Random useful information...
(but first, a story)
One morning I woke up to the sound of M sniffing. Sniff, sniff.... sniff... (hmmm... he must be getting a cold...) sniff... sniff... (maybe if I put my hand over my ear, I won't be able to hear him...) sniff... sniff sniff... (surely, he'll stop soon... I mean the tissues are right beside him) Sniff... sniff... (oh come on sweetie, please grab a tissue....) Sniff... sniff... SNIIIIIFFFFFF... (What the hell?? When is this gonna stop... should i say something?)... sniff sniff sniff...
Martijn! Blow your nose!! AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
His reply: No, that's bad for you.
Um, huh? I mean, huh?
Turns out, his parents (both doctors) forbade he and his brother to blow their noses when they were little. They told them that a) it could hurt your hearing and b) it could drive the mucus further into their sinuses and cause an infection.
Of course, I thought this was a crock until I got a cold last week that just feels like it's been lingering... that is, until I sat in the Turkish steambath last night and stopped blowing my nose. Today, I feel great... almost back to normal. Now, mostly I attribute this to the steambath and the fact that the cold has probably run its course, but I did surf around on the web and lo and behold it appears his parents are right. You really shouldn't blow your nose. (well at least not all the time) Go to:
http://www.exn.ca/Templates/Story.cfm?ID=1999092965