Caution! Sneezing ahead

catherine

Sneezing is a very mysterious action, here are some facts about what is true and what is not about it.

Every single person has a different way to sneeze, some are loud, some are cute and some people count how many sneeze they can do in a row, but if someone try to hold in a sneeze it can be really dangerous.  Not many cases have been reported, but attempting too hold in a sneeze can cause broken blood vessels in your eyes, damaged blood vessels in your brain, and/or ruptured ear drum and finally if you sneeze too hard, you can fracture one of your ribs.

Even though, everyone has a different theory about it. In reality, sneezing is known  as a semi-autonomous action, a convulsive explosion of air in your nose and mouth, usually caused by foreign particles irritating your nose.

However, there is a lot of myths about this action. Let’s try to demystify some of them.

Has a kid, you have probably already heard about the myth that states your heart could stop when you sneeze, but don’t worry it is not true. The truth is that  the force of a sneeze can change the rhythm of your heart beat, but your heart never stops.

The myth about your eyes falling off of their socket if you sneeze with your eyes open is the scariest one. Do not believe it, it is  impossible. There are two  explanation about it. The first one is that when your brain receives the signal to sneeze, it also signals your eyes to close, most of the population can’t keep them open. It is call an involuntary action. The second explanation is that some of your muscles and your optical nerves keep your eyes in place.

Did you know that when you are sleeping you can’t sneeze! That is because your brain isn’t stimulated, but you can wake up only by the need to sneeze.

There are some fun facts about sneezing: the longest sneeze lasted for 978 days. It is more than two years. Also a sneeze can travel at about 100 miles per hours. It is really fast.

Some people are obsessed about the amount of sneeze they can do in a row.“If it was a contest I could never compete anyone” said mister Gangon. Luckily that type of competition has never existed.

(edited by Laurent Cadoret)