WEIRD SCIENCE

Don’t sneeze with your mouth and nose shut

WE’VE all heard the old wives’ tale that if you sneeze with your eyes open they’ll pop out... now a man in Leicester has learned the hard way the dangers of sneezing with your mouth and nose closed.

According to a report in the British Medical Journal, the 34-year-old was admitted to University Hospitals of Leicester complaining of a ‘popping sensation’ in his neck and losing his voice.

The man told doctors it happened following a violent sneeze during which he’d closed his mouth and nose.

Scans revealed that the pressure of the sneeze had caused the man’s pharynx – the section of the throat behind the mouth and nasal cavity – to rupture, and air had begun to leak into the base of his skull.

Doctors said the man was lucky the symptoms were not more serious – the action could also have caused the rupture of a brain aneurysm. ‘Halting sneezes via blocking nostrils and mouth should be avoided,’ they concluded.