-- Nosepicker

Dear Nosepicker,

Thanks for sharing. Sure, some will say, "Alice, must you post and respond to such an obscure and disgusting question?" Alice says yes, because like many other touchy topics and matters that are close to home, nose picking is a more common pastime than most folks, big and small, would like to admit. Alice bets some of you are picking and clicking right now! Besides, this act, however revolting it may seem, carries health risks that compel Alice to take a swipe at your inquiry.

Because the nose, mouth, throat, and sinuses are fertile territory for the development of infections, your picking finger can act like the Space Shuttle, delivering bacteria from a door knob or public telephone, let's say, directly into your body. (Of course, this route of transit works in the reverse direction, too.) Cuts in the nasal passage are another hazard that can result from your fingernails, whether they're well-clipped or not. Even microscopic lacerations that draw no visible blood, can open the door even wider to bacteria and infections. Avid nose-pickers, such as yourself, may see more pimples in and around the nose due to increased oil deposits from the fingers. For a very small minority of the nostril-inclined, the consequences of their behavior have been nothing to sneeze at. Alice knows of one vigorous young nose-picker who broke a blood vessel that required cauterization (a burning process that deadens tissue) to halt the bleeding that resulted. And she never picked again.

So far, Alice has focused on possible self-inflicted nose-picking consequences, but what about secondhand effects? Alice would bet that most people, even closeted nose-pickers, would not relish watching others picking, or, God forbid, dipping, sticking, or flicking. Public pickers everywhere (as well as belchers and spitters too, for that matter), keep this in mind.

As always, safer nose-picking is best done with a tissue. But if you must pick without protection: wash up, go easy, and keep it to yourself.

Alice

Related Q&As

Son picks nose, gets teased: How can I help him stop?