… corrugated nasal passage configuration to increase the passage lining’s surface area to enhance the three core nasal functions: to warm, humidify and filter the incoming air, en route to the lungs. There are three on each side, but the inferior turbinates tend to be the usual bad boys. A target for allergy, the turbinates can swell significantly. That plus swelling of all the nasal lining defines nasal stuffiness and blockage.
• Environmental factors. A category of nasal inhalant allergy. Mold, lurking in older homes can trigger the same changes as seasonal hay fever: the lining and turbinates swell and pressure changes in the sinuses are triggered by poor inflow of air. This is the so-called “vacuum headache”. Dusty environments, combined with dryness can be the nose’s worst enemy, particularly in a superhot climate. So, while Midwesterners may want to ship their sinuses to Arizona for the winter when colds and flu reign supreme, those same sinuses would opt for leaving during the oven-like Arizona summers.
• Smoking. Cigarette smoke is no friend of the nose. By heating and drying the passages, the normally thin and free-flowing mucus becomes sticky, stagnant and even malodorous. Another contribution to nasal blockage.