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April 1, 2008, 9:08 pm
Flag as Inappropriate K to the J  

My boyfriend picks his nose all the time, and always tells me to because he's weird. He says it's "healthy" to. Is it? If so, why? And why do you get boogers anyway?

Healthy??? What's healthy about it. It's gross but it did peak my interest if it is healthy. I typed in boogers and it came up with 1,670,000 about boogers. I clicked on the first one that I saw "What's a Booger". It says picking your nose is NOT a great idea because boogers have alot of germs. Poking around in there can make your nose bleed too.

yes, I agree that it is NOT healthy, it spreads germs. Tell him to blow his nose or use a neti pot if it is not clean. If he has boogers all the time, he may have allergic rhinitis.

I think boogers are from the body releasing mucous in the nose to trap bacteria before it enters the body proper.

This to sparked my curiousity. I looked a bit on google and came up with a pretty funny nose picking survey.

Check it out:

We've all caught someone at sometime picking their nose. Some try to do it in secret. Others do it openly without embarrassment.

Maybe even you have been caught in the act. Nose-picking is one disgusting habit and is certainly not socially acceptable. So, are these people normal? One would guess that this is not the type of thing researched at our institutions of higher learning. Guess again. The Americans did.

Of course, scientists must give everyday things complicated scientific names. Nose picking is a term for us common folk. Nose-picking should really be referred to as rhinotillexomania (rhino=nose, tillexis=habit of picking at something, mania=obsession with something). So, the next time that you see a person picking their nose, tell them that they are a rhinotillexomaniac.

The researchers prepared their "Rhinotillexomania Questionnaire"

and randomly mailed it to 1000 residents in Dane County, Wisconsin. Each survey included a cover letter that stated, "The University of Wisconsin is conducting a survey of a common but understudied habit scientifically known as 'rhinotillexomania'. Its common name is nose-picking." Even better, the letter actually defined what nose-picking is: "Insertion of a finger (or other object) into the nose with the intention of removing dried nasal secretions." I'll bet that you already knew that. Can you imagine getting this survey in the mail? Even with the

University's seal on the stationary, one would have to wonder whether this was a joke or not.

Now for the results (assuming that they are reliable): Of the 1000 surveys mailed out, only 254 were completed and returned to the researchers.

· 8.7% claim that they have never picked their nose. (In other words, they are liars or they can't remember doing it as a kid.)

· 91% stated that they had picked their nose in the past and were still actively practicing this habit. Yet, only 49.2% of the respondents actually thought that nose-picking was common in adults.

· 9.2% rate their pickin' as "more than average."

· 25.6% actually pick their noses daily, 22.3% do it 2 to 5 times each day, and three people admitted to doing it at least

hourly.

· 55.5% spent 1-5 minutes, 23.5% spent 5-15 minutes, and 0.8% (2 people) spent 15-30 minutes each day cleaning their

nostrils. One lone soul claims to devote over 2 hours each day to this ritual (I'm not a doctor and I can tell you that this guy definitely has rhinotillexomania).

· 18% reported nosebleeds, while 0.8% claimed perforation of the nasal septum from their nose-picking.

· 65.1% use their index finger, 20.2% use their pinky, and 16.4% use their thumb (must have BIG nostrils to fit a thumb in) as their instrument of choice.

· Most people (90.3%) disposed of the goop in a tissue or a handkerchief, while 28.6% used the floor, and 7.6% stuck it to the

furniture.

· 8% of the respondents actually ate the end product. In case you are thinking of trying this delicacy, the study claims that the pickings are quite tasty (salty).

So, what have we learned from this groundbreaking study? Basically, boogers apparently taste good, although I can guarantee to you that I will never do the taste testing to find out. And we are wondering why there is no cure for Cancer yet!

Source

http://www.basicjokes.com/djoke.php?id=1044

I think this kid is just playing and shouldn't be taken literally.

Thats hilarious, 8% ate their boogers.

This is great survey and funny!!

That survey does tell the truth about boogers. I actually tasted my booger when I was young, I don't deny it but when I think of it now, it makes me wonder why I did it.

They are nasty but it is the body's healthy defence mechanism. Imagine without mucous in our respiratory tracks, starting from the nose, everything that is as tiny as a dust will just pass through our respiratory system without any filter. Boogers are the result of tiny particles being filtered while entering into our respiratory system. That is why we get bigger boogers in urban places than on rural because its more dusty in the urban places.

Um, not too sure here but perhaps you've got it backwards rjames? I know my lane is in the rural section (as designated by all the rural route addresses from the post office) and dusty and the urban section closer to town is all paved with not even many dirt driveways.

I do get even more mucus when I work in the garden turning soil though so it has always made sense why we get boogers.

I can believe a university did this survey and its for real. Undergraduates at colleges have to create, administer, and evaluate their own studies. If someone thought booger picking would be fun there is nothing to stop them doing it. I recall doing surveys on cartoon watching, ramen noodle intake, and eating food after it had been dropped(my friends were all psychology majors).

Um, ew. If it were so healthy, we'd be encouraged to do it, I think. It sounds like a lame excuse to me, but to each their own, I guess. Maybe it's just a habit he never bothered to break, but if he's got something he feels the need to get out, then using a tissue is definitely cleaner...and more polite, too.

Using a nasal rinse bottle will get the crud out without being disgusting (and unclean) about it.

But when something is stuck, it really is hard to resist.

Even if it's hard to resist, there's no reason anyone should ever see you removing it and especially not on a regular basis. What's so wrong about excusing yourself to the restroom or using a tissue to the side?