# Exercise Causing a Runny Nose **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046 "2004-10-25T14:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/1 "2004-10-25T14:10:03Z")
Over the past week, I have been biking to work since I have no car and have noticed that each day, regardless of the temperature outside, my nose is running by the time I hit the 1.5 mark on my ride. For instance, it’s about 40 F out right now and was maybe a little bit colder when I first got in but for the last half mile of my trip, I was constantly sniffling and wiping at my nose as if I were in a sauna or had a cold. Why? What’re the physiological reasons for this? Is there some benefit or just something weird our (or my?) body does? Thanks in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/2 "2004-10-25T14:22:54Z")
It’s not just you. I get the same thing in the gym. After about 15 minutes of a workout, my nose is running a bit and I need to blow it. I like it since usually my nose is bit dry in the winter. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/3 "2004-10-25T14:32:43Z")
Good on you, Aesiron, for biking. Great for your body and great for the environment too. I think all the additional air rushing in your sinus cavities dries out your mucous membranes and the membranes produce more mucous to keep up. That also happens to me on very dry, cold days. I tend to drip everywhere 🙂 Aren’t you glad I told you that? ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/4 "2004-10-25T14:46:56Z")
Actually I guess I always thought that exercize in general caused this, so as to open up the airway to enable more air into your lungs. This is just a WAG, though… ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/5 "2004-10-25T19:57:34Z")
Just a WAG, but I think it may also have to do with your nose being a little colder than you think with that 40 degree air rushing past while you’re biking. The wind chill effect does make extremities colder on a bike. In fact, most cold-weather biking gloves have a terry cloth ‘wiping patch’, as it’s delicately called. I notice drips (runs, rivers) much more on my cold-weather bike commutes than warm weather ones. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/6 "2004-10-26T00:32:32Z")
I don’t think it’s just the cold - I get a full nose (not runny exactly, but I need to blow it) when training very hard in an incredibly hot, windowless room in the summer (no AC, no ventilation, top floor of high building, sometimes 90+ degree days _outside_). ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exercise-causing-a-runny-nose/271046/7 "2004-10-26T23:13:11Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > Good on you, Aesiron, for biking. Great for your body and great for the environment too. > > I think all the additional air rushing in your sinus cavities dries out your mucous membranes and the membranes produce more mucous to keep up. That also happens to me on very dry, cold days. I tend to drip everywhere 🙂 Aren’t you glad I told you that? As much as I need the exercise and as many breaks as the environment needs, I’d still be driving if I had the choice. Riding again after not being in a bike for a decade or more is … interesting. And I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one with a spigot for a nose. Anyway, now that I know it’s common and nothing to worry about, can anyone give any reason why exercise opens up your nasal cavities? Maybe because a stuffy nose would be dangerous when engagin in aerobic exercise? That’s all I can guess.