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Dec 24, 2008 10:57 pm US/Central
Good Question: What Is Snot Good For?
(WCCO)
Chet Davenport and Matt Liddy share a common dilemma, even thought Chet is a 1-year-old and Matt is 29. They both have uncontrollable runny noses. And neither of them have any idea where all that mucus is coming from.
"I've had a cold now for 10, 11 days," said Liddy, a WCCO-TV news producer. "I keep blowing my nose every 10, 15 minutes and the snot just keeps coming."
Chet's mother, Tara Davenport, is dealing with a steady stream of dirty shirts, thanks to her son wiping his nose on her.
"Pretty runny, pretty nasty. Often it's down to his chin," said Davenport. "Its buckets and buckets, I just don't understand. It's a constant wiping."
Liddy wondered, "Is there a different part of my body that's storing it all the time and throwing it out when I get sick?"
"It's coming from the lining in your sinuses," said Dr. Carolyn McKay, a pediatrician at Fairview Children's Clinic in Minneapolis. "Every one of those surfaces can weep, they can make mucus."
There's a lot more going on inside your nasal cavity than the nostrils we all see. According to McKay, there are several square feet of surface area inside the sinuses. All of that surface area has the ability to make mucus; much like the inside of your mouth has the ability to make saliva.
Mucus is a thick fluid designed to protect the nose from inhaling dust, pollen or other intruders. According to Kidshealth.com, your sinuses make a quart of mucus every day. Normally, we swallow it, and don't really notice it's there.
But when you have a cold or an upper respiratory infection, "It failed in its job to protect you. Now the virus has managed to make that angry," said McKay. "It's meant to be protective, but when it gets infected, it hurts."
Mucus is produced as long as the sinuses are irritated. It happens when you're sick, it happens when you're extremely cold and it happens when you eat really spicy food.
"Mucus starts clear, and by day three or four [of a cold], it'll be yellow or green," said McKay. "[The color] doesn't mean a thing."
Using saline spray (salt water) to flush out the nose can provide temporary relief, according to McKay, but the only long-term solution is to let the infection run its course.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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