When a child picks their nose and eats it it means that they are either bored, curious or have a desire to explore.
Picking their nose and eating it is not really harmful in itself but it can spread germs.
Some kids may also like the salty taste of their boogers or just are trying to get rid of their boogers and decide to eat it out of habit.
If your child is not busy with other things they may decide to pick their nose and eat the boogers when they are bored so you can try keeping their hands busy with other things.
To stop a child from picking his nose and eating it you can try putting a bandage on his finger or fingers and remind them to use a tissue instead.
Also keep the child's nasal passages moist with a saline spray to prevent booger buildup and try to provide them with distractions such as a puzzle, toy, fidget toy to keep their hands busy.
You can also use a code word to discreetly remind them to stop picking their nose, especially in public situations.
Never punish the child for picking his nose and eating it or swat his hand or tease them and try distractions.
Encourage your child to blow their nose when they feel boogers or other things up there and wipe their nostrils with a tissue in private.
To stop picking your nose you could put a bandage or even some duct tape or black electric tape or other tape on your finger.
The tape or bandage will help prevent you from being able to stick your finger inside your nose to pick it.
You can also apply some hot sauce to your finger to stop nose picking as the hot sauce when it gets in your nose will burn your nose so you won't want to put your finger back in your nose.
To break a nose picking habit and to stop nose picking and eating it you can put a bandage on the finger that you use to pick your nose.
You can also try keeping your nasal passages moist and blow your nose often to reduce the amount of boogers in your nose.
Also try reducing stress, using a memory device, focusing on something else, practice Yoga, listen to music, do deep breathing or even use saline nose drops or cool air humidifiers.
Also try keeping your hands busy with other activities such as playing with building blocks, solving puzzles, making crafts, using a fidget toy or stress ball etc.
Mindful meditation to reduce stress and anxiety and habit reversal training to become aware of and interrupt your nose picking behavior can also help stop nose picking and eating it.
Cognitive behavior therapy can also help you stop nose picking and nose picking and eating and help to identify any negative behaviors and thinking.
If you do pick your nose and eat it or even just pick your nose you should be sure to wash your hands often in warm soapy water to get rid of germs and prevent the spread of germs.
When you pick your nose and eat it it's called eating bogies.
The medical term for eating boogers is called "mucophagy" which means mucus feeding.
Picking your nose and eating it can spread germs and bacteria and viruses to other people if you don't wash your hands after picking your nose and eating it.
You can also damage the nasal passage from excessive nose picking.
To reduce your chance of eating boogers when picking your nose you should use a tissue and then throw it away after use.
You can also try putting a bandage on the tip or tips of your fingers to help prevent you from picking your nose and eating it.
What is bad about picking your nose and eating it is that your boogers contain bacteria and viruses which are harmful and can potentially make you sick and spread germs to other people as well.
Boogers in your nose trap in germs, pollen and viruses from the environment and eating those boogers that contain the germs, pollen and viruses can expose your body to those pathogens and make you sick.
Boogers can also contain germs and bacteria and viruses that your body can be trying to get rid of and by eating them you're getting those viruses, bacteria and germs back into your body.
In rare cases picking your nose excessively can even damage your nasal septum and picking your nose can also cause nosebleeds when you tear a delicate blood vessel in your nose.
The nasal septum is what divides your left and right nostril.
Although nose picking does not always cause any health problems but it is possible and is not a good habit.
Your body naturally produces mucus in order to trap in harmful substances including germs, bacteria and viruses and keep the tissue underneath it from drying out.
Your body also digests and also absorbs mucus, so when you swallow mucus it is not bad for you but eating boogers is not a good or healthy habit.
Nose picking is very common as most people including kids and adults and teens and people of all ages pick their nose.
Picking your nose is a very widespread habit.
In reality 100 percent of people probably do pick their nose at some point in their life even though they may not admit it.
At least 91 to 95 percent of people report that they pick their nose.
While anyone of any age does pick their nose the nose picking is more common in children.
Picking your nose is a natural habit and children that have not yet learned social norms also realize that early on the fit between their finger and their nostril is pretty good.
Picking your nose too much can cause damage to the inside of your nose and spread infections and even cause nosebleeds.
Your fingernails can scratch the inside of your nose and can break blood vessels.
Chronic nose picking can also damage your nose cartilage that separates your nostrils and can potentially cause a hole.