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It must be absolutely torturous if your nose starts itching and you can't scratch it for several hours, when you're on EVA. How do astronauts deal with it? Are they undergoing a special training, or take some kind of desensitizing drugs? Or apply some special anti-itching cosmetics?

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    I can't stop thinking about my nose itching now... – David says Reinstate Monica Dec 10 '15 at 14:27
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    It's moments like this that I wish real astronauts answered questions on space.stackexchange :) They've got nothing better to do while chilling in the ISS, right?? – pbristow Dec 10 '15 at 14:43
  • Maybe they sedate the nostrils, and the skull's skin overall, with an injection before the EVA. They are crazy, they go to space. One just has to say: "If you don't accept this, then you won't go to space!" And they will obey at any pain and pay. NASA has the world's most compliant employes. – LocalFluff Dec 10 '15 at 15:22
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    @pbarranis We have had answers written by astronauts. – duzzy Dec 10 '15 at 20:53
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    @LocalFluff: Is EVA specifically likely to cause motion sickness, once you've got over the usual space sickness? This book google found just says to wait 3 days before spacewalking, because of the risk of throwing up in your space suit (which is life-threatening). – Peter Cordes Dec 10 '15 at 21:36
  • @PeterCordes I have a weird impression that the visual chaos of the inside of ISS serves that very purpose: if you don't get nausea with the thousands of knicknacks within your field of view, you won't get it in the calm of open space. – SF. Dec 10 '15 at 21:53
  • @duzzy: links/usernames? – SF. Dec 10 '15 at 21:54
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    Doubt the psychology tag. Shouldn't it be physiology instead? – Deer Hunter Dec 10 '15 at 21:59
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    @SF check the answers here. http://meta.space.stackexchange.com/questions/680/how-many-space-exploration-members-are-active-in-the-space-industry – Organic Marble Dec 11 '15 at 01:43
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    @pbarranis ... and sometimes, astronauts refer others to answers here https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/593750488052408320 – TildalWave Dec 11 '15 at 02:08
  • @DeerHunter: I had assumed they undergo some training to just ignore it. I guess I was wrong. – SF. Dec 11 '15 at 02:57
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    Regarding space sickness, look up the Garn scale. – Brian Lynch Dec 11 '15 at 15:18
  • Having to scratch your nose would be irritating, but for sheer terror I'd imagine it's hard to beat getting blinded while on an EVA! – Mason Wheeler Dec 14 '15 at 19:01

4 Answers4

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According to Chris Hadfield's answer during his Reddit AMA:

"We have a squishy thing inside we jam our nose into while we clear our ears — we scratch our nose on that."

The "squishy thing" is formally known as a Valsalva device (used by both astronauts and divers for equalizing pressure in their sinuses. (Thanks to Organic Marble's comment).

In addition, astronauts wearing Orlan spacesuits can actually pull their arm inside the suit to freely scratch an itch. See called2voyage's answer to this question as well as this entry on Thomas Reiter's EVA blog.

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From Retro Space Images's FaceBook post:

Gene Cernan scratches the itch during an Apollo 17 training session at KSC.

enter image description here

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How about Willpower? Every Soldier learns to stand still at a parade or when they got to pledge loyalty. When I had my inauguration at the Austrian Military forces, we all had to stand still for quite some time (2-3 hours no nose or butt scratching) and it wasn't really a problem. Also, if you're concentrated on something serious (like doing work in a completely hostile environment) it is very likely that this distracts you from any upcoming itching.

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    Chris Hadfield actually talks about that in his TED talk, specifically referencing having his eye watering and blinding him on an EVA. – Brian Lynch Dec 10 '15 at 11:03
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    On a good day, of course, that's why they recruit the right stuff for the job. But things can go wrong in spaceflight. Life support systems should be designed to handle also the bad days, as when an astronaut is half unconscious or having fluid or dust leaking into her helmet. Or simply taking care of sweating intensely while desperately working to handle an emergency. – LocalFluff Dec 10 '15 at 11:07
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    Same for me. Also, consider the willpower when under ABC-gear, marching for hours, while having a cold and a running nose (happened to me). Not what I'd call cozy, but nothing unbearable either. – phresnel Dec 10 '15 at 14:07
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    @phresnel: yeah, ABC-gear can be a real pain in the a... nose ^^ – Bounce Dec 10 '15 at 15:32
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    @LocalFluff the same applies for land-based biohazard or chemical protection suits, or a simple gas mask - where you "could" scratch your nose, but doing so could kill you. These are far more common than space suits, and there people just deal with it. – Peteris Dec 10 '15 at 19:51
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    @Peteris I agree. When riding a motorbike I never had any thought of stopping to scratch my head. When one is busy one just ignores it. It is somehow instinctively taken care of. Drivers famously scratch their noses at the stoplight. If for some reason astronauts have to sit idle for days with helmet, it'll be uncomfortable, but they get paid for it. – LocalFluff Dec 11 '15 at 02:26
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    It's different when the only other thing than ignoring the itch is to stand still to attention, than when you need to concentrate on puzzling out that weird malfunction in a complex system and precisely operate tools through what feels like inflated rubber ball. Besides, one time I got some painful inflammation at the very tip of my nose, it would hurt whenever touched. I had never before realized how often I touch my nose completely subconsciously before then... – SF. Dec 12 '15 at 23:02
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    @SF Thats the whole thing. If you're concentrated on something important, the itching mostly doesn't even come up and even if, you can distract yourself from itching by doing difficult things (ask people with skin problems) and having nothing to do but to stand still, makes it even more unbearable. – Bounce Dec 14 '15 at 09:54
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According to an audio transcript of the Apollo 17 lunar mission, some astronauts had a Velcro patch somewhere on the inside of the helmet to scratch their nose on.

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