Are you sneezing wrong?

It’s cold and flu season and it seems like every place you go, at least one person is sneezing.

I (Bonnie) have a dear friend whom I’ve know since high school. Back then we used to tease her that she sneezed like a mouse because she stifled it and made this really tiny, high pitched ‘choo’ sound, which she said was ‘more lady-like’ (we talked that way back then). I remember my mother (who was a nurse) commenting that my friend should sneeze naturally (and always cover her nose and mouth), because stifling it wasn’t healthy. I didn’t really think much about it at the time.

So is there a right and wrong way to sneeze? As it turns out, YES!

Sneezing, or, as it is technically known, sternutation, is described by Dr. Pamela Georgeson, a member of the American Osteopathic Association, as “A sudden, violent, spasmodic, audible expiration of breath through the nose and mouth, especially as a reflex act.” It is usually accompanied by fluid, and, on occasion, germs. It’s a natural, protective device the body uses to clear your nose and protect your health,usually from irritation by allergens.

A sneeze is triggered in the brain stem (the primitive ‘lizard’ part of our brain that is responsible for autonomic functions such as breathing and pain sensitivity. In your mouth, your tongue pushes up as the soft palate (the back portion of your upper mouth that moves as you swallow),thus forcing most of the air through your nose.

There is a lot of force behind a sneeze, which can travel at anywhere from 10 to 100 mph. That’s why you never want to try to stop a sneeze, especially by holding your nose and closing your mouth. The pressure is sufficient to rupture an eardrum because the air from the lungs is forced into your Eustachian tube (a small opening connecting your throat to your ear). You also run the risk of damaging your diaphragm, rupturing one of the small blood vessels in the white of your eye, and possibly even trigger a brain aneurysm. (1)

In England, one unfortunate sneeze suppressor actually ripped a hole in his esophagus when the pressure of the sneeze had no outlet through his nose or mouth. He spent 2 weeks in the hospital. (1)

Some fun facts about sneezes:

Your eyes are always closed when you sneeze
Some people (about 25% of the population) sneeze when exposed to bright light. It’s called a “ohotic sneeze reflex”
The human nose produces between 1-2 pints of mucus a day – the majority of which you swallow.
Thomas Edison used his early movie camera (kinetoscope) to film and study sneezes. “Fred Ott’s Sneeze” by Thomas Edison was the first motion picture to be copyrighted in the United States.

And some superstitions about sneezing:

Your heart does not stop when you sneeze.
Your eyes will not pop out of your head (closing your eyes is just a natural reflex)
And, my grandmother’s favorite, if you sneeze, someone is thinking of you

How to safely stop a sneeze:

Press your tongue firmly to the roof of your mouth, just behind your front teeth (the alveolar ridge) for a few seconds or until you feel the urge to sneeze has passed.

Blow your nose

Using the side of your forefinger, place it under your nose where your nose meets your face and press inward and upward (this is the one that works for me – well, most of the time).

How to handle a sneeze hygienically:

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue then throw it away.
If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve or elbow, not into your hands.
Wash you hands after coughing or sneezing so you don’t spread germs!
Don’t touch objects until after you wash your hands
Don’t touch your face if you may have touched something that was contaminated by someone else
Don’t have water handy? Carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) and use it after sneezing or coughing
Don’t be around people who are sick. OK, if you have school-aged kids this is pretty much an impossibility, but do the best you can to keep washing those hands!
Don’t go to work, or send your kids to school, if you, or they, are sick. You are just helping to spread those germs around.

References:

http://press.psprings.co.uk/bcr/january/bcr218906.pdf
https://www.livescience.com/32776-is-it-safe-to-hold-in-a-sneeze.html
https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/etiquette/coughing_sneezing.html

Are you sneezing wrong?

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