Holding back a sneeze can cause sinusitis
Sneezing is a natural physiological process that helps to free the nose from secretions, and attempts to delay it can lead to sinusitis and other complications, warned the ENT doctor, candidate of medical sciences Lyudmila Elizarova. She explained the dangers of holding back a sneeze to Sputnik radio.
Nasal secretions, the doctor noted, can contain viruses and bacteria. "If you think it's inappropriate to sneeze right now, the process can be hindered, but that will require pinching your nose and closing your mouth. In that case, you'll still sneeze, but you'll do it inward," Elizarova said.
Attempts to hold back a sneeze, according to doctors, can provoke the development of diseases of the organs of hearing and nasopharynx. "When you try to postpone the sneeze, the pressure that occurs in this case is directed inward, to the nasopharynx and the back of the nasal cavity, where the auditory tube, maxillary sinuses, frontal sinuses open. This means that the secretion itself, which is should have come out during a sneeze, gets into them," warns Elizarova. She also added that it increases the risk of infection of the auditory tube and middle ear. In addition, sinusitis may develop and intracranial pressure may increase./BGNES
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