# Nose picking **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076 "2001-06-16T23:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![braun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@braun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braun)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/1 "2001-06-16T23:41:22Z")
OK, I know this sounds like a gross topic, but I actually have a rather serious question. I read the “Straight Dope” question that someone wrote in a while back, asking if picking your nose can be dangerous. Cecil wrote back that it’s really more of a gross-out factor than anything else, but if you were to break the skin, you could get an infection that could infect the sinus cavity and bone structure up behind the nose, which could lead to some serious, serious problems. My question: how likely is this? Is has me SO worried that I’ve stopped picking my nose altogether! Now, I’ve been picking my nose every day for 30 years with no problems, and then I read Cecil’s answer and freaked out completely! Now, tonight, I picked my nose and I’m worried that I might have done damage. No pain and it’s not bleeding and I didn’t even pick it really, just a sensation, like it’s stuffed up or something. Could I have infected it? Like I said, it’s not bleeding (that I can tell anyway), I didn’t pick it that much, and there’s no pain. I only picked it for a few seconds and was very careful. God, this sounds like such a dumb question, I know, but any help would be appeciated. Rick Braun ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/2 "2001-06-16T23:59:44Z")
for this you joined SDMB? (sigh). It’s unlikely you’ll develop a brain abscess from this, but it’s not impossible. If picking it now distresses you so much, stop it. If you can’t stop it, stop getting distressed over it. If you can’t do either, see a health professional about some therapy and/or Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors. Qadgop, MD ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/3 "2001-06-17T00:25:45Z")
I say pick it, clean it out. How else are you supposed to breathe anyway ? It gets dry up there and you’re not going to just blow it out on a tissue. Certainly there must be some adverse health effects to just leaving that chunk of dried snot, among the other impurities caught uo in it, in your nose for extended periods of time. Considering that doctors are now worrying about people being to clean, using anti-bacterial soap etc., it stands to reason that a little extra exposure to bacteria, via a little digital exploration, would be a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![braun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@braun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braun)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/4 "2001-06-17T00:42:12Z")
Quadgop: I’ve been meaning to join anyway, this just sped up the process. I wasn’t really looking for a sarcastic answer either (“see a health professional about some therapy,” etc - I mean, I was worried, but it wasn’t keeping me up at night, I just stopped picking my nose that’s all). My question was based on Cecil’s answer to a question from another member from a long time ago. You mentioned that I could get a brain abscess? I’m not sure why you would say that if you think it’s unlikely. Funneefarmer: I agree with what you say, though I’m still curious as to why Cecil didn’t explain it better in his answer. He mentioned “breaking the skin could lead to an infection,” but like I said, I’ve been doing it 30 years with no problem (as I’m sure most of here have - never heard of anyone getting infected), so I’m wondering how he came to this “infection” business. Seems to me like saying you MIGHT get into an airplane crash, so you better not fly in any planes. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/5 "2001-06-17T00:48:16Z")
**braun** Welcome to the SDMB! For future reference, this should be posted in “Comments on Cecil’s Columns” with a reference to the column. But … Cecil’s point in saying what the worst case scenario about nose picking was mainly for humor. All of us are told not to pick our noses because it looks funny and it’s not particularly sanitary. However, those reasons don’t stop most of us. So, Cecil decided to throw in a much more frightening reason. I would think your chances of developing a brain abcess would be pretty slight and I wonder if there are any documented cases of death by nose pick. I have no idea how to search Medline to find a case like that. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/6 "2001-06-17T00:59:20Z")
One should always, _always_, dip one’s finger in Lysol before picking one’s nose. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/7 "2001-06-17T01:01:50Z")
I _am_, of course, kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/8 "2001-06-17T01:51:50Z")
I don’t have the link right in front of me, but on the Centers for Disease Control list of the top causes of death in 1997, _Nose Picking_ is number 5,918. It falls right between _Getting Kissed By A Dog_ and _Eating An M&M That You Found On The Floor._ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/9 "2001-06-17T01:54:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by braun \* > You mentioned that I could get a brain abscess? I’m not sure why you would say that if you think it’s unlikely. Because it’s possible, and has been documented, both from nose picking and from popping zits around the nose. The venous drainage in this area actually goes thru the brain, unlike the venous drainage on the rest of the head. The blood-brain barrier can be breached here! Bad design flaw, I’m thinking. Is it likely? No. Should one live in fear of any nose picking? No. It’s more likely you’ll be hit by lightning. Hell, it’s more likely you’ll be hit by lightning _twice!_ It’s even more likely that you’ll die of a blood infection brought on by nail-biting. (your own, not someone else’s, or those construction nails.) But it is possible. BTW, welcome. IIRC, I didn’t post real profoundly in my early days, either. Many claim I still don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/10 "2001-06-17T02:18:16Z")
One tequila-inspired night, my friend hauled off while we were exchanging playful blows, and busted my nose. Nothing too serious, no hospital visit or anything. I woke up the next morning to pick the crusty, bloody boogers out of my nose and guess what happened; the little pice of cartilage that separates my nostrils had shifted! Now there is a little bump inside my left nostril, and a little void inside my right. I used to mistake the left nostril-bump for a booger and pick it to the point where it bled. I pick over and around the menacing bump. Nothing bad ever happened. I never got a sinus infection that spread to my brain and resulted in me biting people and foaming at the mouth. **So you all can take a chill-pill and throw away my number.** ---
**Author:** ![braun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@braun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/braun)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/11 "2001-06-17T02:45:19Z")
Oh no…now you’re saying I might get hit by lightning??? 🙂 Hehehehehe… I’m not worried about it anymore. I was before cause I kept thinking of “what if…” but that’s silly, obviously. Thanks for all the help with my post! Now I’m off to search for other questions that are even goofier than mine, to make myself feel less crazy… 🙂 Rick ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/12 "2001-06-17T03:46:02Z")
[[Thanks for all the help with my post! Now I’m off to search for other questions that are even goofier than mine, to make myself feel less crazy…]] You’ll want to take a look at the archive of staff reports… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/13 "2001-06-17T04:26:04Z")
In school, the nuns told us that squeezing zits could make you go blind. They _didn’t_ tell us about that other thing. 😉 Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/14 "2001-06-17T08:03:03Z")
I worked in cabinet mills for about five years and _had_ to pick my nose if I wanted to breathe out of it. Now I work in an office and find my finger wandering into my nostril all the time. Except for the occasional nosebleed I have never had any problems from picking, but I have got infections from plucking nostril hairs. ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/15 "2001-06-17T09:34:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*In school, the nuns told us that squeezing zits could make you go blind. They _didn’t_ tell us about that other thing. 😉 > \*\* Well I suppose squeezing zits _could_ be viewed as a euphimism for something else. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/16 "2001-06-17T14:29:30Z")
You can give yourself a cold by putting your finger in your nose if you have someone’s cold germs on your finger… BTW: You swallow that snot all the time even if you don’t pick it. It rolls down the back of your throat. ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/17 "2001-06-17T22:34:04Z")
Especially if your finger has been in their nose first! ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2001, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/18 "2001-06-18T00:39:09Z")
When you have a stuffy nose, or otherwise feel you must. Try this instead. Take a baby nasal aspirator and a cup of warm salt water (1/2 tsp salt, pinch of baking soda, 1 cup warm water). Squirt the solution up your nose while you breathe in. This rinses your nasal cavity. I never had a nose picking problem so to speak, but this was recommended to my by my doctor as a possible way to cut down on the number of sinus infections I was having due to allergy related congestion. It’s been wonderfully effective, just remember to wash the nasal aspirator after each use. :eek: Breathing easy today, Abby ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2001, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nose-picking/69076/19 "2001-06-18T01:39:56Z")
Now, now, **Arken** , everyone knows that you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose.