Do you also have the habit of covering your mouth and nose when you sneeze? This patient’s experience and the doctors’ warning may change your mind.
A man in his 30s who was not identified by name was driving his car in Scotland when he began having a sneezing attack, according to the medical journal BMJ Case Reports.
The man tried to suppress it by covering his nose and closing his mouth, but he immediately experienced severe pain in his neck for which he had to be taken to a hospital in the city of Dundee: emergency medical examinations would show that he had suffered a tear in the trachea.
The magazine said the patient, who arrived at the hospital with noticeable swelling in his neck, had a history of allergic rhinitis and nasal congestion.
After what happened, doctors warned that when the mouth and nose are blocked during a sneeze, airways can increase in size by 20 times, which could cause the same condition as the patient. Although it is rare, it can be fatal if not treated promptly.
Although the man did not have to undergo surgery, he was hospitalized for two days under observation. He was discharged with painkillers and medicines to counteract his discomfort. Doctors recommended he avoid all heavy physical activity for about two weeks.
A little more than a week later he underwent further tests that showed that the tearing had disappeared.
Although many may find it annoying, the act of sneezing has benefits for the body that many may not be aware of.
The lead author of the report, Dr. Rasads Misirovs, told the BBC that no one should avoid sneezing and that people even have to do it every time the body asks for it: it is a natural defensive mechanism of the body to expel agents. nasal irritants.
Sneezing also helps protect the body from germs, and trying to avoid it can also lead to ruptured eardrum, ribs, blood vessels of eyes and nose and even a brain aneurysm, explains the specialized magazine Health.
However, Misirovs recommends taking certain precautions when sneezing to avoid spreading diseases to someone close.
“We should gently cover our face with our hand or the inside of our elbow to prevent irritants, such as viruses, along with saliva and mucus, from reaching those around us,” he stressed.
In 2018, doctors in Leicester, United Kingdom treated a 34-year-old man who broke his throat while trying to block a strong sneeze, which caused severe pain and difficulty eating and even speaking.
An x-ray showed that air was escaping through the trachea and into the soft tissue of the neck through the tear suffered, so the man had to be fed through a tube for a week during which he was hospitalized, the BMJ magazine reported. Case Reports.
Doctors at the otorhinolaryngology department at Leicester Royal Infirmary, where the man was treated, stated that “blocking a sneeze by covering the nostrils and mouth is a dangerous maneuver and should be avoided.”
