Mucus

What is mucus? Mucus is a mass of molecules, otherwise known as a polymer, produced by mucous membranes, called mucosa.  As we all know, it is a slimy, wet substance commonly found dripping out one’s nose during cold weather. 

Why should you know about mucus? Simple. Because it is produced by your body every day, and is essential for your body to function correctly. As disgusting as mucus is, it is very valuable. Today, I am going to focus on the mucus in your nasal cavity, which is located behind your nose. 

Mucus is essentially a protection for your nose. It helps keep your system free of any inhaled junk. As this junk accumulates inside your nose, it begins to dry into clumps. Which is what we know as boogers. Please refrain from eating those tempting morsels, because they are filled with all of the things your body doesn’t want.

Why does mucus begin to drip out of your nose in those frigid months of the year? Not to frustrate you. As the cold air enters your nasal cavity, it begins to dry the skin underneath the mucus. This kicks your mucosa into overdrive, producing extra mucus to help prevent your skin from drying out. When you are constantly having to blow your nose, that means that your body is functioning exactly the way it was designed.

Now don’t blame mucus for all the frustrating activities of your nose. When your nose is clogged and breathing becomes difficult, all you want to do is blow your nose to remove whatever is clogging it up. This is usually futile, because it isn’t your mucus causing this. It is, in fact, your mucosa, which commonly swells and becomes inflamed when you are sick. No amount of blowing will help. Instead, focus on staying hydrated and breathing in air laden with moisture, i.e. air from a humidifier or even a hot shower.

Now that we understand mucus and how it most commonly affects our daily routines, lets pull our sleeves to our elbows and discover what mucus really is on a molecular level. Mucus is a viscous colloid. Viscous means to have a thick, sticky consistency, somewhere between a liquid and a solid, which is why it doesn’t just run out of your nose on a normal basis. A colloid is a little more technical. A colloid is a mixture with particles suspended within that are larger than a molecule, but not visible to the naked eye. Muddy water is the perfect example of another colloid. Muddy water is simply water and silt particles. The silt particles cloud the water, changing the coloration, but said particles are still too small to make out each individual one.

So what does this tell us about mucus? Imagine muddy water that is thicker than a liquid, and doesn’t just run away. This is because mucus, unlike muddy water, is also viscous, remember? Because it has a higher viscosity than muddy water, it won’t act the same way, but they are still both colloids, one viscous, the other a liquid.

Whew, that is a lot to take in and process. Hopefully, you are able to walk away from here with a better understanding and respect for that annoying viscous colloid that comes running out of your nose in the winter months. If so, then I consider this post a success. Please stay tuned for my next post, which will be a little less laden with bacteria.

Thank you for reading,

BeardnBlog