Is it harmful to your body to compress sneezes?

Answer 1

A sneeze involves a LOT of force. The air comes out at around 100 mph and can travel in a forceful burst up to 12 feet away. The force is like that of a fire hose. You also prevent your body from getting done what it is trying to do, i.e., rid the nasal passages and airway of particles or irritants. When you pinch your nose closed and then forcefully push air toward the stopping point, you are doing what is called the Valsalva Maneuver, which is used most commonly to equalize pressures in your ears when traveling by plane. It helps clear your Eustachian tubes so the pressure can stabilize when the reflux of air pushes back from the obstructed exit and goes the only other way out, through your Eustachian tubes. But this can have ramifications.

To start, an often cited but untrue effect is that you can pop your eyes out of your head if you don't close them during a sneeze (urban legend).

Here are some of the common or possible/possible but rare adverse effects (some are less likely unless you already have a disorder, like retinal disease):

• Forceful air blowing back through the Eustachian tubes can cause bursting of ear drums and possible hearing loss, significantly increased risk of serious sinus infections and ear infections from germ-laden air being forced deep into those places in your head, pain and stuffiness in your ears and tubes,

• Nosebleed,
• Fracture of fragile nasal structures/cartilage,
• Detached retina of the eye,
• Sudden increased blood pressure,
• Fatal stroke,
• Rupture of cerebral aneurysm (unlikely but possible),
• The Valsalva maneuver also can cause a temporary significant increase in the pressure in the chest which can briefly stop the blood flow into the heart. Usually this is tolerated, but in a person already with low coronary circulation, that could create ischemic Heart disease or other untoward effects.