What your nose can tell you about external skin diseases and internal health

Thanks to a quirk known as unconscious selective attention, your brain has learned to ignore your nose. A prominent feature that’s positioned closely to the eyes, the schnoz could get in the way of our vision – but the nervous system cleverly filters it out.

You can choose to look for your nose though. Either close one eye or look left, right or downwards and it’ll pop into view.

But, although your brain works hard to stop your nose from interfering with your line of vision, your snout is not something to ignore. Like many other parts of your body, examining the nose can help diagnose external skin conditions – and internal diseases.

Acne

While there are a number of forms of acne, acne vulgaris is the most common – and it often affects the nose.

This skin condition develops from the clogging of tiny glands in the skin that secrete protective oils, which leads to open and closed comedones. Open comedones – better known as blackheads – develop a dark coloured plug, whereas closed comedones are whiteheads that form when the pore is blocked completely. Clogged pores can also develop into larger lumps and bumps which can become infected, inflamed and and pus-filled and can even scar the skin.

Acne rosacea has a different appearance. It is an...

Read more