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How Should You Blow Your Nose? 49-Year-Old Japanese Study Wins Ig Nobel Prize

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A 1977 study by the late Japanese physician Tokuji Unno examined airflow generated when people blow their noses and its effects on the ears.
  • The study concluded that blowing one nostril at a time for longer is more effective for clearing discharge than blocking both nostrils at once.
  • Unno died four years ago, so an Asahikawa Medical University representative accepted the prize at a ceremony that included a group nose-blowing performance.

A 49-year-old study on how to blow your nose properly has won this year’s Ig Nobel Prize for medicine, giving a long-overlooked medical question an unusual moment in the spotlight.

The research, published in 1977 by Tokuji Unno, a former honorary professor at Asahikawa Medical University, analyzed the speed of air produced when people blow their noses and its effect on the ears. Unno concluded that people should blow for longer, alternating between nostrils, rather than blocking both nostrils and blowing at the same time.

Unno died four years ago, and a representative from Asahikawa Medical University accepted the award on his behalf. The ceremony in Zurich also featured a performance tailored to the research: attendees blew their noses together.

The Ig Nobel Prizes recognize unusual research intended to make people laugh and then think. Japan extended its record of producing an Ig Nobel laureate for 20 consecutive years with this award.

About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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