It was Right Under Your Nose

We are aware of the concept of a dominant hand and, dominant leg but ever wondered if there is something like a dominant nostril? If yes, which one of your nostrils do you think is dominant?

If you were oblivious to this like me and haven’t ever pondered about this then here’s a new piece of information.

At any given point in time, most people primarily breathe out of one nostril. Around 80–85 percent of today’s population experience this.

After knowing this, the next thought that followed was whether the dominant nostril remains constant throughout the day?

This is not the case and every couple of hours the dominant nostril switches, the duration between the switches varies between individuals and it is also influenced by various factors such as body position and nasal congestion.

Some theories that lead to this phenomenon

1. Different items different scents

There are some items whose scent can only be registered by bringing in the air quickly, on the contrary there exist some others whose scent can only be registered by bringing in little quantities of air slowly. The former is done by the dominant nostril and the latter is done by the resting nostril.

2. The nose is an incredibly hardworking organ

The primary function of a nose is to convert dirty, dry, cold air from outside into warm, humidified, clean air. Some critical steps involved in purification.

The pipes in the nasal unit are coded with mucus and tiny filaments called cilia. The mucus is responsible for humidifying the air and, trapping the dirt which is then moved by the cilia to the back of your mouth. From here on it goes into the stomach where it is neutralized by hydrochloric acid. This is a very strenuous process that goes on throughout the day!

This ends up being too much work for just one nostril, so the body switches between them to ensure that one can remain active while the other one relaxes a little bit.

Finally, after learning that there is something called a dominant nostril, for those of you who are curious as to whether there is a way to select which nostril to open up? This is definitely possible!

One such action is making a fist and sticking it into the armpit and the pressure applied blocks the nostril on the same side. It is definitely interesting to notice that one of the smelly parts of our body can control the working of our nose.

This can also be attributed to a time when you go to bed and lay on your left side, the left nostril closes up and the right nostril opens up.