Just a Runny Nose

I love tidbits of information like this — the things we take for granted about our body.

We typically associate a runny nose with the cold virus. So when we step outside into the cold air feeling perfectly fine, it’s a little confusing when our nose starts running. We know that we didn’t instantly catch the cold virus, after all. Well here’s the answer!

Before the air travels to your lungs, your body tries to warm the air up. As a part of this warming process, small structures in your nose swell up. This swelling occurs so that there is more surface area within your nose that the air must travel across — more surface area means more opportunity for the air to warm up.

But, the same mechanism that causes the swelling action to occur also sends a signal to create more mucus! There you have it. Mystery explained. I’m reminded time and again that our bodies really are magically working on our behalf.