What your nose can reveal about your health

Because of a phenomenon called unconscious selective attention, your brain has effectively been trained to overlook your nose.

As a conspicuous feature sitting near the eyes, the schnoz has the potential to obstruct our sight – yet the nervous system efficiently screens it from view.

You can deliberately bring your nose into sight, however. Close one eye, or glance to the left, right or down, and it will appear.

Even though your brain goes to considerable lengths to prevent your nose disrupting your field of vision, it should not be disregarded. As with many areas of the body, inspecting the nose may help identify both external skin problems and illnesses affecting internal systems.

Acne

Acne comes in several forms, but acne vulgaris is the most prevalent and frequently occurs on the nose.

The condition arises when minute skin glands that produce protective oils become blocked, resulting in open and closed comedones.

Open comedones, more commonly called blackheads, contain a dark plug. Closed comedones are whiteheads, occurring when a pore becomes entirely obstructed.

Blocked pores may also progress into larger lumps and bumps. These can become infected, inflamed and filled with pus, and may even leave scars.

Acne rosacea looks different. This inflammatory skin disorder produces erythema, or skin redness, usually over the nose and cheeks. Although rosacea currently has no cure, it can often be controlled through long-term treatment.

People with rosacea can develop acne-like rash papules and pustules, alongside visible blood vessels that show as fine red or purplish lines over the nose and cheeks.

Rosacea sometimes makes the skin on the nose enlarge and thicken. Known as rhinophyma, this condition, like other apparent skin disorders, can markedly alter a person's appearance and severely affect sufferers' self-esteem.

Acne vulgaris and rosacea have each been associated with a range of risk factors and medical conditions, although some associations are more robust than others. For rosacea, these include high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Wolf's nose

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory illness that may involve any body tissue, although it principally affects the lungs and lymph nodes. It can cause areas of bluish or purplish rash, especially on extremities where skin is generally cooler.

These areas include the ears, fingers, toes and, naturally, the nose. Sarcoidosis affecting the nose is called lupus pernio. The term is misleading, though, as the disorder is not the same as the autoimmune disease lupus.

Ordinary lupus is an entirely separate condition in which the body attacks its own tissues. Its name comes from the Latin for "wolf", dating to medieval times when its associated rash was thought to resemble a wolf bite.

When lupus affects the skin, rather than sarcoidosis, it produces a butterfly, or malar, rash spreading across the cheeks and bridge of the nose. It can closely resemble rosacea.

Indeed, lupus is called "the great imitator" because its symptoms overlap with those of numerous other illnesses.

Trigeminal trophic syndrome

Trigeminal trophic syndrome is an uncommon disorder caused by injury to the trigeminal nerve. This nerve controls chewing and provides facial sensation. Damage to the smaller nerve branches serving the skin around the nostrils affects sensation in that area.

A patient may find that the skin becomes numb or desensitised, or experiences prickling akin to pins and needles, prompting them to pick or scratch it. Recurrent trauma to the skin can lead to ulcers around the nostrils.

This is distinct from skin picking disorder, or dermatillomania, in which the urge to pick the skin is driven by psychological compulsion.

Every so often, close one eye to appreciate your hooter – or, better still, inspect it properly in a mirror. It merits more attention than the blind spot permitted by your brain.

Dan Baumgardt, Senior Lecturer, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.