Science: Body: Nose: Snot
Nasal tampon   (+24, -6)  [vote for, against]
For those 'drippy' days...

Blowing your nose is all very well if you actually have real snot to blow out, but sometimes your nose just drips clear mucus all day long (sufferers of allergic rhinitis will recognise this). Blowing is no good because nothing comes out and your nose just starts dripping again straight away.

Help is at hand from Wagster's Nasal Tampons (Patent Pending). Filled with super-absorbent silica gel, Wagster's Nasal Tampons will blitz those drips for up to two hours. Easy to apply thanks to our Conk Applicator System (TM), easy to remove with our PlastiTampHook (TM). Blister packs with five pairs will see you through a full day of drippery.
-- wagster, Nov 18 2004

(?) Mueller® Nasal Sponge http://www.medco-sc...t.asp?leaf_id=35570
Widely known to exist and seems "bloody" close to what you want. [half, Nov 19 2004]

Cotton Rolls/Nose Bleed Plugs http://www.medcosup....asp?Leaf_Id=31017M
[half, Nov 20 2004]

Adsorption http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adsorb
vs. absorption [Aq_Bi, Feb 05 2005]

With thanks to [MsWagster]!
-- wagster, Nov 18 2004


damn these nose tampon strings, they always catch fire when im trying to light a cigarette.
-- benfrost, Nov 18 2004


No strings. The PlastiTampHook can be inserted into the Nasal Tampon where the tiny barbs will lock into it. PlastiTampHook and Tampon can then be removed and disposed of safely and hygienically.
-- wagster, Nov 18 2004


I use one of their other fine products....the nasal floss.
-- normzone, Nov 18 2004


i need this. This evening I laughed so much, red wine came out my nose. I think this could help.
-- jonthegeologist, Nov 18 2004


[jonthegeologist], if you could work that trick regularly, you could open your own winery. You might have to make up a story about having a vineyard.......
-- normzone, Nov 18 2004


I'm sorry, wagster, but the little packets clearly say "not for internal use."
-- contracts, Nov 18 2004


Sneezing would be dangerous. I'd hate to get hit with a wet one. +.
-- lintkeeper2, Nov 19 2004


My dad would be forever in your debt, [wags].
-- Machiavelli, Nov 19 2004


There could be an inflatable version for sinus sufferers too. Sometimes I get so congested I have to practically O.D. on Afris to tame my savage sinuses. I sometimes wished I could shove a balloon up my nose and fill it to equalize the pressure. Maybe you could have an inflatable nasal tampon that would soak up the mucus, but also beat back those inflated sinus membranes.
-- trekbody, Nov 19 2004


Fishbone. Did your mammy never tell you not to stick things up your nose? Just grow a bushy moustache, that should absorb most of what your runny neb has to offer. Once it becomes saturated, just wring it out onto a tissue.
-- stupop, Nov 19 2004


Maybe a new name will boost your sales.
-- yabba do yabba dabba, Nov 19 2004


By this point I'm usually breathing through my mouth anyway.

[trekbody] - I've often wanted to get my sinuses surgically removed. Apparently removing a hole isn't so easy though.
-- wagster, Nov 19 2004


Is this appreciably different from the run-of-the-mill existing product? (link)
-- half, Nov 19 2004


Slightly - it's smaller and you can wear it all day. Still it is pretty much the same thing. I would dispute the 'widely known to exist' though.
-- wagster, Nov 19 2004


Aw, c'mon I ain't no medico and I've never used one of these things but I knew about them. I've seen boxing matches and other professional sports on TV and I expect others have as well. It's not like that link is the only supplier.

I do know some pretty weird stuff though, so you might be right about the widely known to exist thing. That's why I didn't mark it for deletion.
-- half, Nov 19 2004


Thanks [half]. Your support is appreciated by Wagster Medico-Dental Industries (TM), please accept this complimentary Tooth Landscaping Kit :=)
-- wagster, Nov 20 2004


I'll jump into this debate with this observation:

Those nasal sponges are designed for staunching the flow of blood specifically, probably with the idea of getting a clot to form and thus stop the bleeding.

On the other hand, these nasal tampons could be made of something else (perhaps even silica gel, but I'm no medico either; I don't even have a degree in medicine or chemistry or anything, now that I think about it). Something that doesn't tend to dry out the nose like those blood-flow-staunch apparatus do, and by the way, why DIDN'T Latin use "apparatii" as a plural?
-- Size_Mick, Nov 20 2004


I didn't really think there was a debate going on, just reporting my findings. The one degree I have in no way qualifies me to speak with any authority on, well, anything really.

While many similar products seem to be treated with chemicals to stop the flow of bleeding, the linked product makes no such claim. Neither does the other linked product which claims to be virgin cotton or somesuch.

I now officially know much more about such products than I care to.

Carry on. [half] out.
-- half, Nov 20 2004


[wagster] - About 18 months ago, I had surgery to open my sinuses to remedy the chronic infections I'd been getting since very young. Paying someone to stick a drill up my nose was the best thing I ever did. While it didn't improve my reaction to allergens, it did mean that such reactions didn't trigger infections.
-- Detly, Nov 22 2004


Somehow I doubt it.
-- Detly, Feb 03 2005


[Detly] - I've got four months left on the waiting list and then it's DRILL TIME!!! Woooohoooo!!
-- wagster, Feb 03 2005


this could actually be very handy after those week long cocaine binges
-- benfrost, Feb 03 2005


Silica gel doesn't absorb, it adsorbs. Adsorbant item trap liquids and gasses on it's surface, not inside. [link]
-- Aq_Bi, Feb 05 2005


[wagster] - some advice: stock up on tissues. I mean, really stock up. And if you never sleep on your back (like me), then learn. :)
-- Detly, Feb 05 2005


Ok, so four months was a bit optimistic for an NHS waiting list, but I'm finally going in this Friday. HOORAY! I'll be off work for a few days afterwards, so you might see me around here a little more. Actually, probably not.
-- wagster, Oct 12 2005


Was thinking this was going to be a product for fellow epistaxis sufferers. I'd be worried about so much expansion up my hooter (Note: UK usage of singular "hooter")
-- coprocephalous, Oct 12 2005


I once had a Spanish teacher from Ecuador who swore that tampons were the best way of stopping nose bleeds. Makes sense, but it still makes me cringe.
-- discontinuuity, Oct 12 2005


Ironically, as I have just returned from having various extraneous and disgusting growths cut out of my nose and sinuses, I am currently having what can only be described as a heavy nasal period.
-- wagster, Oct 14 2005


I'd love to see the advertising campaign for these... [+]
-- hippo, Aug 15 2007


[-]....Because I think that this is the biggest edsel of product market expansion ever!

People do need one that will let them 'breath', while is also absorbant enough to soak up a test tube full of blue cheese, and this product just may or may not have what it takes....but nobody would ever go for it because people can't just walk around with a nasal-tampon string hangin out of their nose, or else other people would laugh at them.
-- quantum_flux, Aug 16 2007


I just shove tissues up my nose.
-- travbm, Oct 29 2015



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