Here is a weird topic that I’d like to bring up because I think it may come in handy for all you snuffers someday. When I was younger I had my nose broken, in order to continue to breathe properly my doctor removed my nasal turbinates from the right nostril, not the left thankfully. Now, turbinates are bony projections on the inside of the nose that function to remove dust/pollen etc, as well as humidify and warm the inside of the nose. For me it’s nearly impossible to snuff with the right nostril because there is nothing stopping the tobacco from going straight back to the throat, that and I can barely catch the aroma even if I do manage to ‘coat’ that nostril with tobacco. So, it turns out that it is the turbinates that make snuffing so pleasant…they capture the tobacco and warm it so it releases scent.
If you snuff, don’t ever allow a doctor to remove the turbinates…get them to move your septum, although far more painful, you’ll still be able to enjoy snuffing. I can only snuff on one side, and that is a little depressing to say the least.
I need to get my septum fixed because of childhood broken noses. It blocks the majority of my left nostril so I can hardly sniff the majority of snuffs, and my right nostril lets everything fly through so it likes to go into my lungs, no matter how gentile I sniff on many snuffs. The only way I have learned to enjoy it is to figure out different techniques for different grind/moisture combinations. It’s not quite the same thing as yours, but having problems snuffing just plain sucks.
Can you get prosthetic turbinates? (kidding, of course)
I wish I could get prosthetic turbinates. I’ve had 2 surgeries so far, one to fix the septum and remove the turbinates and the other to make it all look like it did before the break. Once you get those things removed there is no going back. Make sure you tell the doctor to leave the turbinates alone, because oftentimes they will remove the turbinates on the side where the air doesn’t get through…even when fixing the septum alone would solve the problem.
Good luck, septal surgery is extremely painful…make sure you get some serious painkillers, and that they give you enough.
Wow… on my 18th birthday, which happened to be the day of my graduation from highschool some willie-head broke my nose bad. One side of my nose was completely collapsed.
I got into my car and looked at my bloodstained hoodie, and noticed my schnauz was trashed. I thought to myself, well… you are insanely drunk. Better now than later. I put a thumb in each nostril and gave it one hell of a wrenching. The sounds of bones and cartilage doing that in your nose is something you will never forget. It basically works fine. I had an MRI a couple of years ago and the tech told me… “Sir, your nose is broken”. I replied, “I know, I set it myself.”
Thank god I was asleep when they re-set my septum…ofcourse I had let the break sit like that for years before having surgery…and ofcourse it looked terribly odd, so I had to pay out of pocket for cosmetic surgery after…which thankfully didn’t hurt nearly as much.
@JohnnyFriday, Dude…that is so righteous that you re-set your own nose. You have my admiration for that.
Damn. I got issues with my right nostril because of broken nose issues too. Three times to be exact, once when I was a toddler and two by fist. But I never got slammed hard enough to have it lay over. Which almost annoys me because having to reset your own nose is almost like a rite of passage for the men in my family! lol
Do you have some special technique that I’m missing out on? If so, do tell. Because as of today I haven’t been able to really smell the snuff when I take it on the right side, it just ends up in the back of the throat.
I hope it helps. It feels awkard at first, but once I got used to snuff this way, it’s my primary method. And it works with a pinch, back of the hand, and a spoon.