Why Does Crying Make My Nose Run?
Every minute, a person generates about 1 or 2 microliters worth of tears. They are a mix of oil, mucus, and water, secreted from different glands and cells around the eye. Tears serve to keep the eyeball surface lubricated. When you blink, your lids work like windshield wipers to push those tears into a pair of tiny holes called puncta, which lead to two sacs between the eyes. Blinking also squeezes those sacs, draining the liquid down the back of the nose and throat. This system operates throughout the day, though you’d never notice.
If your eye gets irritated or if you’re feeling sad, tear production ramps up. The lacrimal gland, which sits above and on the outside of each eye, secretes water until your eyes fill up and overflow. (This dilutes the oil and mucus, so, counterintuitively, extra-watery tears don’t actually moisten eyes.)
Each eye can hold about 7 microliters of fluid, says Penny Asbell, an ophthalmologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. When this threshold has been crossed, tears dribble out your eyes and down your cheeks. Excess tears can also flood the drainage ducts that lead into the nasal passage, hence the runny nose.
This article originally appeared in the December 2014 issue ofPopular Science, under the title “Why Does Crying Make Noses Run?”.
(责任编辑:资讯)
- NASA says Earth just had the hottest day ever recorded
- Best CPU Deals, AMD vs Intel: Holiday CPU Buying Guide
- Best smartphone deal: Google Pixel 8a on sale for $449 at Amazon
- The Measurers
- 高燃!哨响表停赛不止,2024广东“村BA”开赛在即,一分钟带你重温高光瞬间。
- Alcaraz, Sinner survive US Open wobbles
- Game Plan
- Sinner vs. Michelsen 2024 livestream: Watch US Open for free
- 中山古镇:到苏炳添家乡看“村BA”,来一场说走就走的美食之旅
- Black Friday GPU Buying Guide: November GPU Pricing Update
- U.S. Senators call on FTC to investigate the security of drivers' data
- Footage of Kim Yo
- 尝“鲜”盛宴,等你来探!2024年清远西牛麻竹笋尝鲜季即将启幕
-
13 Places to Find Little Legends and Compact Cryptids
Many of the creatures from folklore or urban legends are large creatures that roam through forests o ...[详细] -
Apple finally sends out payments for MacBook's butterfly keyboard settlement
Apple is finally paying out a $50 million settlement over its defective MacBook butterfly keyboards. ...[详细] -
Apple finally sends out payments for MacBook's butterfly keyboard settlement
Apple is finally paying out a $50 million settlement over its defective MacBook butterfly keyboards. ...[详细] -
海丰芥蓝入选全国名特优新农产品名录_南方+_南方plus日前,农业农村部农产品质量安全中心公布了2024年度全国名特优新农产品名录,“海丰芥蓝”成功入选,海丰名物再添一员!“南海物丰”,海丰县属南亚热 ...[详细]
-
China's Tsinghua University has scored a world first by demonstrating the inherent safety of the fir ...[详细]
-
New Grok response directs users to Vote.gov for election questions
X's native AI chatbot Grok is now providing users with election-related queries a Vote.gov banner an ...[详细] -
全国土壤普查办抽验组到广东开展土壤普查质量抽验_南方+_南方plus8月17-19日,全国土壤普查办质量抽验组到广东开展第三次全国土壤普查质量抽验工作,抽验组由生态环境部华南环境科学研究所副所长刘晓文 ...[详细]
-
Naver, Kakao strive to combat deepfake porn spreading online
(Getty Images Bank)The rise of explicit and nonconsensual deepfake pornography illegally being share ...[详细] -
24 Museums Dedicated to Black History
TheNational Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington, D.C., in 2016. It q ...[详细] -
Sinner vs. Michelsen 2024 livestream: Watch US Open for free
TL;DR:Live stream Sinner vs. Michelsen in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these f ...[详细]
- We Asked GPT Some Tech Questions, Can You Tell Which Answers Are Human?
- Sinkhole swallows up car, injuring 2 in Seoul
- Keurig K Mini deal — get $30 off at Target
- Europe now has a huge AI gap, for better or for worse
- Google is bringing AI summaries to ‘Files’ so you can find your docs quicker
- Students get free entry at second Rawalpindi Test but what’s the catch?
- New Grok response directs users to Vote.gov for election questions