Nose

Smell

Your nose lets air in, cleans it, and smells cookies, flowers and stinky socks too!

Your tongue tastes, your nose smells, and your teeth chew. Try Taste, Smell and Tooth, or tap any part!

The front door for air

When you breathe in through your nose, air rushes through your two nostrils into a space behind your face called the nasal cavity.

Inside, the air gets warmed up and a little damp, so it's gentle on your lungs. Your nose works like a tiny heater and a tiny air cleaner at the same time.

A thin wall down the middle splits your nose into two sides. It's made of bone and cartilage (KAR-tih-lij), a tough, bendy material. The tip of your nose is cartilage too, which is why you can squish and wiggle it.

Hairs, mucus and sneezes

Little hairs just inside your nostrils catch dust and bits of dirt before they get in.

Your nose is also lined with mucus (MYOO-kus), the slimy stuff you might call snot. It's sticky, so dust, pollen and germs get stuck in it. Even tinier hairs called cilia (SIL-ee-uh) sweep the mucus to the back of your throat, and you swallow it without noticing. Gross, maybe, but it keeps your lungs clean!

When you have a cold, your nose makes extra mucus to wash germs out. That's why your nose runs.

A sneeze is your nose blasting out something that bothers it, like dust, pepper or pollen. It's a reflex, so it happens on its own. Some people even sneeze when they step into bright sunlight, and that runs in families.

How smelling works

Smells are made of tiny bits floating in the air, far too small to see. When you sniff, you pull those bits up high inside your nose.

Up there is a small patch of smell sensors, about the size of a postage stamp on each side. They connect to millions of nerve cells.

You have about 400 different kinds of smell sensors. Each smell switches on a different mix of them, like pressing a different set of piano keys. That's how you can tell popcorn from pine trees.

Smell nerves connect to the parts of your brain that handle feelings and memories. That's why a smell, like a grandparent's cooking, can bring back a memory in a flash.

Smell and taste are a team

Much of what you call flavor is really smell. When you chew, smells from your food float up the back of your throat into your nose.

Try it: hold your nose and take a bite of apple. Then let go and take another bite. Notice how much more flavor you get when your nose can smell?

That's why food can taste boring when you have a stuffy nose from a cold.

🤩 Wow facts

Your nose and mouth connect at the back, so food smells reach your nose while you chew.
The tip of your nose is made of bendy cartilage, not bone.
Most people close their eyes when they sneeze, without even trying.
If you smell something for a while, like your own house, you stop noticing it. Your brain gets used to it.
Smell nerve cells are some of the few nerve cells your body keeps replacing all through your life.
Dogs have many more smell sensors than people, which is why their noses are so good at sniffing.

💚 Look after it

Blow your nose gently into a tissue, one side at a time.
Sneeze and cough into your elbow, then wash your hands.
Keep fingers and small things out of your nose.
Drink water. It helps keep the mucus in your nose thin and comfy.

🩹 When something goes wrong

Nosebleeds. A nose can bleed when the inside gets dry or bumped. It often looks worse than it is. Sit up, lean forward a little, gently pinch the soft part of your nose, and call a grown-up to help.

Stuffy nose. Colds and allergies can make the inside of your nose puffy and full of mucus. Blowing gently and resting help. Tell a grown-up if you feel sick.

🙋 Questions kids ask

Why does my nose run when it's cold outside?

Your nose makes extra moisture to warm and wet the cold, dry air you breathe in. Some of it drips out the front.

Why are boogers green or yellow sometimes?

When your body fights germs, germ-fighting cells collect in the mucus and can change its color. It usually clears up as you get better.

Why do I stop smelling my own house?

Your brain gets used to smells that are always around and stops paying attention to them. That leaves room to notice new smells.

🧠 Quick quiz

Question 1 of 2What do the little hairs and mucus in your nose do?

🔊 The front door for air

🔊 Hairs, mucus and sneezes

🔊 How smelling works

🔊 Smell and taste are a team