Just for perspective: I am a man in my mid-40s and for as long as i can remember i had this question… is it normal that i can shut my nose close just with some muscles?

I always wondered why some people hold their nose shut with their fingers while jumping into a pool or when exposed to some horrible smell… i never had this need. Changing my sons diapers? No problem! Cleaning the latrines while in the army? Just a breeze!

Ehm… yeah… just thought about this…

  • squaresinger@lemmy.world
    9·
    23 days ago

    Try blowing out a candle. Feel how your nose feels while doing that. Try to replicate the same movement in your nose without blowing.

    There’s a ton of face muscles that you can learn to control with a bit of practice:

    • Wiggling your ears
    • Moving your eyes inwards
    • Clicking your ear channels (like the click you hear when swallowing)
    • Creating a humming noise in your ears by flexing a muscle inside your ear channels
    • Plugging your nose from the inside
    • Rolling your tounge
    • Individual motion of your brows
    • “Vibrating” your eyes super fast left and right

    Probably a few more that I didn’t think of right now.

      • squaresinger@lemmy.world
        2·
        23 days ago

        Might be, but all of these are things I was not able to do at some point and that I conciously learned. So while having the “wrong” genetics might preclude you from doing them, you still need to learn these things if you have the “right” genetics.

      • squaresinger@lemmy.world
        2·
        22 days ago

        Basically what happens when you look at your nose. But it’s also possible to e.g. only move one inwards while keeping the other straight. It’s not difficult, but there are people who can’t do it.

        • stelelor@lemmy.ca
          1·
          22 days ago

          Oh ok, I thought you meant pulling the eyeballs “inwards” as in towards the back of your head! What you describe, I’d normally call “crossing” my eyes.