In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, there are people who choose to hold back their sneezes when they are crowded.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — During the Covid-19 pandemic, some people hold your breath in public for fear of being suspected of spreading SARS-CoV-2. In fact, sneezing is the body’s way of clearing irritation caused by germs, pollen, or dust from the nose and throat by expelling tens of thousands droplet from your nose up to 100 miles per hour, according to the American Lung Association.
Of course, sneezing in public can make people and even you uncomfortable. But are there any downsides to holding back a sneeze? The answer is, there are and some of them can be serious.
Closing your airways when sneeze can put up to 20 times more pressure on your airways than simply exhaling a sneeze, according to a review in American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy in May 2019. Holding back the force of a sneeze can also cause an uncomfortable feeling of fullness in your chest. It’s harmless, but it may make you uncomfortable.
“You put pressure on your diaphragm, the muscle in your chest that helps you breathe. You may also experience pressure on your chest, on your ribs,” says Jason Abramowitz, MD, an otolaryngologist in Oradell, New Jersey. LivestrongFriday (11/3/2022).
Problems with the eardrum can have a noticeable effect which includes the possible impact of holding in a sneeze. Abramowitz explained, our nose and ears are connected by the eustachian tube.
“If you hold back a sneeze, there will be increased pressure in the nose, which will flow into the ear through the eustachian tube, causing trauma to the eardrum,” says Abramowitz.
Are you sneezing because of a cold? It’s possible that mucus containing viruses or bacteria can move from your nose, through your eustachian tube, and into your ears, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
source: Between
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