Trevor Laffan: Who knew... picking your nose really can damage your health

‘They also serve who only stand and wait’, is a quote I’ve often used when people moan at me for spending too much time chilling out.

According to the website Interesting Literature, that quotation is attributed to the poet Milton who is best remembered for his epic poem, Paradise Lost.

It’s about the Fall of Man, which, in Milton’s telling, comes about when Satan is cast out of Heaven and sets up his capital in Hell. He names this capital city Pandemonium - meaning literally ‘all demons’ - from which we get the word more commonly used to denote a state of chaos and disorder.

In the early 1650s, his sight began to fail him, and Milton knew he would soon be completely blind. He wrote a moving sonnet as a response to his loss of sight and the implications it had for his life.

He asked how he could complete his work, which God had given him the talent to do, and which God expected him to complete, if he was deprived of his sight?

But Milton figured out that standing and waiting could not be equated with ‘doing nothing’, but was instead about learning forbearance and accepting one’s own limitations, the better to achieve spiritual purity. He penned his most famous poem by dictating it to secretaries.

I’ve accepted my limitations too. I was never known for leaping about enthusiastically or running around like a headless chicken. I’m more of a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ kind of guy.

Just leave me alone and I’ll get a job done in my own time.

As I get older, I’ve noticed that everything takes longer than it used to, but sure, what’s the rush? Not everyone has that same perspective though, which can cause a bit of tension occasionally.

But it is possible to be productive without bursting a gut, so keep that in mind the next time you see me sitting quietly in contemplation.

I could be conjuring up a masterpiece, or I could just be tired from an earlier mental exertion. My brain could be hurting and, if you think that’s not possible, then read on.

It was recently reported that some experts were suggesting that employees should be rewarded for ‘thinking hard’ after they discovered mental exertion makes the brain ‘hurt’.

If you’ve ever felt physically wiped out after a long day sitting at your desk, there may be a good reason for it, according to a new study.

Scientists have discovered that thinking hard often triggers feelings of intense frustration, stress and even pain.

As a result, the Dutch experts behind the research insist that employers should do more to ‘reward and support’ staff for giving them difficult work.

They analysed 170 studies comprising 4,670 participants, to examine how people generally experience mental effort. A variety of participants were used including health care employees, military employees, amateur athletes and college students from 29 countries.

More than 350 cognitive tasks were involved in the study, such as learning a new technology, finding one’s way around an unfamiliar environment, practicing golf swings, and playing a virtual reality game.

In all the studies analysed, participants reported the level of effort they exerted as well as the extent to which they experienced unpleasant feelings such as frustration, irritation, stress or annoyance.

They found that managers often encourage employees, and teachers often encourage students, to exert mental effort.

On the surface, this seems to work well, employees and students do often opt for mentally challenging activities.

While this might suggest that employees and students enjoy thinking hard, the results suggest that, in general, most people really dislike mental effort.

The greater the effort, the greater the unpleasantness people experience. I can relate to that.

But there’s something else too. Apart from over-taxing the brain, it’s also important to protect it from harm.

According to Medical News Today, one way you could damage your brain is by picking your nose. New research suggests that this activity may even increase your risk of developing dementia.

A study from Australia has found that nose-picking damages the nasal mucosa, making it easier for the bacteria to reach the olfactory nerve and enter the brain.

Nose-picking is a habit that is generally seen as unpleasant, but harmless. However, this research suggests that the activity might not be as risk-free as previously thought.

The research shows that by damaging the nasal cavity in mice, bacteria can enter the brain through the olfactory nerve. Sounds strange to me as I never knew mice picked their nose.

Anyway, a spokesman for the study advised that nose-picking and plucking hair from the nose should be avoided. “If you damage the lining of the nose, you can increase how bacteria can go into your brain,” he said.

My grandmother was right after all. She always said nothing smaller than your elbow should go up your nose, so people should resist the urge to go digging around up there.

That’s good news for me. I have a friend who has a barber shop in the village of Pyla in Cyprus. A visit to Murat is an experience. He does the full works, and, apart from a trim, you get a head massage and shave with a cut-throat razor, so you leave there feeling completely refreshed.

He also removes nose hair with hot wax which I haven’t the courage to face.

I’m not a fan of pain. I also don’t like the idea of screaming like a banshee and crying like a baby.

I always feel like a draft dodger when I refuse the wax treatment, but now I have a legitimate excuse.

From now on, I can tell him that I’d love to get rid of the nose hair but unfortunately, I can’t because it’s bad for my brain.