Suppressing sneeze can make one’s brain leak; rare case surprises doctors

There are instances where one is sitting in a social setting and feeling anxious about how their loud, full blown sneeze can land upon others. One may get an urge to hold back and let the moment pass. This is where it can get tricky,  healthcare experts have warned.

Sneezing is a physiological defense against unwanted germs, irritants, odours, things that can make the nasal hair tickle and other foreign particles trying to get into one’s respiratory tract. It is a natural method by which a nose restores its normal habitat. 

It comes out as a sudden, involuntary and spasmodic expulsion of the air from the lungs through nose and mouth.

As per studies, a sneezing motion creates a pressure of 1 pound force per square inch (psi) in the windpipe which is much more than the pressure experienced by the windpipe when one is doing a strenuous physical activity.

If the monumental pressure created by the sneeze fails to find a way outside, it tends to turn inward, causing medical complications.

Rare case that alarmed doctors 

The case mentioned in the American Journal of Case reports describes a woman from Saudi Arabia, in her mid 40s, getting frequent headaches and clear nasal discharge for three consecutive months.

Never suffered from a brain injury or trauma, the case baffled the doctors who weren’t able to find the cause behind the leakage of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF, a fluid found in the brain) from her nostril which is often associated with a severe blow to the head or internal damage. In her case, the scans of the brain showed clean anatomical structures with no signs of head trauma in the past.

However, the scans finally revealed a defect in the thin bone separating the nose from the brain.

This was allowing the CSF to leak and the air to rush into the skull, becoming the reason for her recurring headaches.

Upon detailed analysis of her findings, the doctors discovered that the woman had a habit of suppressing sneezing in social settings. 

When the pressure generated by the sneeze gets directed inwards, it can rupture soft structures inside the nose and skull, burst arteries and in rare cases can lead to life threatening infections.

Initially what seemed like a harmless social inhibition led the woman to undergo endoscopic skull base repair when conservative (medicine based) treatments failed to work.

Dangers of holding back your sneeze

While sneezing is harmless and beneficial, if held back for a longer period of time, it can cause some rare complications as listed by Healthline:

• Sometimes the pressurised air can rush back into the ear and rupture the ear drum, affecting hearing.

• Sneezing is a response to invading bacteria or other germs, if directed inside can cause ear infections.

• Increasing pressure in the nasal cavity can burst the arteries, in rare cases, it can burst the brain aneurysm (a bulge in the brain artery having standing blood) and this can become fatal in no time.

• In older people, it can cause damage to ribs.

While in most cases, holding a sneeze won’t cause much but in rare circumstances it can get people into a medical emergency.