When we are young, our nose hair is so short that we might not even notice it is there. By the time we are adults, many people have nose hair that is long enough to be seen growing out of their nostrils. When it gets that long, nose hair can be annoying. Nose hair is not there just to bug you; instead it does an important job. When we breathe, we are taking in oxygen as well as many particles of the air around us. This can include things like dirt, viruses and bacteria. It can also include dangerous particle because our atmosphere is polluted. When we breathe through our noses, nose hairs catch those particles and it thus stops them from making their way into our bodies.
There are two types of nose hairs. The one which is deep in our noses, are too tiny and it is known as cilia. Its job is to catch dangerous particles in mucus. Cilia then move the particle-filled mucus towards our throat. There, it is either coughed up or swallowed.
The second type of nose hair is called vibrissae. These are longer hairs which will catch large particles and thus prevent all dangerous particles from reaching cilia. These hairs are much farther up in our nostrils. They are the ones you can sometimes see.
Even though nose hairs have a very important job, many people do not like them. If nose hairs get too long, many people try to get rid of them by plucking or trimming. Plucking nose hairs can lead to accumulation of dirt and bacteria on the follicles and it can cause a bad infection. As such, never pluck your nose hairs.
Trimming your nose hair is not dangerous; but remember that your nose hairs are there for a reason and if they are cut too short, they may not be able to do their job. As air pollution gets worse around the world, nose hairs become more and more important. According to WHO poor air quality caused about 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016.
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