Poking¹ around inside our nostrils² is disgusting, unhygienic and potentially harmful, so it’s baffling that it’s as common as it is?

在鼻孔里捅来捅去听起来真恶心，既不卫生也不安全，真是很奇怪为什么抠鼻子会那么流行。

Most of us do it, but few of us will admit to it. If we get caught red-handed, we experience shame and regret. And we tend to frown upon others when they do it in public. I'm talking, of course, about reaching up into your nostrils with a finger in an effort to scrape out snot. Would anybody ever decide to see what snot tastes like?

这是一件很多都会做但鲜少有人承认的事。如果哪天你被当场抓住，那肯定是又尴尬又羞愧。而且如果我们看见别人在公开抠鼻，也会抛过去一个白眼。我说的抠鼻是指：伸出一个手指，捅进鼻孔，把鼻涕等物什从鼻孔里掏出来。难道有人会想要尝尝鼻涕的滋味吗？

The formal medical term used to describe the act of picking one's nose is “rhinotillexomania”. The first systematic³ scientific study of the phenomenon may have been undertaken as recently as 1995, by a pair of US researchers named Thompson and Jefferson. They sent a survey by mail to 1,000 adult residents of Dane County, Wisconsin.

抠鼻的医学术语是“rhinotillexomania”（抠鼻子），对它的系统研究可能也就从1995年美国科研人员汤普森和杰弗逊的研究开始。他们向威斯康辛州戴恩县的1000名成年人发送了调查问卷邮件。

Of the 254 that responded, a whopping 91% of their respondents confessed to picking their noses, while only 1.2% could admit to doing it at least once each hour. Two subjects indicated that their nasal mining habits interfered⁴ with their daily lives (moderately to markedly). And, to their surprise, two other people reported so much nose picking that they had actually picked a hole right through their nasal septum, the thin tissue that separates the left and right nostrils.

在254份有效问卷中，高达91%的人承认他们有抠鼻屎的习惯，其中1.2%的人平均每小时都要抠一次。两位受试者指出，他们的“挖矿”事业已经逐渐妨碍到日常生活了。更神奇的是，另外两位受试者说，他们因为挖得太起劲，直接把鼻中隔（左右鼻孔中间相隔的地方）挖了个洞！

Nose for danger

挖鼻屎也有危险

In a 2006 study, a group of Dutch researchers found that nose picking can help bacterial⁵ infections get around. They discovered that nose pickers at an ear, nose, and throat clinic were more likely to carry Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in their noses than non-pickers.

在2006年的一份研究中，一组荷兰科研人员发现，抠鼻习惯会增加细菌感染的危险。他们发现在耳鼻喉科的临床中，习惯抠鼻的人感染金黄葡萄球菌的几率更高。

So, given all these risks, and the potential for provoking disgust in other people, why do we still do it? There are no clear answers, but as Tom Stafford wrote recently about nail-biting, perhaps it’s a combination of the simple satisfaction we derive⁶ from ‘tidying-up’ and the fact that our nose is within easy reach all the time – in other words, we pick it ‘because it’s there’.

既然有那么多风险，还可能收到更多白眼，我们为什么还坚持抠鼻呢？答案还是不清楚，根据汤姆·斯塔福最近关于咬指甲癖的文章，也许习惯抠鼻只是我们从清洁身体上获得了单纯的快感，而且鼻子恰巧又长在容易够着的地方。换句话说就是，“不抠白不抠”。

Or perhaps nose picking is just evidence of laziness. Fingers, after all, are never in short supply when you feel the urge to clear your nostrils. Which is more than can be said about a box of tissues.

爱抠鼻也可能只说明你懒惰。当鼻子感觉想被抠一抠时，用一根手指解决，总比到处找纸巾要来得方便。

It's gratifying to know that some researchers are still trying to understand the reasons we pick our noses and the consequences that arise from it.

而且，单知道还有这么多人在努力研究我们抠鼻的原因和后果，想想还是蛮高兴的。