What Purpose Do Nose Hairs Serve?

Everybody has hair in their nostrils that become coarser and grow in length as you age. While plucking or trimming nose hairs don’t provide any health benefits, many people choose to maintain these hairs due to appearance reasons. In fact, a Men’s Health survey found that 46% of women would rather talk to a man in a bar who had bad breath over a man who had visible tufts of nose hair. Additionally, given how a single nasal follicle can grow up to 6-feet over the course of a standard person’s life, it becomes apparent why most people are inclined to shorten their nose hairs. Below we explain the purpose that these hairs serve, dangers of plucking nose hairs, and tactics to safely trim your nasal hairs.

The Purpose of Nose Hair

The small hairs in your nose act as a filter to help block dust, pollen, viruses, allergens, and other particles from passing through your nose and into your lungs. To assist this goal, nose hairs are coated with a thin layer of mucus to function as a tool to capture harmful particles more easily. From there, these tiny particles end up in the mucous blanket on the inner wall of your nasal passages. Finally, the trapped particles either get swallowed or blown out from sneezing or blowing your nose. Studies have shown that having a substantial quantity of nose hairs can actually decrease chances of attainting asthma or developing hay fever.

Dangers of Plucking Nose Hairs

While there aren’t any particular health benefits from plucking nose hairs, most people do it to appear more attractive which therefore gives them more confidence in everyday life. However, there are some potential health problems that come from plucking nose hairs, including:

• Ingrown Hairs: Being one of the most frequent issues that comes from plucking nose hairs, ingrown hairs occur when hairs that are trying to grow back cannot leave the follicle through your skin. Eventually, an ingrown hair will develop into an irritating pimple-like bump that generally will go away on its own.
• Increased Risk of Asthma: Removing nasal hairs can increase the quantity of harmful particles to enter your lungs, which increases the risk of asthma in most people.
• Nasal Vestibulitis & Infections: Plucking nose hairs leads to an increased risk of developing nasal infections. Infections can lead to a hose of irritating symptoms, such as redness in and out of the nose, swelling pressure, and pimple-like bumps inside the nasal cavity.

How to Safely Trim Nose Hairs

The first and best rule when shortening nose hairs is to trim your hairs rather than pluck them. To safely trim your nose hairs, it’s recommended to use the nose-hair attachment on your electric trimmer. For most people, this method of trimming nasal hairs should solve the issue. Although, for people with considerably long nose hairs, professional laser hair removals and waxing services exist to remove these hairs. However, many of these professional methods may damage your mucus membranes and lead to ingrown hairs, infections, and other similar health issues that plucking leads to.

O2 Nose Filters

While our nasal hairs try their best to protect us from harmful particulates, they’re not perfect. O2 Nose Filters has been proven in controlled studies to help protect wearers from inhaling harmful airborne particles such as pollen, bacteria, viruses, dust, and other pollutants. Independent laboratory tests demonstrate that 3M’s Advanced Electret Media in O2 Nose Filters block 90% of particulates at PM10 and 65% of particulates at PM2.5. Additionally, O2 Nose Filters are comfortable to wear due to their latex-free design and medical-grade Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) materials.

3M’s patented AEM™ (Advanced Electret Media) filter technology relies on the principles of electrostatic attraction. The high capture ratios and extended breathability attributed to 3M’s AEM™ material allows airborne particles to be captured within the filter. Rather than using a ‘screen’ approach to block the passage of particles, the charged fibers act as ‘magnets’ to retain particles while still allowing air to pass through, making O2 Nose Filters both breathable and effective.

O2 Nose Filters provides inexpensive and effective security to protect people from harmful airborne diseases. While our nasal passageways try their best when it comes to filtering harmful particulate matter, they aren’t perfect. That’s why O2 Nose Filters are such an effective solution when it comes to improving our mental and physical health. Nose filters are a discreet, effective option to protect against airborne viruses and bacteria. The O2 Nose Filter uses 3M’s patented AEM™ electrostatic technology to capture allergens, viruses, and other particulates, making them a valuable tool for anyone who wants to drastically limit the pollutants and pollens they breathe in daily.