Ten Absurd Facts About Picking Your Nose

Picking your nose is a dirty habit, but studies suggest most people do it often. And who knows if the others are lying? But there is more to scratching your snot than a gross pastime. The habit has health impacts you might not expect, along with a bizarre, if colorful, history.

This list delves its finger up the nostril of nose-picking and pulls out some of the most interesting, bizarre treats inside. Did you know, for instance, about the young nosepicker who tore a hole in her nasal septum? Or the surreal fetish where people are turned on by noses? Get ready to explore ten of the most absurd facts on offer about sticking your finger up your snout.

Related: Top 10 Grossest Facts About Human Skin

10 Madagascan Primates Spotted Digging Out Their Boogers

In the forests of Madagascar dwells a small primate that loves munching on its snot. Aye-ayes are equipped with eight-centimeter middle fingers that almost fill their nasal cavities. The nocturnal creatures shove their spindly digits up their noses to dig around for boogers. They then pull their fingers out and lick off the mucus.

Remarkably, scientists only picked up on the habit in aye-ayes in 2022. Further studies with a CT scan revealed that the lemurs can reach through their noses to nearly the back of their throats. Aye-ayes join an exclusive club of primates caught picking their noses, which includes gorillas, macaques, and chimpanzees.^[1]

9 Picking Your Nose Could Be Linked to Dementia

A 2022 study on mice found evidence that suggested a link between nose-picking and Alzheimer’s. Picking your nose can damage the tissue inside your nose, allowing harmful bacteria a clear path to your brain.

Queensland researchers studied a type of bacteria known as Chlamydia pneumoniae, which is often found in the brains of dementia sufferers. They injected the tiny microbes into the noses of rodents and studied their brains. The scientists found dense clumps of bacteria in the area of the brain near the nose. They also found clusters of amyloid beta protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s.

The team was keen to point out that this study was conducted on mice, not humans. While the evidence may be flimsy, they still recommend protecting your nose to lower the risk of dementia. As they wrote in their press release, “If you damage the lining of the nose, you can increase how many bacteria can go up into your brain.”^[2]

8 Compulsive Nose-Picking Is a Recognized Medical Condition

Believe it or not, there is a scientific name for obsessively picking your nose: rhinotillexomania. The term refers to a condition where people cannot stop putting their fingers up their nostrils to the point of self-harm. This obsessive behavior can be a way to relieve intense anxiety and has been compared to biting your nails.

Rhinotillexomania takes picking one’s nose from a nervous habit to an unhealthy obsession. People with the compulsion often feel ashamed of their condition. Sufferers will pick their noses to such an extent that it eats up masses of their time, causes them to injure themselves, and can even impede their normal daily functions.

If you feel like you or someone you know might have the condition, fear not. Help is available. Some people are advised to find other ways to keep their hands busy, like with a fidget spinner. Others need behavioral therapy to uncover the root cause of the obsession. While there is no medication for rhinotillexomania as yet, the disorder is often linked to OCD or anxiety, both of which can be treated with drugs.^[3]

7 A Teenager in England Ripped a Huge Hole in her Nasal Septum

Picking crusts off the inside of your nose can lead to serious damage. Just ask the young woman who presented to doctors in 1975 with a ripped septum. Miss C.B. was just 19 when she attended a London hospital complaining of a large hole in her nose. The tear stretched back seven to eight centimeters from her nostrils.

The patient opened up a hole in her septum after two years of picking her nose. The septum is a wall of cartilage between the nose’s two chambers. The teenager told hospital staff she could fit her whole little finger up the left side of her nose. Despite the tear and nasal damage, doctors found no evidence of infection.^[4]

6 Some Fetishists Are Turned On by Noses and Picking Them

When it comes to arousal, people get turned on by all sorts of bizarre things, and noses are no exception. Most people are fond of the more typical sexual body parts like genitals, buttocks, and breasts. But others find themselves drawn in by the snout.

Nasophilia is a type of fetish that focuses on the nose. Individuals may become excited by the sight and touch of a nose or by erotic stroking and sucking. Some say they enjoy placing their nose into their partner’s closed eyes. And medical experts say there are some cases where fetishists are turned on by picking noses.

Nasophiles are often selective about which noses they find attractive, favoring certain sizes, shapes, and types of nostrils. Others enjoy role-play where the nose is transformed, like an erotic fantasy based around Pinocchio.^[5]

5 Elon Musk’s Son Picks His Nose at the White House

Elon Musk might be one of the wealthiest, most powerful people on the planet, but it seems even he has trouble getting his kids to behave. In February 2025, his son X Æ A-Xii reportedly “stole the show” at an Oval Office press conference with his father and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The four-year-old tike was caught on camera repeatedly picking his nose. One clip shows him wiping his snot on the historic Resolute desk. The young lad also amused viewers by pulling faces and mimicking his dad’s hand gestures.

“Elon Musk is standing next to President Trump, talking about cutting the deficit in half—and his 4-year-old son, X, is just casually hanging off his dad’s shoulders, whispering to Trump, and picking his nose. Only Elon Musk could make an Oval Office press conference look like a casual family hangout!” praised one Trump supporter on Musk’s social media platform X. The SpaceX CEO brought his son to the White House to see the president sign an executive order.^[6]

4 Memory Devices Can Help You Stop

Picking your nose can be a disgusting habit, especially in public, and plenty of people want to leave their boogers alone. But how best to stop? Some experts recommend saline rinses and sprays to clean out your nasal cavities. Others say you should find a new way to relieve stress to take your mind and, more importantly, your finger out of your nose. And then some say a memory device does the trick.

San Francisco health media site Healthline urges readers not to shell out for an expensive gadget. A sticky bandage does the trick. Simply twist the bandage around the end of whichever finger you use to rake about in your schnozzle. The idea is that every time you put your finger up for a cheeky pick, the bandage reminds you not to.^[7]

3 Man Dies from Picking His Nose

A tragic entry now about Ian Bothwell, a man who died from picking his nose. The 63-year-old lived alone in Manchester, England, where he sadly bled to death. He suffered from dementia and was found by the manager of his block of flats on September 5, 2008.

Manchester coroner Nigel Meadows explained: “There is no explanation for this death other than he died from a nose-bleed, consistent with picking his nose. I do not think for a moment he knew what he was doing was going to cause his death.”^[8]

2 Andy Warhol’s Early Nose Picking Self-Portrait

When most people think of Andy Warhol, prints of soup cans and Marilyn Monroe come to mind. But as a young man, the iconic New York artist loved nothing more than making art about scratching boogers. The Broad Gave Me My Face, But I Can Pick My Own Nose is the name of one of his first paintings, submitted to the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh in 1949. The bold, irreverent artwork failed to make the exhibition, but the young artist did turn heads as a student at Carnegie Tech.

After Warhol left for New York, his brother Paul kept many of his early paintings, which were passed down to Paul’s children after he and his wife died. Among the collection are images of children and watercolors of his family home. But Nosepicker 1, as it went on to be known, was said to be “the real prize.” Art experts reckon it could be Warhol’s first self-portrait.

His nephew James explained to reporters that the work shows Andy’s trademark humor and cheek. As he put it, “In the world of art, you didn’t want to be offensive with your art,” he says, “but my uncle felt like being offensive could work.”^[9]

1 Healthcare Staff Who Picked Their Nose Were More Likely to Catch COVID

Years since it first emerged, scientists are still finding out so much about SARS-CoV-2. One of the oddest is a Dutch study that suggested healthcare workers who picked their noses were more likely to catch the disease.

Researchers spoke to over 200 staff members at Amsterdam University Medical Centers. Nearly 85% admitted to regularly picking their noses. Doctors were the worst offenders. By October 2020, 34 of the 219 workers had contracted the virus—32 of those were nosepickers.

The team admits their study is limited. For example, they did not ask the nosepickers about “The depth of penetration and eating of boogers.” Meanwhile, the same scientists found no link between catching COVID and wearing glasses or having a beard.^[10]