# Crying and congestion **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crying-and-congestion/673265 "2013-11-06T19:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crying-and-congestion/673265/1 "2013-11-06T19:07:04Z")
Why do we get nasal congestion when we cry? Or isn’t this true of everyone? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crying-and-congestion/673265/2 "2013-11-06T20:17:25Z")
Basically because the tears don’t just go down the outside of your face, but they also go down the nasolacrimal duct into your nose. Moisture actually flows down through these ducts into your nose all the time. It’s just that when you cry there’s a lot more moisture going down there. Once the moisture gets into your nose, it mixes with the mucus that is already there, creating your congestion. > **[Nasolacrimal duct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasolacrimal_duct)** > > The nasolacrimal duct (also called the tear duct) carries tears from the lacrimal sac of the eye into the nasal cavity. The duct begins in the eye socket between the maxillary and lacrimal bones, from where it passes downwards and backwards. The opening of the nasolacrimal duct into the inferior nasal meatus of the nasal cavity is partially covered by a mucosal fold (valve of Hasner or plica lacrimalis). > Excess tears flow through the nasolacrimal duct which drains into the inferior nasal meatus....