DON’T HOLD YOUR NOSE AT THIS.
YOUR THROAT COULD RUPTURE, DOCTORS SAY
It’s best to practise the old phrase “better out than in” when it comes to sneezing, as holding in that sneeze could lead to a ruptured throat. In a bizarre case that left doctors stunned, a healthy 34-yearold man in the U.K. showed up at an emergency room with a raspy voice and complaints of being unable to swallow properly. He said the symptoms appeared immediately after he tried to hold in a sneeze by pinching his nose and clamping his mouth shut. As a result, he said, he experienced a popping sensation in his neck along with some minor swelling.
When the doctors examined him, they heard crackling and popping sounds from his back all the way down to his rib cage, suggesting air bubbles had made their way into the muscles of his chest. He was initially diagnosed with Boerhaave’s syndrome — the spontaneous rupturing of the esophagus. This usually happens after vomiting, and has a rather nasty presentation — repeated episodes of vomiting, followed by chest pains, difficulty swallowing, and shortness of breath.
But in his case the build-up of pressure from the trapped sneeze caused a rupture higher up in the throat, at the pharynx, which is situated just behind the tongue. After further examinations, the doctors concluded the man was instead suffering from pharynx perforation — a less complex rupture that usually occurs as the result of neck trauma. What makes this type of rupture particularly tricky to identify is that the symptoms are often vague and it’s not a common diagnosis.
Sneezes are powerful, travelling up to 320 km/h, according to MIT scientists, with the power to eject debris up to nearly eight metres.
Previously people have been admitted to hospital suffering from burst eardrums, ruptured blood vessels in the eyes, damaged facial nerves, pulled muscles and even cracked ribs from trying to contain the huge force.
“Halting sneezing via blocking the nostrils and mouth is a dangerous manoeuvre, and should be avoided,” said Dr. Wanding Yang, lead author of a report on the case in a British Medical Journal case report.
“It may lead to numerous complications, such as pseudomediastinum (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)."
As a precaution, the U.K. man was treated with antibiotics and given a feeding tube. He remained in the hospital for seven days, until his symptoms almost disappeared. He was discharged and advised to eat soft foods for the next few days.
At his two-month check-up, the patient appeared completely healthy.
And for people still needing to suppress a sneeze, experts advise rubbing the nose, breathing heavily through the nose, or rubbing the area above the lip.
DOCTORS HEARD CRACKLING AND POPPING SOUNDS ... ALL THE WAY DOWN TO HIS RIB CAGE