Nosepicking

[punkdrew]

Been meaning to look this up on wikipedia for months. Fascinating the list of people quoted, from Cecil Adams to Frank Zappa.

Nose-picking (from wikipedia.org)

Nose-picking (rhinotillexomania when compulsive)[1] is the act of extracting dried nasal mucus and/or foreign bodies from the nose with a finger. A very common habit, nose-picking can or may be used as a body-focused repetitive behavior or obsessive compulsive disorder, which can become a medical issue.[2][3] The accepted medical terminology for this stage of nose-picking is rhinotillexomania.[4] Most cases do not meet this pathological threshold.[5]
Despite being such a common habit, it is a mildly taboo activity in most cultures,[original research?] and the observation of the activity in another person commonly provokes mixed feelings of disgust and amusement.[6]

Prevalence
Nose-picking is an extremely common habit, with some surveys indicating that it is almost universal, with people picking their nose an average of about four times a day.[7] A 1995 study into nose picking, requesting information from 1,000 randomly selected adults, gathered 254 respondents. It defined nose-picking as "the insertion of a finger (or other object) into the nose with the intention of removing dried nasal secretions". Of those who responded, 91% said they were current nose pickers (but only 75% of these believed everyone did it) and two people claimed to spend between 15 to 30 minutes and one to two hours a day picking their nose.[5]
Mucous membranes in the nasal cavity constantly produce a wet mucus that removes dust and pathogens from the air flowing through the cavity. For the most part, the cilia that also line the cavity work to move the mucus toward the throat where it can be swallowed. However, not all the mucus stays fluid enough to be moved by the cilia. The closer the mucus is to the nostril opening, the more moisture it loses to the outside air, and the more likely it is to dry out and become stuck. Once dried, the mucus typically causes a sensation of irritation that leads to the compulsion to dislodge the itch by picking.
The main issue about nose picking is social acceptance: as with defecation, urination and belching, nose-picking should not be seen in public, although most people occasionally do it. Generally, nose-picking is viewed as disgusting in most western nations. Mucophagy, the act of eating the extracted mucus, is considered to be even more disgusting, and is often portrayed in comedies. In shows and movies, the disgusting person or the bully is often caught nose-picking. To be caught nose-picking is generally considered humiliating.
A popular saying in many English-speaking countries is, "You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." An unusual popular culture reference may be found in the 1968 Mothers of Invention song "Let's Make The Water Turn Black." The song tells a true story of an adolescent acquaintance of composer Frank Zappa who habitually saved his own extracted mucus on the pane of his bedroom window.[8]

Medical risks
Nose-picking may carry a number of medical risks, thus some doctors recommend against it and encourage the use of a tissue instead.[9] Risks may include nasal infections,[10] occasional nosebleeds (in 25% of those who pick their nose, considering that most of the population picks their nose occasionally)[7] and in rare cases perforation of the nasal septum or self-induced ethmoidectomy.[11] Nose picking, however, should not affect the sense of smell, as the nasal cavity where the olfactory nerves are located is too high up to reach. Also, due to the special nature of the blood supply to the nose and surrounding area, it is possible for retrograde infections from the nasal area to spread to the brain, although this scenario is unlikely to arise from normal rhinotillexis[citation needed]. For this reason, the area from the corners of the mouth to the bridge of the nose, including the nose and maxilla, is known to doctors as the "danger triangle of the face."[citation needed]

Health benefits
Friedrich Bischinger, a lung specialist at Privatklinik Hochrum in Innsbruck,[12] claims that nose-picking combined with nasal mucus eating is beneficial for the immune system.[13][14]

See also
Dried nasal mucus
Hygiene
Nasal irrigation

References
^ Medical papers at PubMed
^ Fontenelle, L. F.; M. V. Mendlowicz, T. C. Mussi, C. Marques and M. Versiani (December 2002). "The man with the purple nostrils: a case of rhinotrichotillomania secondary to body dysmorphic disorder". Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 106 (6): 464–6; discussion 466. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0447.2002.01463.x. PMID 12392491.
^ AAMFT Consumer Update - Hair Pulling, Skin Picking and Biting: Body-Focused Repetitive Disorders, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
^ Etymology: from Greek rhino- "nose" + τίλλειν - tillein "to pull" + exo "out" (or according to an alternative analysis, from Neolatin tillexis "habit of picking" from Greek tillein and hexis "habit") + mania.
^ a b Jefferson, James W.; Trevor D. B. Thompson (1995). "Rhinotillexomania: psychiatric disorder or habit?". The Journal of clinical psychiatry 56 (2): 56–9. PMID 7852253.
^ Hemenover, Scott H.; Ulrich Schimmack (August 2007), "That's disgusting! …, but very amusing: Mixed feelings of amusement and disgust", Cognition & Emotion 21 (5): 1102–1113, doi:10.1080/02699930601057037
^ a b Andrade, Chittaranjan; B. S. Srihari (2001). "A preliminary survey of rhinotillexomania in an adolescent sample". The Journal of clinical psychiatry 62 (6): 426–31. PMID 11465519. Reviewed in:
Abrahams, Marc (2008-08-19). "Why teenagers get right up your nose". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/19/research.highereducation. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
Abrahams, Marc (2003). "Nose Picking in Adolescents". The Ig Nobel prizes: the annals of improbable research. New York City: E. P. Dutton. pp. 19–22. ISBN 0-525-94753-1. OCLC 52092050.
^ Zappa, Frank; Peter Occhiogrosso (1989). "Boogers from Hell". The Real Frank Zappa Book. New York City: Poseidon Press. pp. 85–87. ISBN 0-671-70572-5. OCLC 43484351.
^ "What's a Booger?". KidsHealth. http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/yucky/booger.html.
^ Wertheim, Heiman F. L.; Menno van Kleef, Margreet C. Vos, Alewijn Ott, Henri A. Verbrugh and Wytske Fokkens (August 2006). "Nose picking and nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus". Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 27 (: 863–7. doi:10.1086/506401. PMID 16874648. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/506401?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
^ Caruso, Ronald D.; Richard G. Sherry, Arthur E. Rosenbaum, Stephen E. Joy, Ja Kwei Chang, and Douglas M. Sanford (1997). "Self-induced ethmoidectomy from rhinotillexomania". American Journal of Neuroradiology 18 (10): 1949–50. PMID 9403460. http://www.ajnr.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=9403460. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
^ "Dr. Bischinger Friedrich: Lungenkrankheiten" (in German). Privatklinik Hochrum. http://www.privatklinik-hochrum.com/de_neu/aerzte/lungenkrankheiten/bischinger_friedrich.php. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
^ "Top doc backs picking your nose and eating it". Ananova. http://web.archive.org/web/20050206203508/http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_903083.html. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
^ Bankhofer, Hademar (2007). "Nasenbohren" (in German). Gesundheit kennt keine Tabus. München: Südwest. pp. 10–15. ISBN 978-3-517-08373-5. OCLC 185006183. http://www.randomhouse.de/content/edition/excerpts/16222.pdf. Retrieved 2008-12-07.

External links:
BBC home: The Truth About Nose-picking
Toddlers and Nose Picking
Adams, Cecil (1982-08-20). "Can you die from picking your nose?". The Straight Dope. http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_270b.html. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
Ilori, Kemi (2007-06-19). "Nose Picking: The interesting and funny habit". The Daily Sun. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/goodhealth/2007/june/19/goodhealth-19-06-2007-004.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
"Man dies from picking his nose". The Daily Telegraph. 2008-12-05. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3566273/Man-dies-from-picking-his-nose.html. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
(In fact) Nose-picking favorite occupation of the Dutch (March 2007) (Dutch) Translated version
Another article on same topic (August 2008) (Dutch) Translated version
For an elaborate spoof, see "Nose-picking in the Pongidae and Its Implication for Human Evolution", said to be from the American Journal of Nasal Anatomy, (1987)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nose-picking"

[punkdrew]

I just had to post this as a followup (from ananova.com)

Top doc backs picking your nose and eating it

Picking your nose and eating it is one of the best ways to stay healthy, according to a top Austrian doctor.

Innsbruck-based lung specialist Prof Dr Friedrich Bischinger said people who pick their noses with their fingers were healthy, happier and probably better in tune with their bodies.

He says society should adopt a new approach to nose-picking and encourage children to take it up.

Dr Bischinger said: "With the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief, keeping your nose far cleaner.

"And eating the dry remains of what you pull out is a great way of strengthening the body's immune system.

"Medically it makes great sense and is a perfectly natural thing to do. In terms of the immune system the nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works just like a medicine.

"Modern medicine is constantly trying to do the same thing through far more complicated methods, people who pick their nose and eat it get a natural boost to their immune system for free."

He pointed out that children happily pick their noses, yet by the time they have become adults they have stopped under pressure from a society that has branded it disgusting and anti social.

He said: "I would recommend a new approach where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a completely natural response and medically a good idea as well."

And he pointed out that if anyone was really worried about what their neighbour was thinking, they could still enjoy picking their nose in private if they still wanted to get the benefits it offered.

[TheoK]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

["couldbecousin"]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

As long as the fever doesn't get high enough to cause seizures...

[TheoK]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

As long as the fever doesn't get high enough to cause seizures...

Yup. But up to 39.9^oC I don't try to lower the fever, and it works excellent.

[Callaway]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

As long as the fever doesn't get high enough to cause seizures...

Yup. But up to 39.9^oC I don't try to lower the fever, and it works excellent.

But if you have a fever and you're also in pain, it can be a difficult choice.

[TheoK]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

As long as the fever doesn't get high enough to cause seizures...

Yup. But up to 39.9^oC I don't try to lower the fever, and it works excellent.

But if you have a fever and you're also in pain, it can be a difficult choice.

I take pure opiates then. They won't lower my temperature. 

[Callaway]

I pick my nose with my fingers but not in public. As the doc says, you can't blow it completely clean.

I also rinse my sinuses with physiological sodium chloride solution sometimes.

Modern medicine is often quite absurd, like lowering your fever with painkillers. Fever is the way the body kills the bacteria and virus.

As long as the fever doesn't get high enough to cause seizures...

Yup. But up to 39.9^oC I don't try to lower the fever, and it works excellent.

But if you have a fever and you're also in pain, it can be a difficult choice.

I take pure opiates then. They won't lower my temperature. 

They mostly come mixed with Tylenol here, like Percocet, for example.

[Gluey]

I actually had OCD with picking my nose when i was a kid.
It was horrible. I remember saying "my brain makes me do it!"  when I was eight.
It was actually painful for me when I wasn't doing it. I did it so much that my nose was raw.

It was really great for making friends 

[renaeden]

I usually pick my nose with a tissue but since I've had my septum pierced, I've been told to leave my nose alone and blow it in the shower. This goes against all I stand for! So now it's been nearly a week since I had the piercing done and I've found that I can pick my nose if I'm careful. Otherwise it hurts.

[odeon]

^It's one of those things I've wondered about. How does one...?

[renaeden]

I suppose that once my piercing is healed, I can pick like I used to as it won't hurt. I'll also be able to hide the piercing, it's that sort. I'll post a pic after next Sunday.

[odeon]

The things you learn here.