blocking the two air exit doors that are the nostrils and the mouth also increases the pressure within our ENT system @BELGAIMAGE
Your nose tickles as you’re in the middle of that important meeting. Nothing to do, you feel this urgent desire rising. And since you know that a sneeze can reach up to 50 km/h and project germs some 9 meters away, you block all the hatches, noses and mouths closed, to be sure that a stray bullet does not hit. unfortunately your boss’ shirt, just in front. Error: it would be better to let it out, at the risk of being noticed, at least by the noise. It is that sneezing is a natural reflex that should not be curbed, otherwise there may be significant consequences for your health. By sneezing, our body indeed expels impurities that have arrived in our nasal cavities, in order to protect our sinuses or our lungs. In the event of a cold, the body thus evacuates mucus, which would otherwise have harbored bacteria, viruses, etc.
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Beyond depriving ourselves of a natural shield, obstructing the two air outlets that are the nostrils and the mouth also increases the pressure within our ENT (otolaryngological) system.
Elevated blood pressure
In some cases, “Holding back a sneeze can also have consequences on a patient’s orbit and cause eye edema, but also cause violent headaches, nosebleeds and even meningeal syndromes…“, explained to West France doctor Jean-Michel Klein, vice-president of the National union of doctors specializing in otolaryngology. This bad reflex sometimes even causes tearing of the eardrums due to the sudden hyperpressure of the air in the ears. Or throat: this was the case for a 34-year-old Englishman who had held back a sneeze, as shown by a study published in the BMJ Case Reports in 2018.
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Plugging your nose to block a sneeze can even lead in rare cases to lung problems, or even to a ruptured aneurysm. “Holding back a sneeze can even cause a blood vessel in the brain to rupture due to the momentary rise in blood pressure, thus causing death.“, Pointed in 2018 Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and radio host, at the microphone of Europe 1. “What to really avoidsummarized Jean-Michel Klein in Ouest-France, it’s blocking the air by pinching your nose and keeping your mouth shut. People should keep in mind that sneezing is a natural reflex and is not bad for the body».
