I know there's something up there!

Chris Gooding

They think they're sneaking, but they're not. We see them digging for green gold at the intersection, or thumbing their way through a conversation, but nonetheless we know they're out there. Some of us are them. Nose pickers.
Nose picking, at its finest, is known medically as rhinotillexomania (rhino=nose, tillexis=habit of picking at, mania=obsession with something) and is a social "don't" that is far more common in society than one might expect.
A study by the University of Wisconsin found that over 90 per cent of respondents to a survey dedicated to nose picking both had, and continue to pick their nose. The study also provided a full definition of picking one's nose as the "insertion of a finger (or other object) into the nose with the intention of removing dried nasal secretions," to avoid confusion with any other type of nose picking.
As common as it is, finding help to break the habit or control it is less popular than learning to quit smoking (a common reply to this reporter's calls from counsellors' was "Is this a joke?"). Unless, that is, you are fortunate enough to be a student within P.E.I.'s Eastern School District.
Carolyn Thorne, counselling consultant for the district, admits it's a situation she can't recall dealing with or hearing about.
"If it came up we would deal with it," Thorne said."It's just one of those things, like a child who constantly uses the washroom. You set up a system to help them."
Thorne noted that first the situation should be defined as a habit or a cold. If it is a cold, tissues would be the cure. But with a habit she suggests a system of using signals with the child may be possible.
The signals can be as easy as a tap on the head from the teacher as she walks around the classroom, or placing a tissue on the child's desk. Thorne said that the system should be something both teacher and child could easily remember and one that would not embarrass the child. She also stressed talking about hygiene, and most importantly, friendship.
(You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't..etc.)
Nasal injuries are a sad fact of life with the 'pick and flick' habit, but there is more than nosebleeds to worry about.
In the Merck Manual of Medicinal Information-Home Edition (under section 19) one can find a list of nasal disorders and complications, many beginning with the picking of the nose. Nosebleeds, or epistaxis, occur when blood vessels in the nose are cut. In some cases of extreme nose picking the wounds are so severe the vessels require cauterization or electrocauterization to staunch the bleeding. Both are burning techniques.
Wounded blood vessels are just the beginning. Columbia University's Health Education Program's online Web site, "Ask Alice", warns of the dangers of infections.
"Your picking finger can act like the space shuttle, delivering bacteria from a door knob or public telephone....directly into your body," the Web site warns. The process can also work in reverse, spreading colds and flu the picker may have.
A worst case scenario for the public picker would be if they developed nasal vestibulitis (infection of the nasal opening) after coming in contact with the staphylococcus bacteria. Beside boils developing around the nasal opening, if the boils are not allowed to drain on their own and are broken open or cut the infection could spread to the veins and infect the brain, causing cavernous sinus thrombosis. Fortunately, according to the Merck Manual, this illness is very rare, but is still a really nasty, nasty thing to get over a booger.
So, if you have to pick, try to keep in mind this advice for pickers from Ask Alice, "wash up, go easy, and keep it to yourself."