The nasal cycle

In the beginning of the year I had the chance to talk to Flora Lichtman on Gimlet Media’s "Every Little Thing" podcast, about the nasal cycle. This is an under-appreciated phenomenon which occurs in most people (about 80% of the population) where the nose "switches sides" every four hours or so. One side of the nose is more open to airflow, and the other is more blocked. This pattern then reverses after about four hours or so. In people how only have a good airway on one side, this can feel like the nose completely blocks every four hours or so as the "open" side closes and the blocked side is meant to open, but can’t.

Flora is a great interviewer and we had a lot of fun talking noses. You can find the episode here and on Spotify or any other podcast client.