A runny nose is certainly not a good sign of your health. There’s just no acceptable reason why you can say otherwise. From what you know every onset of disease is announced by a runny nose, if not fever. A very sad movie or story can give you a runny nose, too.
What’s in your nose
Your nose has sensitive tissues and membranes inside. Aside from that your nose has mucus, which doesn’t call for much explanation for very obvious reasons. On a daily basis your nose and sinuses make lots of snot everyday. While mucus doesn’t appear to do anything good except by making you snotty, it actually keeps your lungs safe from dirt, germs, and bacteria. Your snot stops them dead in their track right inside your nose.
Why do you have runny nose
Now that you know your nose does you a good job when it’s runny, you shouldn’t worry too much having it once in a while. Some of the common causes are:
1. Cold or flu. Your nose turns into a mucus machine while you have flu to keep germs at bay from your respiratory track. Without your snot, you are respiratory track is literally wide open for airborne bacteria. While blowing your nose seems to be encouraged, keeping it clean of mucus will do more harm than good.
2. Crying. This results from your tears coming out of the tear glands just under your eyelids. The tears then flow into the tear ducts that give out to your nose. When mucus mixes with tears, your nose starts to run. The mixing happens inside not on the outside.
3. When it’s cold outside. Imagine your nose as your body’s thermometer. What it does to keep you warm is it tries to warm the cold air around you when you breathe. Your nose has to do that so the air that goes into you lungs grows warm. There are little blood vessels in your nostrils that cause that. When the blood flow inside these vessels goes overboard, it leads to much mucus. And you start to drip.
4. Allergies. This is fairly common in people to who are allergic to all things with fur or dust. You’d know right away because it starts with a sneeze then the inevitable follows. Not that these furry things are foul—it’s just that some people’s systems treat these things like they are dirty.
How to avoid a runny nose
This is the only way you can put it—instead of saying stopping it altogether. A runny nose happens every time you catch fever, so it’s almost inescapable.
1. Taking decongestants. It’s a handy way of stopping the runny feeling and saving your face from embarrassment. But not all decongestants may work well for your nose. Choose your brand wisely.
2. Blowing your nose often. It’s a lot handier than taking decongestants, sure, but how often can you do it in public remains to be seen. Too much blowing can irritate your nose all the more, so you get a runny nose and swollen nostrils at the same time.
3. Staying in a warm room. Staying in a warm room means your nose doesn’t have to exert much effort in warming the air around you. You notice you can breathe better in a warmer room than out in the cold.
When your nose itches, scratch it, but when it’s runny, don’t chase it: Your nose just knows when to stop.
Check out more on runny nose remedies.
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