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[–] 63 points 2 years ago (1 child)

There is an episode of The Dollup podcast about ninjas in 1800s (I think) Japan and in one part they talk about how the ninja would often have to wait around all day or more hiding to assassinate someone. They way they could tell how long they'd been waiting was by the change of the "dominant" nostril.

Apparently even when not stuffed up the air passes thru one nostril more easy than the other when you breathe. It switches about every 40 minutes.

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  • [–] 42 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (7 children)

    Before you take everyone's word about the nasal cycle, check if you have dust mite allergies. Turns out I did and my nose was far stuffier and itchier than what should be normal.

    I switched out my pillowcase to an allergy pillowcase and started taking some allergy meds. It cleared up my nose a lot and now I can actually feel one nostril only being slightly more closed due to the nasal cycle instead of having it almost all blocked.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Mine's more closed because I broke my nose in a fight 🤷.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Why did you break your own nose in a fight?

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    [–] 36 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Usually one of my nostrils be like

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  • [–] 20 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

    Your nostrils are never open at the same time.

    They switch sides every so often, so one of them can catch a break and repair.

    They aren't both open right now either, just try.

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    See, this is what always bothers me with blocked noses, like. Okay, yeah, it's probably automatic, but certainly, the brain can just override the active nostril and switch ot to the other sode when it detects something is wrong.

    I'm so curious why it just doesn't.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    They aren't both fully open, but in the day time I breathe normally through both. I don't get the OP scenario any more but I used to, it's a different feeling to the normal cycle in my experience.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 years ago

    I think it's to prevent the nostrils from drying out. One nostril does most of the breathing, while the other one gets a break.

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  • [–] 11 points 2 years ago
    [–] 8 points 2 years ago

    My recommendation is to drink lots of water throughout the day, homie. It can get pretty dry.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Neti pot those things. It's a little like self-waterboarding, but your sinus passages will thank you later.

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  • [–] 8 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    And please, please, please do not use tap water. You may get a brain eating amoeba which will end you, guaranteed.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    I have a love/hate relationship with mine. It does help with allergies and the constant runny nose that I had... But it's genuinely an awful experience lol. I feel like I'm gonna vomit every time.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    I've always found doing pushups clears them up. No idea why. It just works.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    And one of them is whistling with every exhale.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago
    [–] 2 points 2 years ago

    You cycle through which nostril is dominant all day long, about every 30-50 minutes. This is to allow each side to return to body heat equilibrium and recover.

    You pass 10-20k liters of generally colder than bodytemperature air through your nose in a day.

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