Although we sneeze with gay abandon and even resort to multiple sneezing bouts when struck with an allergy, we never stop to wonder about this response of our physiology. There are remarkable sneezing facts that you don’t know about. Besides the body rebooting itself when you sneeze, there are other reasons which include dust, animal dander and pollen which lodge themselves in the lining of the nose.
Once these irritants get hold of your nose lining, your body responds by sneezing. But, what you don’t know is how dangerous it can be if you stifle a sneeze. Read on about facts about sneezing and the dangers associated with stopping one.
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The speed of the air conjured up from the chest activity and expelled through the nose darts out with such force that the speed of a sneeze has been recorded at 100 miles per hour. The faster the sneeze travels out of your nose, the louder the sound it emits.
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Pennsylvania University researchers found that the body resorts to sneezing to reset the nasal cavity. It also emits out germs in a sneeze which is another way of elimination.
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This is one of the biggest myths about sneezing. It can, of course, change your heart rhythm when you sneeze. It alters your blood flow and changes the pressure in your chest.
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Among sneezing facts, a sneeze can travel up to five feet which is why everyone who sneezes should cover their nose to avoid spreading the germs. Medical experts explain that a sneeze travels that much a distance because of the force behind it. Since mucus particles are so tiny, it can travel easily.
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A single sneeze involves your throat, nose, chest, diaphragm and abdomen. All of these parts of the body are stimulated in preparation for the steps of a sneeze which is instant and within seconds.
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One to two pints of mucus is produced by our noses daily. Healthy mucus should always be clear but if you notice it to be brown, yellow or green, it means you could be having an infection and congestion. The white blood cells work to fight infection in your respiratory tract and that is what discolors the mucus.
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This is an important sneezing fact to prevent spreading germs. Now you know why you should use a handkerchief or sneeze into your elbow?
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When you sneeze, your eyes will shut automatically because of the bodily signal to do so when a sneeze is emitted. This can never be helped because it is an involuntary action.
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The nerves that make you sneeze are usually at rest when sleeping. This is why you cannot sneeze when you are sleeping.
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This is something to do with irritants and allergies and many people experience this during seasonal changes due to the possibility of pollen allergies. Sneezing clears out the irritants from the nose and it usually doesn’t happen all at one go. It may take three or four times to clear your nose.
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Although there aren’t many reports of people suffering severe implications from a sneeze, the fact that it can be serious if you stop one is TRUE!! Stopping a sneeze can actually rupture blood vessels in eyes and damage the blood vessels in the brain and eardrums.
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Do not have this misconception that it is polite to stifle a sneeze. For reasons of hygiene and etiquette, you can sneeze in your elbow or a handkerchief but stifling one is dangerous. Among sneezing facts, he most famous incident is of a 34-year-old man who tried stopping his sneeze but ended up rupturing his throat instead. He was taken to hospital as an emergency case being unable to swallow or speak because he had clamped his mouth and nose shut to stifle a sneeze. Doctors even heard popping noises of air bubbles that had travelled all the way back down his neck to the muscle of the rib cage. Doctors attending the man at the University Hospitals of Leicester released full details of the man’s condition to warn others how stopping a sneeze can be extremely dangerous. His condition was similar to Boerhaave's syndrome which tears the esophagus because of intense vomiting.
Said doctor Wanding Yang who authored a study to the effect “Halting sneezing via blocking the nostrils and mouth is a dangerous maneuver, and should be avoided," said Dr Wanding Yang, "It may lead to numerous complications, such as pneumomediastinum (air trapped in the chest between both lungs), perforation of the tympanic membrane (perforated eardrum), and even rupture of a cerebral aneurysm (ballooning blood vessel in the brain)."
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