Your Chilly Nose Could be Telling You Something

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Your Chilly Nose Could be Telling You Something

Healthline

You probably have a cold nose because this winter is especially freezing than past ones, but there was a recent study done concluding that there might be another cause.

This study out of the University of Nottingham's Institute for Aerospace Technology, found that your cold nose could mean you're working yourself too hard.

Using thermal cameras on participants, researchers found that facial temperatures decreased as study participants carried out tasks of increasing difficulty. The decreased temperatures were frequently focused around the nose.

They also noted that a person's breathing rate changed as they became fully focused on a task, and as mental demand increased, blood may be diverted from the face to the cerebral cortex. But more research is needed, they added.

"We expected that mental demands on an operator would result in physiological changes, but the direct correlation between the workload and the skin temperature was very impressive, and counter-intuitive "” we were not expecting to see the face getting colder," said Dr. Alastair Campbell Ritchie of the Bioengineering Research Group.

"With this accurate way to estimate workload, we can develop methods that will assist the operator at times of maximum stress."

The researchers are now going to continue the study after this finding. They hope to look into this deeper and see how facial temperatures correlate with workplace stress.

So, next time you find your nose to be colder than usual, don't just blame it on the weather. Take a look about the stress you're under, because it might be that you're working yourself too hard.