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Why You Shouldn't Stifle Your Sneeze (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: In a season where colds are rife, holding your nose and closing your mouth might seem like a considerate alternative to an explosive "Achoo!" But doctors have warned of the dangers of such a move after a man was found to have ruptured the back of his throat when attempting to stifle a sneeze. Medics say the incident, which they detail in the British Medical Journal Case Reports, came to light when a 34-year old man arrived in A&E with a change to his voice, a swollen neck, pain when swallowing and a popping sensation in his neck after he pinched his nose to contain an expulsion. The team took scans of the man's neck to investigate and discovered bubbles of air in the tissues at the back of the throat, and in the neck from the base of the skull to halfway down the man's back. That, they say, suggested a tear had occurred at the back of the throat as a result of increased pressure from the stifled sneeze, leading to air collecting in his soft tissues. The authors warn that blocking the nostrils and mouth when sneezing is dangerous, noting that while tearing of the throat tissue is rare, it could result in a ruptured eardrum or even a brain aneurysm.
Cover it, sure, don't try to lock it in. Sneeze into your bent elbow, for example.
And risk having people think I'm dabbing? No thanks! I'll just sneeze openly into the air and be a viral vector, the way nature intended.
Maybe this is something Sesame Street could do in a PSA, with their character of 'The Count'. "Vun! Vun sneeze! Ah ah ah ah...choo!"
From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense that there would be an "off" switch for a noisy and messy reflex like a sneeze. If you're hiding from a predator and don't have any way to suppress your sneeze, you die.
That's not how evolution works. AR-15 and Desert Eagles are the answer to the threat of predators, not hiding and pinching your nose to avoid sneezing, pussy.
lucm, indeed.
Also, the premise behind the article is bollocks. "Man dies in freak accident...
'e's not dead yet. Also, 'e doesn't want to go on the cart.