That's Fit

My youngest guy Danny has been having bloody noses lately. It seems every day he gets out bed, he leaves behind a trail of blood on his bed sheets and pillowcase. And sometimes, at random points in the day, he comes running with his nose dripping blood. Worried that this is not just an occasional occurrence, I called Danny's pediatrician today. Here's what he said: Invest in some saline nose drops and dose him three to four times per day. And at night: Dab a Q-tip with Vaseline and rub into his nostrils to keep his nose lubricated while he sleeps.

Danny's doctor blames the Florida heat for his bloody noses. He's dry, apparently, and his little capillaries are breaking and bleeding. That's the initial assessment, anyway. We report for an official office visit on Monday -- five-year-old check-up time -- and we'll get the whole scoop then, following an examination.

Got any wisdom on the bloody nose front? If so, please share.

In my family it's well known that my dad has a great "sniffer." He detests perfume so, of course, when I was in high school I wanted to wear perfume terribly! I remember buying some with a subtle scent, then putting on the tiniest bit imaginable while I was up in my bedroom. My father, from downstairs, shouted up to me to "wipe that stuff off!" It was amazing. While I don't think many people have a sense of smell quite as attuned as my dad's, it turns out that most of us can be trained to sense danger through our sense of smell.

Scientists have determined that the human sense of smell can be trained to detect even subtle changes in smells associated with danger. Study volunteers were exposed to two grassy odors and none could differentiate between the smells. The volunteers were then given a mild shock during one of of the smells; after being given the shock they were all able to tell the difference between the two odors. MRI brain scans taken before and after shocks were administered showed a change in the olfactory cortex after the shocks.

It's official... the nose knows!

A woman almost sent me to the hospital last night because of her overuse of perfume. I was walking down an aisle in Target, when I completely lost my breath! She must have poured half the bottle on her, and I swear I didn't respond so strongly when I was gassed in a Paris subway ten years ago. What is up with that?

I literally had to sprint away from the woman to escape suffocation. It was an obnoxious example of odor abuse. I feel like more and more people are abusing their fragrances every day. Now is this such a big deal? Yeah...Kinda!

I just read in Men's Health magazine that if you pinch your nostrils for 10 seconds, you'll curb your cravings. Since your stomach signals hunger and your brain signals 'cravings' ... this ancient Chinese acupressure point will help you pass on the doughnuts. In all of my years teaching fitness I've never heard such a thing, but you never know. Right? At least this strategy doesn't cost anything.

I personally imagine that the act of pinching, not picking, my nose for 10 seconds on purpose would simply distract me from anything else in the world I may have been focusing on, including food. So maybe the practice will work, because it seems so silly. My only non-Chinese or ancient advice is to do it with a tissue.

We now have news out on another small device for diagnosis health issues: this one uses sniffing to detect health problems varying from Alzheimers to a deviated septum.

The idea is that the sense of smell is one of the most delicate of senses and may act as a sort of "canary in the mine" to give early warnings of impending or already existing issues. By measuring how deeply a person sniffs when smelling a scent or odor experts can determine if their sense of smell is impaired or not, and then find out why if it is.

I hope I'm not asked to take this test anytime soon because the smells they use include ripe cheese mixed with rancid meat, burning mixed with skunk scent, and then (a sigh of relief for participants) bananas.

I just went in to a convenient store to grab a newspaper and came across a disturbing conversation. As I got in line to pay for my paper I stood behind a woman with a large triangular white bandage across what I thought was her nose. Apparently I was wrong. She no longer had a nose.

What really got to me was the conversation she had with the clerk, who had about four reddish black sores on his face. Both were dealing with melanoma - skin cancer - and both were joking about who would die sooner. Of course laughter was probably a relief to the stress they were feeling, but it stressed me out.

Folks, Melanoma is not funny at all, in fact it is the most serious form of cancer. It is deadly and the mere thought of having pieces of my face removed frequently to remove cancerous moles......nonetheless removing my nose makes me want to go buy a closet full of sun block and hats. Don't screw around! It's summer, the sun will be blazing and it is dangerous.

Postnasal drip is a singers worst nightmare. While touring the US, different regions flare up my sinus and allergy problems and I have to pay close attention to when the "drip" starts so I can kick it in the butt before it attacks my respiratory system. One of the first things I pack when I go on tour is a small humidifier. I have a travel one that I can put different scents in like lavender that also helps me sleep. This keeps the air moist and keeps my sinuses from drying out. I make a salt water mixture that I can gargle with and flush out my nose with. The recipe for this mixture is a half teaspoon of salt in about 8 ounces of warm water. I use it to gargle with or to pull up into an aspirator such as an eye dropper and put the tip into your nose while you tilt your head back.

Always remember to gently blow your nose because blowing your nose hard will only result in blowing some of the "drip" back into your throat and sinus cavities. When I start feeling that "drip" coming I also stop drinking milk and eating dairy products and start drinking hot teas with lemon and honey. Since I am a natural remedy person as much as possible, I avoid nasal decongestants, nose drops, etc. because in the long run, they will cause you more trouble than they are worth. Drink lots of purified water to keep your system hydrated and cleansed. Believe it or not stress can also create sinus and postnasal drip problems so learn to relax more often to stay away from "the drip".