Right now I have a cold. After blowing my nose for what seems like the millionth time, I wondered just how much mucus the nose produces during the average cold, and does its loss mean I lose any substantial amount of weight?
On average the normal nose produces 240 millilitres (about a cupful) of mucus every day. During a cold there is additional flow. Most of the mucus produced normally flows down the throat, and gets recycled within the body. During infection the nasal passage becomes constricted and therefore the inward passage of mucus is obstructed and it flows out through the nostrils.
There are other factors that increase the mucus flow, like the excessive formation of tears which can make their way to the nasal passage and mix with the mucus. Normal body processes lead to the formation of these liquids, and their loss or gain is compensated for by absorption or excretion of water.
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Saifuddin Ahmad, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK
Speaking of 鈥渢he average cold鈥� means little because vary so greatly with virus or victim. The most important cold viruses, when checked by your immune system, settle permanently in your cells. Afterwards, a bout of poor health or an infection such as flu may unchain old colds to flare up in the guise of new diseases. The resulting variation in texture and volume of snot is amazing.
What little liquid a healthy nasal cavity does produce 鈥� with no tears flowing, and no whiff of onion or allergen 鈥� usually passes back down the pharynx for swallowing. Over the course of a day a mild cold might produce a few millilitres of snot for blowing. Heavier colds, demanding the handkerchief 20 times an hour at say 2 to 10 millilitres per blow, could cost you as much as 200 millilitres an hour, and you then must drink liquids to make up the volume.
Nasal flow usually slows at night, but really serious secretion can force one to sleep sitting up to avoid swallowing phlegm and saliva.
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa