Nasal Hair Removal and Nasal Sores

It is not unusual that I encounter a patient who develops crusting and sores around the entrance to the nose where coincidentally nasal hair is found... in both men and women.

Other complaints/symptoms beyond crusting and sores include:

• Skin Splitting
• Pimple/Acne Formation
• Scabbing
• Ulcers

People often try applying lotion, neosporin, or cortisone cream... which does help, but not completely with recurrent flareups.

The most common triggers I find that lead to such recurrent sores are nose-picking and nasal hair removal.

The best thing is to avoid doing either... but... if one must...

Nose picking is pretty self-explanatory, but nasal hair removal does require some clarification.

People often use tweezers or even their fingers to pull the offending long nasal hair out for either cosmetic or annoyance reasons.

Yanking nasal hair out is not a good idea beyond the watery eyes it may bring. It causes micro-trauma to the surrounding skin and hair follicle that may lead to infection. Furthermore, just like any other place on the body where hair is removed, ingrown hair growth can also occur.

Aha! one might say... Use an electric nasal hair cutter! That's a good idea, but make sure it does not cut down to the skin for the same reasons as stated above. Also, ensure the blades are kept sharp to prevent hair pulling.

There are good nasal hair cutters and there are bad ones...

From personal testing of a variety of nasal hair cutters, I like the Groom Mate Platinum XL.

I'm sure there are other good ones, but it may also come down to personal preference.

Now, if there's an active recurrent nasal sore that's not healing, the best way to treat it is with prescription cortisporin ointment.

However, best to have a doctor to check it out as there are other more malicious reasons for a nasal sore including skin cancer.

Oral Exam Using a Finger

For a good physical exam, physicians use their senses (eyes, ears, nose) to detect disease processes that may not necessarily be obvious to a lay person. Beyond these obvious senses, fingers and hands are also utilized to feel for unusual bumps or masses that may not be obvious to the naked eye.

Take a neck mass for example. Neck masses may not be necessarily visible, but by feeling the neck, may become obvious. To use an analogy, a bowling ball under a mattress may not necessarily be obvious, but if you lay on the bed, would become painfully obvious.

Physicians also use the hands/fingers to examine areas that may not be visible... such as the unpleasant digital rectal exam (inserting a finger up a bung-hole) which is done to detect blood in the stool, rectal/anal cancers, anal muscular incompetence, etc.

However, I find it odd that the mouth is a body area that is not often "felt" around... physicians included.

A finger can appreciate unusual mouth pathology that may not necessarily be appreciated by looking alone. Furthermore, just like the rectal exam, a finger can appreciate base of tongue pathology that cannot be visualized by having a patient go "ah".

I truly feel that actor Michael Douglas would have been diagnosed with his base of tongue cancer much earlier if only a doctor stuck a finger and swept that back area of the tongue. One can "feel" cancer as it is rock hard and very tender. True... it may cause a person to gag, but for a cancer test, it's dirt cheap, fast, and reliable.

However, it does not just have to be areas of the mouth that can not be seen. Even for those ulcerations and bumps of the mouth that one can clearly visualize (or not), it does help to touch it. Is it hard? Soft? Ulcerated? Tender? Grooved? Papillated? Fungating? Rubber-like? Blottable?

Each characteristic provides information to achieve a more accurate diagnosis.

To an ENT way of thinking, if a doctor regularly performs a digital rectal exam, than one can certainly do the same thing at the other end. It's less invasive and provides just as much information.

Say "ah"!!!

New Webpage on Bumps or Lesions of the Mouth

Our practice has created a new webpage describing the various bumps and lesions commonly seen in the mouth that leads to a doctor's visit.

Such abnormal things seen in the mouth that's discussed include:

• aphthous ulcer


• herpetic ulcers


• pyogenic granuloma


• fibroma


• papilloma


• cancer

Click here to read more!