Bad News. You’re Probably Blowing Your Nose Wrong.

Add blowing your nose to the ever-growing list of things you are doing incorrectly, according to professionals in the field. In this case, researchers at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center have found that giving your nose a good strong blow can have the opposite intended effect, sending mucus back into your sinuses.

The study, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, which sounds like a thrilling magazine that I’m sure you’ll see multiple people flipping through on the subway, says that the human nose creates 1 to 2 liters of mucus a day. When you’re sick, your nose makes that mucus a little thicker to trap the viruses. Getting rid of that gross mucus is a good thing. But some of us blow like we are trying to use only the power of our nostrils to push a golf ball threw a garden hose.

Overall, ENTs would prefer you didn’t blow as much, or at all, and suggest using saltwater nasal sprays to clear up the nasal congestion caused by mucus. But if you have to blow, there is a better way to do it — gently. Don’t blow like you’re trying to get your eyes to bug out of your skull. Blow daintily, blow elegantly. You’re not trying to blow out your ears like a car stereo. Blow too hard and you’re going cause that mucus to backtrack even further into your sinuses, making matters worse.

The medical world has been aware of this mucus backup phenomenon for a while now. Back in 2000, researchers put a die in people’s noses so they could track where the mucus was traveling when people blew their nose. Common sense suggests that the mucus would rock it out because people were forcefully pushing it out. Scans revealed that the dye was going back into the sinuses, ever deeper into the nasal cavity. That mucus can now travel from your sinuses to the tube that connects the back of your nose to the middle ear, bringing all of the bacteria and viruses in your sinuses along with it. Congratulations, you now have an ear infection.

Other than having the opposite of your intended effect, blowing forcefully can cause all sorts of other issues like nosebleeds possibly headaches, pimples, and boils that may develop from all the intense rubbing you’re doing your nose with tissues. And in some rare and extreme cases, people might blow their noses so hard that they create an orbital fracture around their eye.

Imagine blowing your nose so hard that you shatter your face. Don’t be that person. If you gotta blow, blow gently. Or, you can use a nasal decongestant. Or, better yet, flush your nasal cavity with a saltwater solution. Just don’t drown standing on dry land.