How many boogers does a person have

But that mucus gets diluted by a separate, watery secretion called serous fluid , which can vary widely based on your health. Mucus has two main functions: it keeps the nasal cavity and the other airways inside your body moist, preventing them from drying out due to all the air that flows over them.

Relatedly, the serous fluid that mucus is mixed with also moistens the air itself before it enters the lungs. Mucus' other function, though, might surprise you. Mucus, in other words, is nature's filter for your delicate lungs. The bacteria, dust and other tiny particles that you breathe in get stuck in mucus and pulled down into your stomach, where they're destroyed by enzymes.

When a cold or allergies cause your nose to run, it's because they're triggering an inflammatory response in your nasal cavity and airways. Even though you always produce roughly the same amount of mucus, this dramatically increases the amount of the serous fluid it's diluted in. We tend to experience this as an excess of watery, runny mucus, and it can be treate by taking an anti-histamine, which reduces the amount of water — leading to thicker, drier mucus.

Cold weather causes a runny nose in an entirely different way. In cold temperatures, your cilia the microscopic hairs that sweep mucus to the back of your throat stop sweeping back and forth as quickly, causing some of the mucus to drip down through your nose instead. The nose is mostly filled by conchae. Bruce Blaus. The inside of your nose is filled with structures called conchae , or turbinates.

Their primary function is to warm the air you inhale to body temperature and add moisture until it's very humid — so that the air can enter your lungs without causing problems. Stuffy noses occur when the conchae rapidly swell in size in response to cold, dry conditions, so there's more surface area for the air to flow over.

Additionally, if you're fighting an infection, the conchae can swell further with blood, in order to bring more white blood cells to the site of the infection. Most people think of this congestion as a result of too much mucus — but in reality, it's just swollen conchae.

This explains why many people are congested when they wake up in the morning after breathing cold, dry air all night , especially because central air and heating systems dry out air significantly. Because cold, dry air is what most often causes your conchae to swell, the best remedy is to add hot, moist air. This is why taking a hot shower often opens up a clogged nose, and why hot washcloths and facial steamers are also effective treatments. Nasal decongestants such as pseudoephedrine and phenylephrine can also help de-swell the conchae, but in some cases, there's a downside: they dry out the nasal cavity, by reducing the amount of serous fluid.

So if you're also experiencing excessively thick, dry mucus, you're better off avoiding decongestants. A few different factors can reduce the production of serous fluid in your nose, leading to thick, dry mucus. This is often experienced as post-nasal drip — thick mucus at the back of your throat that's much more noticeable than the thinner mucus you swallow unconsciously.

One cause is dehydration: if your body doesn't have enough water, it'll cut back on the secretion of serous fluid. An excessively dry environment — often caused by central heat or air conditioning — can also cause the same problem, as can smoking cigarettes. Instead of taking a decongestant to relieve post-nasal drip, Ellis recommends using an expectorant, which will increase the amount of serous fluid your mucus is diluted in.

Why do we get boogers? Boogers start out inside the nose as mucus, which is mostly water combined with protein, salt and a few chemicals. Mucus is produced by tissues not just in the nose, but in the mouth, sinuses, throat and gastrointestinal tract. It has a slimy, sticky consistency that traps potentially harmful substances in the environment, such as pollen, viruses and germs.

The nose and throat produce about a quart or more of mucus a day. Most of it mixes with saliva and is swallowed, but some stay in the nose. In addition to keeping the tissues beneath it from drying out, mucus helps catch viruses and other harmful particles and stop them from getting into your airways. Tiny hairs inside the nose called cilia move the mucus down toward the nostrils. When you sneeze or blow your nose, you blow out the mucus. If mucus remains in the nose and starts to dry out, it becomes dried nasal mucus or a booger.

Mucus may also change to a greenish color when it thickens, which is normal, Horovitz says. Adults get an average of two to four colds a year, mostly between September and May, and young children catch an average of six to eight colds a year, according to the American Lung Association.

The body responds to the virus that causes a cold by making mucus — and lots of it. There are no antiviral medications for treating the common cold, and antibiotics are only useful if a cold leads to a secondary bacterial infection.

Overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of new strains of bacteria that are resistant to these medications. So if you later develop a bacterial infection and really need them, antibiotics may not work for you. Antihistamines can also make things worse before they get better.

Govindaraj says. Instead, he suggests that you try an over-the-counter expectorant like Mucinex guaifenesin , which breaks up and thins mucus in the chest and throat so that it is easier to cough up and expel. Snot dried by the air becomes a squishy or crumbly booger that many people — especially young kids — like to pick out of their nose and eat.

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