• [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
    1491·
    10 months ago

    It’s actually normal.
    Your nostrils cycle between like this so that the one can take a break from the air flow and mitigate drying out.

    • usualsuspect191
      431·
      10 months ago

      Not only does it help from drying out, but it helps with smell too; some things are better detected with a slower airflow

        • charliespider@lemmy.world
          501·
          10 months ago

          Two nostrils allows for stereo smells. If we only had one nostril, we would only be able to smell in mono.

        • Gunrigger@lemmy.world
          7·
          10 months ago

          I was going to say because it would be fucking weird if we just had one big nose hole. Now I’m thinking about it, our nostrils are already pretty weird.

          I’m now looking in the mirror at my nostrils and pumping them to the beat of a song.

          • nixcamic@lemmy.world
            4·
            10 months ago

            Thinking about your body for too long: It’s like semantic satiation but for physiology.

    • IninewCrowEnglish
      33·
      10 months ago

      Also just to add to the torture of these conversations … the inside of your lungs also have a certain ‘scent’ or ‘aroma’ to it. It’s very subtle and wouldn’t be noticeable to anyone else except for yourself because the exhaled air is coming straight out of your lungs and right past your nostrils and all its receptors. Your receptors can sense it but your brain automatically ignores it and you never notice.

      The same goes for your vision … you have a natural blind spot in the center of your vision … the edges are not crisp and clean, you can only focus on about 10 percent of what you actually see in front of you, the rest is just blurry … your brain just automatically processes your entire vision and autogenerates a perceived image that makes us believe that we have crystal clear vision through our entire field of view.

      Same goes with hearing … just about every person has a tiny bit of tinnitus, ringing of the ears but your brain just automatically processes it all out to make you think that you have crystal clear hearing.

      When you think about it … all our senses are pretty imperfect and there is a lot of interference and nonsense data that our brain processes out to make us believe that we have perfect or near perfect vision, hearing and sense of smell.

      • Rolando@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 months ago

        you can only focus on about 10 percent of what you actually see in front of you,

        I read about this when I was in high school and it freaked me out because I convinced myself that there were Cthulhu-like eldritch abominations inhabiting the spaces I could not see RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME and I couldn’t concentrate on school for the rest of the day.

          • Rolando@lemmy.world
            3·
            10 months ago

            You should read Blindsight by Peter Watts.

            Yeah, when I read that book I was like: this reminds me of that time I freaked out in high school!

            I admire the fact that the author put it online for free, and it’s a pretty good book, but it could have been better… Watts could have taken all those ideas about consciousness and humanity and produced something like 1984 or Catch-22 that embodies ideas that might otherwise get lost in abstractions. Unfortunately the ideas all get a little muddled.

            • WldFyre@lemm.ee
              2·
              10 months ago

              Yeah for sure! On the other hand it being such a dense, philosophical book means it really stands up to and benefits from a re-read! And the audiobook has a great narrator IMO.

              • Rolando@lemmy.world
                2·
                10 months ago

                Well, this conversation inspired me to finally read The Colonel, which reminded me of how great some of Watts’ ideas could be. Guess I’ll have to get a copy of Echopaxia next.

                • WldFyre@lemm.ee
                  2·
                  10 months ago

                  Oh damn I didn’t know about that! I’ll be reading that this week, thanks for the link!

                  Echopaxia was definitely different, I wasn’t crazy about it my first read through but it had me shook pretty good my second read through. I highly recommend it!

      • A_A@lemmy.world
        5·
        10 months ago

        Yes, and most importantly I would say : immune system’s way of cleaning each side…
        The clogging is caused by the swelling (with the blood vessels and the action of blood’s white cells … or … maybe I should read the article again)

      • [email protected]@sh.itjust.works
        15·
        10 months ago

        I am the red one destroyer of spam, csam and abusive content.
        You can summon me with the flag icon.

        For real though, I’m just a random dude lending a hand with moderation on sh.itjust.works where your account is.
        Peace

  • flicker@kbin.social
    891·
    10 months ago

    I just wanted to say these comments are off the chain. This is how the internet used to be- just people chatting, making jokes and telling stories.

    I didn’t know how much I missed it.

  • Nmill11b@lemmy.world
    761·
    10 months ago

    This is called the nasal cycle.

    Use Flonase to help (need daily use for >= 4 weeks) If this doesn’t help enough, you should see an ENT.

    Fun fact: the turbinates in the nose (which are responsible for the nasal cycle) have erectile tissue in them.

    Source: your friendly neighborhood Otolaryngologist

    • x4740N@lemmy.worldEnglish
      161·
      10 months ago

      Also fun fact: don’t follow medical advice given by strangers on the Internet that claim they are an expert

      You can never verify that claim

      • Nmill11b@lemmy.world
        4·
        10 months ago

        True; I, and I’m sure most other physicians would not provide identifiable data in a public forum. If you are having issues with nasal obstruction, alternating or otherwise., best advice is to follow up with your pcm for treatment, possible referral.

    • nixcamic@lemmy.world
      13·
      10 months ago

      I had a doctor basically remove everything from my nose that could be removed including a bunch of the turbinates. It’s great I can actually breathe through it now.

      • Nmill11b@lemmy.world
        20·
        10 months ago

        Yeah, inferior turbinate reduction is the next small step for this. Often if it’s just alternating nasal obstruction that’s good enough. Oftentimes there’s another component of nasal valve collapse or septal deviation. Personally, in my population, I end up doing septorhinoplasty (nose job) way more often than other smaller nasal surgery.

        You don’t want them to actually remove the turbinates, however. We generally just shrink them down – removing them makes the nasal air less turbulent, and difficult to sense airflow. TL;DR it make look like you can drive a semi truck through the nose, but people will feel like they cannot breathe at all. People have killed themselves over this.

        • Nmill11b@lemmy.world
          4·
          10 months ago

          It can happen, but the way most ENTs train these days, unlikely. I’ve seen it twice that I recall off the top of my head, but very rare these days.

          Most ENTs, including myself, are overly cautious. You’re at a higher risk for symptom recurrence because of under resection.

          That being said, I wouldn’t let an oral surgeon or general plastic surgeon touch my family member’s nose (unless they had a very very good reputation). Nothing wrong with their work, I’m just not sure they had the same training and respect for the nose.

      • Nmill11b@lemmy.world
        10·
        10 months ago

        This applies to nasal decongestants (NOT nasal steroids). Nasal decongestants (such as oxymetazoline AKA afrin, or phenylephrine based medications) are vasoconstrictors. They work very well and work very quickly as the vasoconstriction (constricting the blood vessels) which shrinks the inferior turbinates (and any other edematous tissue).

        The body responds to chronic vasoconstriction by making more blood vessels. When the nasal tissues have more blood vessels (and I presume are more dense with vessels) it’s harder for the decongestant to work. This is called rebound congestion — conversely, the patients in this scenario will feel they need to use more decongestant since it previously worked so well, but it no longer does. This cycle can be challenging to treat.

        For this reason most ENTs, including myself, typically recommend against afrin use for more than 3 consecutive days. I’ve seen who go as long as five, but I’m cautious and would not recommend more than 3 days.

        It’s a bit funny, because if you come into my clinic and get an endosocpic exam of the nose and/or throat (i.e. probably around 50%, often more, of my patients on any given day), I will spray afrin and lidocaine into the nose before my examination. The other main thing I use it for is nosebleeds. It’s okay to use it for 3 days during an acute exacerbation of sinusitis, but I don’t really think it’s necessary.

        Edit: I forgot to mention nasal steroids. As I said, the above response doesn’t apply to them. We don’t include nasal steroids in this because they have a very slow effect and don’t have the effect of rebound congestion. With few exceptions doing 2 sprays each nostril daily for a very long is fine for almost everybody, and usually helpful. When I prescribe them I recommend patients use them for at least 4 weeks. Once in awhile there are patient that I would be more cautious with prescribing nasal steroids, such as those with a septal perforation, or frequent nose bleeds. Usually it’s a non issue. Tip: when spraying them don’t spray straight back – use your opposite hand and spray towards the eye (i.e. spray with right hand into left nostril, aiming towards left eye).