientists - Thompson and Jefferson in 1995. They sent more investigation questions. 1,000 adults in the area of ​​Dane County, Wisconsin by post.

Of the 254 responses they received, 91% confessed to the habit of swirling their nose . In particular, there were two people who said that picking their nose directly affected their lives.

Although this is not a perfect investigation when scientists only received feedback from one-fourth of the respondents, the results of the survey showed that the nose-biting is popular despite many strikes. The price is not good about this action.

Five years later, Dr. Chittaranjan Andrade and Dr. Srihari of the Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience in Bangalore (India) decided to delve into the hobby of picking this nose with 200 students from a school. high school.

Almost all admitted that they have a habit of picking their nose with an average frequency of 4 times / day. Specifically, 7.6% of the students interviewed said that they picked their noses more than 20 times a day and up to 20% were having serious problems with picking their noses. In addition, 24 subjects reported that the origin of nose picking is due to . feeling comfortable and up to 9 people who confess often eat ' products '.

Boys often do this more often, while girls often think it is a bad habit. Boys, according to statistics, often have more bad habits such as nail biting (scientific name is onychophagia) or nose hair removal (trichotillomania).

The culprit of the facial injuries

Many people believe, picking the nose will help the nasal cavity clean but the truth is that this habit will make you more prone to rhinitis and possess a large amount of Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph) than usual. This bacterium is shaped like a bunch of grapes and has the ability to cause many diseases such as puffiness on the skin, food poisoning . This is the result given by the Dutch scientists' research in the year. 2006.

In extreme cases, nose tweezers can cause (or involve) more serious problems, as two American researchers named Trevor Thompson and James Jefferson discovered when they looked at statistics. medical. Once there was a case, the surgeons could not patch the punctured nasal wall due to the patient's constant noses making the patched area unable to heal. And there is also the case of a 53-year-old woman whose cheekbite prick not only punctured the nasal wall, but she actually punched a hole in the nasal cavity.

In addition, a 29-year-old young man who has two symptoms that have not been included in the medical record is trichotillomania (nose hair removal) and rhinotillexomania (nasal scrub ). This forces doctors to set a term with the new compound word: rhinotrichotillomania . His behavior was to force himself to pluck his nose hair, when the hair was plucked to the point of being overly thick, his nose was inflamed.

To cure the inflammation, he used a drug that had a side effect to make his nose purple. He did not expect this purple to hide his nose hair, and this made him feel very comfortable. He was actually more pleased to leave the house with a purple nose than with a nose hair. Doctors (now successfully treated him with oral medication) claim that his urge to do so is a manifestation of the body's deformity disorder, which is sometimes thought to be a symptom. Compulsive or obsessive behavioral disorders.

How dangerous is it?

Most of us can be relieved to know that sometimes sneaking your nose discreetly is probably not a pathological state . It is noteworthy that although nail biting and epilation is considered a symptom of forced behavior or obsession, rhinotillexomania is not considered so. But that does not mean that nose twisting is completely safe, in a 2006 study, a group of Dutch researchers found that picking up the nose is easy to cause infection.

They found that people who prick their nose at an ENT clinic are more likely to carry staph in their nose than those who do not. In healthy volunteers, they also found something similar: a clear correlation between the frequency of nose twisting and the frequency at which nasal bacteria harboring these bad bacteria, and with frequency about the amount of staph bacteria that appear in this culture.

Reason

Although there are many dangers for the body, why is the nose picking still favored by many people in the world?The answer lies in human psychology.

The inside of the human nostrils contain a lot of sensitive nerves, so when there is a bit of 'strange object' in the nose, the body will feel somewhat uneasy and uncomfortable. Cleaning the nostrils will bring a pleasant feeling, not only for the nostrils but also for the body to feel better.

Besides that, sneezing is also seen as an act of lazy expression. Instead of trying to get rid of ' strange objects ' from the nose and wipe with tissue paper, people like 'turning' their fingers into their nostrils and twisting them. This is shown more clearly when you are in public. After all, fingers are never missing when you feel you want to clear your nose. It is more than a tissue box. It is exciting to know that some researchers are still trying to figure out why we pick our nose and its consequences.

The study of nose-picking habits helped Chittaranjan Andrade and BS Srihari scientists receive the Nobel Prize in Public Health in 2001.