Bike Thoughts From The Town Pastry Delivery Witch:
"While biking down Clark yesternight, I had a curiosity. Why do our noses run in the cold?
Shouldn't our noses actually be stuffy? Because the cold should turn our mucous into a solid, no?"
I received this wonderful thought from The Pastry Delivery Witch (previously The Sheep Herder) and felt the need to share. I have often wondered this myself and so I set out to do some research.
What we discovered:
Your nose has the job of warming and humidifying the air you breathe so that it is easier for your lungs to process and use. Part of the way it does this is by producing moisture. Now, when it is cold outside, the air tends to be drier so your nose has to work harder to achieve the same level of humidity. Often, excess moisture is produce and ends up dripping out of your nose.
In addition, your nose is nice and warm and the air is cold so the moisture in your nose can condense when it comes in contact with the colder air and form droplets that then drip out of your nose.
Rhinorrhea, pronounced like rhino plus diarrhea, is a term commonly used to describe a runny nose. According to The Butcher*, "It's like diarrhea for your nose." The Mayo Clinic says specifically it refers to a "thin, relatively clear nasal discharge."
The Pastry Delivery Witch and I were delighted by our findings and enjoyed this fruitful discussion of thought! We also loved the new addition to our vocabulary. Thank you, Science!
For more reading and to check out sources, please see below.
Sources:
*The Butcher has recently suffered rhinorrhea and thus, has been cited as a reasonable source.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99844567
http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/13/health/nose-runs-cold-partner/index.html
https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/runny-nose/basics/definition/sym-20050640