Nasal hair

Nasal hair.

Nasal hair or nose hair is the hair in the nose. Its main function is to keep foreign or unwanted particles from entering the lungs through the nasal cavity. Adult humans have hairs in the anterior nasal passage.

Nasal hair should not be confused with cilia of the nasal cavity, which are the microscopic cellular strands that, unlike macroscopic nasal hair, draws mucus up toward the oropharynx via their coordinated, back-and-forth beating.

Removal

A number of devices have been sold to trim the nose hair, including miniature rotary clippers, and attachments for electric shavers. The trimmers shorten the hair to such lengths so that they do not appear outside of the nasal passage. A pair of tweezers can be used which facilitates removal and an antiseptic cream applied after treatment on the end of a cotton-bud to reduce the risk of infection and soreness.

The removal of nasal hair by plucking can be painful, followed by a reaction of tearing eyes, sneezing, and sometimes bleeding. These symptoms can be lessened if the plucking occurs in a situation where more warm moisture is present in the nasal passage (e.g. after a shower or steam facial); However, the pain associated with this method of nose hair removal can be a prohibitive factor to its removal for cosmetic purposes. Removal by hand can be less painful, though acquiring a firm grip on a single hair may prove prohibitively difficult for some.

Some sources suggest that removing nose hair by pulling can be extremely dangerous (by causing a nasal infection that could travel to the brain).^[1] However, there is no scientific evidence that such danger actually exists and there are no known reports of humans having health problems because of hair plucking or pulling.^[2]

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ http://www.thebullet.tv/can-plucking-nose-hair-prove-fatal/