96 3 1 6 1 4. pints in a quart 1 2 1 2zm-2 0s1. Live Science is supported by its audience.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Where does all my snot come from? Here’s why you have so much snot. Indeed, the body is constantly making mucus, said Dr. Richard Lebowitz, an ear, nose and throat doctor at New York University Langone Medical Center. As soon as you sneeze some of it out, the body makes more, he said.
Mucus is made by mucosal glands that line the body’s respiratory tract, which includes the nose, the throat and the lungs, Lebowitz said. Most of the mucus that people sneeze out comes from the mucosal glands lining the nasal passages, Lebowitz said. People often think it’s also coming from their sinuses, but in fact only a very small amount of mucus is produced in the sinuses, he said. When people say they are “clearing out their sinuses” by eating spicy food or using a neti pot, they’re really just clearing out their nasal passages, he added. And when things are working properly, your body is pretty good at getting rid of it, he said. The mucus in your nose, for example, is moved to the back of the nasal passages and then into the throat by tiny hairs on nasal cells called cilia. And from there, you gulp it down.
That’s right — you’re swallowing your snot all day, every day. Why do I close my eyes when I sneeze? What if humans had photosynthetic skin? But when you’re sick, your snot might be thicker, or that mechanism that normally clears it might not work well, Lebowitz said. Or, your body might be making a bit more mucus, he said. When these things happen, you start to notice how much snot there is, and it can indeed seem like an endless supply, he said.