Cold & Flu Season Is Here: Stifling Sneezes Can Be Harmful

A wives tale about sneezing is very true.

You may have heard you can blow your brains “out,” rupture your eardrum, or even damage your eyes if you hold a sneeze in. Well, you can do damage!

A case study in the journal BMJ Case Reports warned about holding back sneezes because a person held in a sneeze and ruptured the back of their throat. Dr. Anthony Aymat, director for ear, nose and throat services at London’s University Hospital Lewisham, explains what happens when you hold a sneeze in. “When you sneeze, air comes out of you at about 150 miles per hour.”

Dr. Zi Yang Jiang, a head and neck surgeon at University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston says “The whole point of sneezing is to get something out of your body, like viruses and bacteria, so if you stop that, those may end up in the wrong part of the body.”

So, the next time you have to sneeze, don’t be dainty…let it rip!

Source: New York Post


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