The Gentle Art of Nose Picking

It’s intriguing why otherwise normal, sane, and apparently well adjusted people pick their nose. What’s in their nasal passages that’s so important they have to use their finger to dig and retrieve it?

If you don’t believe that nose picking is common, these statistics may change your mind.. The Journal of Psychiatry published a study on people who pick their noses in 1995. They sent out 1,000 survey forms to residents of Dane County, Wisconsin questioning them about their nose picking habits.

Of the 254 forms that were returned, a whopping 91 percent said they had picked their nose in the past and were continuing to practice the habit to this day. Those are pretty sobering statistics. We are truly a nation of enthusiastic nose pickers.

If you don’t want to use the lay term of nose picking to describe this habit, you can use the official scientific name.The scientific term for nose picking is rhinotillexomania. Yes, it’s a mouth full (or nose full might be more appropriate).

If you would like more graphic information about the habit of nose picking, 8% of the survey responders reported eating the nasal contents they mined from their noses. Could these nose pickers be deficient in some necessary nutrient they’re trying to supplement by devouring their nasal secretions?

To restore your faith in human nature, it’s reassuring to know that over 90% of the survey respondents used a handkerchief to dispose of their nasal secretions. Unfortunately, almost 8% stuck their residual nasal secretions onto a convenient piece of furniture. Be careful where you sit or eat because you never know what might be stuck to the underside of the table.

You may be surprised to learn the history of nose picking dates back to very primitive times. There is actually cave art depicting cave men (and women) engaging in the elegant art of picking their noses.

Obviously, the habit of nose picking has fluctuated in frequency and style down through the ages, but it’s apparent that down through history this habit has never lost its appeal among those who practice it.

As much today as in past times, you can spot an enthusiastic nose digger stopped at a traffic light. It’s just one more reason they may have developed tinted windows for cars.