Drs. Wanding Yang, Raguwinder S. Sahota, and Sudip Das from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in the United Kingdom described how an otherwise healthy 34-year-old man pinched his nose and held his mouth closed when about to sneeze. That's a bit like making your throat into a balloon about to be filled with a big rush of air. Next he felt a pop, developed swelling in his neck, and began experiencing pain whenever he swallowed. His voice also changed, which usually doesn't happen for someone about two decades past puberty.
Turns out he tore his pharynx, which is the passageway that connects the mouth and nasal cavity to the esophagus. He stayed in the hospital for about a week, which allowed the tear to heal to the point where he could eat food and drink beverages without it leaking out of his pharynx. When he was discharged from the hospital, his doctors told him to stop pinching his nose when he sneezes.
Of course, anything that becomes a case report tends to be rare. (Note: becoming a medical case report should never be a goal of yours.) This man probably used the technique to stiffle his sneezes for years. Just because you try to suppress your sneezes doesn't mean you will necessarily hurt yourself.
However, a sneeze is your body's natural mechanism to clear irritants from your nose and sinuses. When some foreign particles trigger the sensors in those areas, involuntary convulsions in your airways then result and expel air at speeds of about 35 to 40 miles per hour, according to a Discovery Channel Mythbusters experiment, which not nearly as fast as the 100 miles per hour cited by WebMD. At the same time, the sensors trigger cilia (little hairs that line your airways) to swing back and forth, passing mucus and other gunk up and out of your airways.
Thus, sneezing plays another role besides producing a jetstream of air through your airways and mouth. As described by Christine Dell'Amore for National Geographic News, a sneeze will also reset or essentially hit "Control-Alt-Delete" for your sensor and cilia system. Therefore, when you try to hold in a sneeze you are just not being yourself. And as many self-help books will say, try to be yourself.
But what about the social and health consequences of sneezing on others? In general, you want to spread good cheer not phlegm, spit, viruses, and bacteria. After all, this Discover Channel segment shows how dirty the things that come out of Natasha's mouth are (when she sneezes that is):Yuck. Someone sneezing right into your face is probably not on your bucket list. If spraying gunk on others is not what you'd like to be known for, then what should you do if you shouldn't try to suppress or hold in the sneeze? Dr. Richard Besser set up the following experiment for ABC News to test various options:
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