It was a banner 24 hours Saturday/Sunday when, in the span of 24 hours (the same ones that were the banner 24 hours), two ingrown nose hairs became noticeable in my very own nose.
I first experienced these about three years ago. I woke up one morning with a nose that looked normal enough, by its own standards, but hurt to touch on one side, down at the part on the outside by the nostrils. It was hard to the touch—a little swollen. I figured it was a pimple of some sort.
These kept happening now and then, until eventually, in one of those I’ve-had-three-beers-and-lost-self-control moments, I tried to pop the alleged pimple.
Which is when I learned they weren’t pimples.
Because that little bastard hair burrowed its way through to the other side.
Yes, when the “pimple” eventually popped, a hair came out. A nose hair. Disgusting to some. Amazing to others. Both to many.
Anyway, this keeps happening. Eventually I asked my friend whose dad’s an ENT, and he told me to stop picking my nose and make sure not to pluck any nose hairs (only trim). Clearly, I haven’t cut myself off from the first of those pastimes, because as I said, I keep getting ingrown nose hairs.
And it sounds like they happen to as many as 20% of us, based on the very scientific survey I took:
Now, if you’re an inexperienced ingrown-nose-hair-sufferer, know this:
1. It feels very cool to get the hair to come out the other side, but it probably isn’t worth squeezing your nose so it keeps hurting and looks weird for two weeks. Also, I can’t guarantee this will automatically happen if you mess things up badly enough. Might have been a one-time thing.
2. These things go away pretty quickly if you just don’t touch them. Mine from Saturday and Sunday are already gone.
Anyway, it’s nothing to be afraid of, and in my opinion, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. An ingrown nose hair (or a few dozen over the course of three years) could happen to anyone, and while it probably means I need to stop picking my nose so much, there are a lot of things I do that I shouldn’t do.
Frankly, if you’ve never had an ingrown nose hair, you’re missing out.
