how come when I’m sick and have a stuffy/runny nose I don’t need to blow it when I’m sleeping but as soon as I wake up I have to every 10 minutes again:(

Question

My nose hurts

In: Biology

Answer 1

I’m sorry you’re sick! A few reasons for this:

When you are awake, you are often blowing your nose when you don’t *need* to blow your nose. As in, you won’t die. You’re doing it for your comfort. When you’re asleep, your body shuts down many of those comfort signals.

Being horizontal can make congestion and snot production worse, because it increase blood flow to your head. But…

When you sleep, you are generally horizontal. Snot and mucus, instead of coming out of your nose, run down your throat and to your stomach. That’s could be one reason why you don’t need to blow your nose.

Your body runs on autopilot when you’re asleep. If it has trouble breathing with the nose, it will usually switch to breathing with the mouth.

Answer 2

Do you sleep on your back? Because the nasal cavity connects to the throat. When your head is tilted up, snot still runs. It just runs… Backwards. If you don’t sleep on your back, your nose can be just as runny as when you’re awake, you just don’t notice because you’re asleep.