My eyes are stinging, my skin is itchy and my nose simply WILL NOT stop running. It must be hay fever season. Yay.
The thing is, though, when you’ve been in the wars with hay fever or a particularly nasty cold, there comes a point that you wonder how your body is STILL producing so much snot.
Just me?!
Well, the answer is annoyingly simple.
Where does all the snot come from when your nose is running?
So, according to BBC Future, our respiratory systems are protected by a specific type of mucus, known as phlegm, which you may already be very familiar with.
Phlegm acts as a barrier for your lungs, protecting them from things such as dust, pollen or even smoke.
In a video for the BBC, James May explained: “You actually produce snot constantly, but not very much, so it tends to dry up in your nose... Some illnesses, especially the common cold and influenza, stimulate increased production of phlegm and snot, because your lungs are crying out for better protection.”
When your nose keeps running with snot, these is known as hypersecretion and it is the reason why your nose can’t stop when you’re under the weather! It’s fighting battles for you!
How to stop your nose from running quite so much
This is all well and good, but when your nose is endlessly running, finding some reprieve is essential.
Medical News Today recommends taking the following steps:
- Have a hot drink
- Try some hot steam inhalation — add herbs or essential oils to hot water, lean over the water, and breathe in the steam
- Have a hot bath
- Try using a neti pot. To use one, lean over the sink, tilt your head sideways, and pour water from the pot into one nostril until the pot is empty, this should flush out your nose
- Eat some spicy foods
Brb, I need to blow my nose AGAIN.