I read somewhere that your nostrils ‘take turns’ breathing. Which means that you are breathing through one nostril at any given time. Whenever I get sick, only one nostril at a time gets clogged up. So why do I feel like I can’t breathe at all? (forgive the excessive use of ‘time’)
I suspect that breathing through one nostril at a time is someone’s improbable speculation. I would guess that both nostrils are in use most of the time and blocking one reduces your intake by 50%. Since the body really prefers to operate in an oxygen-on-demand mode, a 50% reduction sets off mental alarms that you interpret as “can’t breathe.” (At which point, one should open the mouth and use the alternative method of inhalation.)
Here’s a quick empirical test to find out if humans only breathe through on nostril at a time:
Hold your finger near one nostril and inhale deeply
Now switch nostrils
Did you feel air rushing into both?
Hmmmmm.
My empirical test proves that we only breathe from the nostril that you put your finger in front of, huh?
Now go wash your fingers.
This question was asked in one of Dave Feldman(??) imponderables books.
The question was like “How come only one of my nostrils gets stuffed up when I get a cold? Even though the nostril that is stuffed up may switch from side to side.”
His answer was that each nostril controls the opposite lung and the body alternates to keep the lung from getting exhausted. For example the left nostril controls the right lunch.
I have to disagree with this as I have had many colds where BOTH nostrils get stuffed up at once and I can barely eat as when I chew I can’t breathe. So I don’t buy the question much less the answer.
bobevilsquid wrote:
Sounds to me like a mangling of recent (?) research. According to a definitely recent article in either Discover magazine or Scientific American, one nostril is usually more open than the other, and which one is more open switches on a fairly regualr basis. Scent molecules often break down over time, and so closed nostril = faster air velocity = shorter-lived scents get to the olfactory nerves in the nose. Open nostril = slow air velocity = more sensitive to long-lasting scent molecules. Don’t know that I buy into the idea that the difference in air speed is that great, though. Anyway…
When I get sick, much the same thing happens, although I’ve figured out a good explanation as to “why?” When sick, I usually curl up in bed with a book, trying to ignore the illness. I usually lay on my left or right side, since reading with a book held above my face tend to be disastrous if I fall asleep (which is often, when sick). Guaranteed that if I’m on my right side, my right nostril will “fill up.” Rolling over onto my left side will, in about 10 minutes, switch which nostril is clogged. Sometime in between I might be able to breathe normally for a few seconds (joy!). I can’t begin to describe just how familiar Markxxx’s comments about not being able to eat are, since sitting up to eat means, for me, no “gravity assist” is getting at least one nostril free.
“His answer was that each nostril controls the opposite lung and the body alternates to keep the
lung from getting exhausted.”
How would that work since they both empty into the same pathway, the throat, right?
The books on levitation & other fun spiritual tricks with the body energy, that I have read, use breathing techniques where you breathe from one nostril then the other. It’s quite a high I might add.
It doesn’t work because the answer is wrong. If Feldman really said that, he should be slapped and sterilized.
The title of the thread, exclamation mark for exclamation mark, is a direct although perhaps unintentional quotation from Paul Simon’s song Allergies. Hence, I’ve had to spend half an hour finding the tape to satisfy the craving YOU people put in my head.
It’s playing now. I forgive you. Go in peace.
[sub]something living on my skin… dum dum dummm…
It was unintentional, but 
anyway. heh heh heh…
Also, the higher nostril is the one that gets unclogged. So just turn your head so that the clogged one is on top (when you are laying down), presto! It unclogs.