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Comment by est31 | Hacker News Reader

I've thought that you are only breathing through one hole of your nose? Is there still some minor airflow through the other hole to enable stereo olfaction?

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If it changes sides over time, and there is minor airflow through the slower side, then yes, that's apparently normal.

If it doesn't change sides over time, or if airflow remains completely blocked through the non-open side throughout every day, look into it further.

(This is not a complete ENT diagnosis flowchart and is not a substitute for an ENT consultation, but has enough detail to survive the basic hypochondria issues of reading Internet medical articles.)

If one of your nostrils is permanently blocked, this is abnormal. Perhaps you want to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist?

They were referring to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle I assume.

Indeed I was. E.g. check this figure: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5053491/figure/...

One nostril has basically no pressure changes while the other one does. How can you smell that way in stereo?

Presumably breathing has no effect on the diffusion of odors from far away to the immediate vicinity of the nostrils. So, diffusion can also take odors from the temporarily-inactive nostril deeper into the sinus.

Interesting, thanks for educating me :)

I think that's a reference to the nasal cycle[1]. I notice it pretty commonly when sleeping, but during waking hours, esp. if I am exercising, both nostrils seem to be unblocked.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasal_cycle

If the study is true, and Dr. HN has diagnosed you correctly, you have a nasal version of amblyopia accompanied by attenuated stereonasal perception.

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