This is the season for colds, feeling like ick, and the need to constantly blow our noses, but have we been blowing our noses wrong for our whole lives? One doctor says we sure have been.

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No matter what is ailing you, if you’ve been struck with something that is causing you to need to blow your nose, you might be blowing it all wrong. I know what you’re thinking, “How can there possibly be a wrong way to blow a nose?” That was my initial thought, but those who research the art of nose-blowing more than you and I say that there is a proper way and if you blow your nose according to their instructions, they say it will help you get better faster.

So, if you’re in the throes of sickness and have nothing left to lose, you might want to give the recommendation of one Dr. Ayah Al Ayoubi, a consultant Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon at Chase Farm Hospital in London a try.

Dr. Al Ayoubi claims that we need to be gentle when blowing our nose, instead of going at it with force. Apparently, forceful blowing can cause gunk to actually launch mucus back into the sinuses where infection can spark.

The good doctor also claims that it’s a bad idea to blow out of both nostrils at the same time. Instead, you should blow from one nostril at a time and gently. Oh, and you know how we’ve been told all of our lives that we should lean over a pot of boiled water with a towel over our head and soak in the steam to clear up our sinuses? Dr. Al Ayoubi says it’s just a big waste of time and that doing that won’t clear up our congestion.

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