A man found the hard way that you should never hold in a sneeze, as his throat ruptured when he tried to do so.
This year's flu season has been a horrible one, and the last thing that anybody needs is for the germs to spread due to sneezes. However, it would be better to sneeze into a handkerchief or tissue, rather than to hold it in and risk a ruptured throat.
Man Holds In Sneeze, Ruptures Throat
A report that was filed with the BMJ Case Reports journal discussed the case of an unnamed 34-year-old man who ruptured his throat when he stopped himself from sneezing.
The man, who was described as previously fit and well before the incident, tried to stop a forceful sneeze by pinching his nose and then holding his mouth closed.
Before long, the man noticed that there was something wrong, particularly that there was pain whenever he swallowed and a change in his voice. There was also swelling on his neck, and when he tried moving it, there was an unsettling feeling of crackling and popping.
X-rays taken at the Leicester Royal Infirmary in Britain revealed the cause: there were so-called little streaks of air that were lodged in his neck's soft tissue, conditions known as subcutaneous emphysema and pneumomediastinum.
In other words, a ruptured throat. The air that the man was supposed to sneeze out instead moved into his soft tissue forming tiny bubbles.
According to Anthony Aymat, London's University Hospital Lewisham director for ENT services, the air that comes out of people when sneezing can reach speeds of 150 miles per hour.
"If you retain all that pressure, it could do a lot of damage and you could end up like the Michelin Man with air trapped in your body," added Aymat, who was not involved in the study.
The man in the horrible-sounding case was able to leave the hospital after about a week of recovery, with the recommendation that he should no longer block his nostrils when sneezing.
The Horrible Flu Season
Sneezing has been all over the place this flu season, which is shaping up to be one of the worst ones in recent memory.
Fatalities already include a young mother from Arizona, who passed away just one day after receiving the diagnosis for flu, and two boys in Ohio.
The flu season has resulted in packed emergency rooms and a shortage of medicine. People with the flu should not hold in their sneeze, but they should also make sure that they are not infecting other people when they do so.
