Picking your nose isn’t something you are likely to do in public unless you are a child as it is a socially unacceptable habit. There are few reasons to pick your nose but there are many reasons not to. Recent evidence shows that by picking your nose you damage the lining of your nose leading the bacteria and viruses under your nails or fingers to a direct pathway to the brain and may contribute to Alzheimer’s. Excessive nose picking can lead to damage causing nosebleeds, and infections and you may develop sores. If you are unfamiliar Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that destroys memories and other important mental functions, there is yet to be a cure but there are medications and ways to manage to temporarily improve those systems. This is something that can be much more avoided without bacteria going straight to your brain.
Picking your nose is a natural habit usually developed when you’re young, Stefan Gates in his book Gastronaut discusses eating your boogers and says that 44% of people he has questioned say they had eaten their dried nasal mucus in adulthood and they liked it. A study done on nose-picking suggests that 91% of people have picked their nose 75% of current nose-pickers believe that everyone does it 1.2% pick at least every hour.
Picking your nose may become so normal to a person that they may not even release their picking their nose some even need to function daily. For a condition, called rhinotillexomania, often picking your nose, and nail-biting may be a way to relieve stress and anxiety this may be a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Many people who pick their nose do it out of discomfort in their room, in the shower on their way home from school out of habit, not compulsion. I hope this convinces the nose-pickers not to pick their nose.
