• Question: Why do we pick our noses?

    Asked by asiansupreme to Anil, Blanka, Cees, Emma, Mike on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Michael Cook

      Michael Cook answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      I think one reason is because the things that collect in our noses (mucus, bogies!) can be uncomfortable and irritate us. The inside of our nose is quite sensitive to that sort of thing.

      I should probably stop eating while reading these questions.

    • Photo: Blanka Sengerova

      Blanka Sengerova answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      Yes, as Mike says, the lining of our nose forms mucus, which we need to remove, sometimes done by sneezing. There’s more mucus when you have a cold, which is why you sneeze more.

    • Photo: Emma Trantham

      Emma Trantham answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      And it’s not a good idea for us to pick our noses. Our hands will have been touching lots of surfaces and picking up lots of bacteria. most will be harmless but not all. If we then pick our noses we transfer these bacteria to our noses. We also then transfer bacteria from our noses to our fingers and then if we touch anything else we can spread these bacteria around… :S

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