Excessive Nose Blowing!

[fraggle08]

Hi My friend blows her nose all the time even when she doesn't have a cold, but more when she does. Its especially first thing in the morning and she always does it in "batches" of 10 or so, but can do up to 8 lots of 10 in about half an hour!! It doesn't help that she sounds like a small elephant either (esp at 6.30am!), but annoyingness aside, I'm actaully worried about her health, especially in terms of her ears, balance etc. She has been complaining lately she cannot hear well and her balance is shocking anyway. Could this be why? She insists there is nothing wrong with what she's doing but I think it's some kind of OCD thing. Has anyone ever heard of this before, or does anyone have knowledge or experience in the field? thanks

[andy-hughes]

It does sound like an OCD issue, and you are right to be concerned - excessive nose-blwoing can damage delicate membranes and blood vessels.

Ask her to have a chat with her GP - he can check out her balance, and maybe have a chat with her about this compulsion.

[puzzled54]

Try buying her an anti-allergy pillow for xmas. I used to wake up and spend an hour or so trying to clear my nose, then I wondered about allergies and tried a new pillow. It worked wonderfully.

[fraggle08]

thanks both. i wondered if her washing powder or something could be the culprit but i hadn't thought of the pillow itself!
actually my other half ended up having a word with her about it and since then she does it much less, so perhaps she didn't even know she was doing it!