does picking youe nose make them bigger? . #human #brain #edu

Does picking your nose make the holes in your nose bigger? The short answer is yes, but only a little, and that is not even the part you should be worried about. When you pick your nose constantly, the soft tissue around the opening gets irritated and swells up, which makes the nostrils look slightly wider over time. Chronic picking can also stretch the skin around the edges, and in extreme cases, the nostrils stay permanently a bit larger because the tissue never fully heals between sessions. But the real damage is not on the outside of your nose. It is happening way deeper than that. Inside your nostrils, there is a thin protective layer called the nasal lining, and its entire job is to stop bacteria and viruses from getting into your body. Every time you pick, you are tearing tiny holes in that barrier without even realizing it. Scientists at Griffith University discovered that when this lining is damaged, certain bacteria can travel up the olfactory nerve, which connects your nose directly to your brain. They tested it on mice, and the bacteria reached the brain in less than 72 hours, completely bypassing the blood-brain barrier that is supposed to protect you.