Monday, July 20, 2009

my left nostril

For your viewing enjoyment, my nose. (photo Oct. 2008)

Please note that I have a funny little scar on my left nostril. It's right on the edge, and a little bit up in there. I have absolutly no idea where it came from.

Yes, I know, it's kinda strange to post such an extreme close-up, and I apologize for the weirdness. It's an unsettling image, with my little hairs, unshaven upper lip, and my sun damaged splotchy pink skin.

Anyway - I plainly have a tiny scar in my left nostril. It just showed up one day about (maybe) between 7 and 9 years ago. I vaguely remember when the scar appeared, maybe 2000 or so. There was a sore spot in my nose, and I remember looking in a mirror and realizing that there was a little razor like slit, maybe 1/8 of an inch long, and it was irritated and swollen. I dismissed it as an ingrown hair.

I had a girlfriend a while back (maybe 6 years ago) who was close enough to my nose to ask: "Where did that come from?"

My response was, "Uhhh, it's from an ingrown hair."

She replied (quite definitively): "No it's not!"

And - I immediately felt really frightened, and odd response.

* * *

PLEASE KNOW: I did a tiny bit of photoshop enhancing. Mostly to erase some stray hairs. I played with the contrast to highlight the scar. So, this is NOT "raw", it has been re-touched, slightly. I still have the raw image, if anyone feels the need to see it. It's pretty much exactly the same.
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Text added Oct. 30th 2009
A few weeks back I met a doctor at a UFO conference. I asked him to look at the small scar in my nostril. I tipped my head back and he got in close. He simply replied that it might be due to a small staff infection below the skin. It may have produced the scaring that is presently visible.

I suspect he is probably right. Maybe the little scar really is the result of an ingrown hair?

This post and the photo may mean nothing, but it does point to one thing. I'm obviously paranoid, and finding a scar on my nose is quite unnerving considering the implications of other memories and events. Am I overly suspicious about mundane things? Undoubtedly - yes.

14 comments:

Red Pill Junkie said...

"Oh, Noes!" ;-)

Do you suffer from nose bleedings?

Mike Clelland! said...

I did have a lot of nose bleeds during my youth. From about 10 years old thru about 16 (or so).

I remember waking up a few times with very bloody pillow, and being surprised at how I could have possibly slept thru something like that.

I haven't had a bloody nose in ages.

Red Pill Junkie said...

Did the blood come out from every nostril, or did it stick exclusively to the left or right one?

"I remember waking up a few times with very bloody pillow, and being surprised at how I could have possibly slept thru something like that."

A bloody pillow would be something that should scare the beejezus out of a parent! Didn't your mom & dad take you to a doctor to have a check-up?

Mike Clelland! said...

I have no idea what nostril it came out of. ANd it was never an issue. I don't really remember my mom (who would have done the laundry) saying anything. And nope, never saw a doctor.

That said - Nose bleeds are quite common. I guess I am insinuating SOMETHING , but there is no proof of much.

How do you adventure? said...

do you ever forget to cut your nails and then absentmindedly pick your nose?
i do.
or....
some creature has clearly clawed it's way up your nose to take over your brain. Just be glad it's a fairly innocent creature just looking for a warm brain to nest in...

Mike Clelland! said...

I've wondered if it was from my cat, he may have clawed me in the night (really). But why is it so obvious almost a decade later? It looks pretty much like that photo - right now - as I type this...

Anonymous said...

It was certainly interesting for me to read this post. Thanks for it. I like such themes and everything that is connected to them. I would like to read a bit more on that blog soon.

Brizdaz (Darren) said...

I use to suffer from nosebleeds quite a bit when I was younger,so much so,that one night I was taken to get my nosed packed with gauze and it felt like they were trying to pack it into my eyeballs through my nostrils.
As I have gotten older they have become way less frequent.
I put it down to weak nasal membranes though,as my two boys have followed in my footsteps,when it comes to nosebleeds.

Sarah said...

I worked in healthcare briefly and have seen (and have) scars resulting from staph infections of the skin. They can be deep and are usually circular or abnormally shaped. I also sleep with cats and sometimes awake with little bloody scratches. Neither of these explanations seem to fit your photo. I like to put these things into the category of "one of those things I can't explain". It's what keeps life interesting.

On the subject of nosebleeds. I went through a period where I had nocturnal nosebleeds (maybe 8-10 years of age?) It was really odd. There would be a perfectly round, dried bloodstain, maybe six inches across, in the middle of the pillow under my head. Shouldn't it have been smeared or irregularly shaped? Why was there never any on my face or in my hair?

What's weird is that late one night I fell asleep briefly on the couch in the living room and awoke to another dried blood stain. I remember being puzzled because I wasn't asleep that long and I wasn't in the bedroom. Somehow my childish brain linked the occurrence with my sleeping in a particular place.

I guess we are all a little paranoid and obsessive about such mundane matters because they are so personal.

Eva said...

Hi, I had the same problem. Lots of nose bleeds during night until I was about 16 years old. It really scared my mum to find me with all that blood on the pillow. Interesting that you to have experienced the same thing.

alone in a strange place said...

Wow, I wish it was things like this that I wanted answers to

alone in a strange place said...

Wow, I wish it was things like this that I wanted answers to

Melissa Kriger said...

Thanks for sharing this, Mike. I had a similar slit 'cut' in my nose...same area, too! I experienced the same level of copious nighttime nosebleeds during age 8 to 15. It was always hard for me to understand why this seemed to happen at night, and just like you, how did I not wake up from such amount of blood on my pillow!!?? My father also had them (an experiencer as well) and son has them, too.

Unknown said...

I have the same 3 marks