How to sneeze correctly?

[gozpel]

Today my grandson asked me this question, he's 12.
I said: Sneeze as you want, but not at people, cover it behind your mask, in you arm or just away from people. Don't spread germs.
Grandson: I know all that, but the sound. You sound like you have a hiccup when you sneeze and I'm always making big ATCHOO sounds, people laugh.
They never laugh when you sneeze. Sometimes they offer you water, I don't get it.

Ok son, I did atchoos back in the days, but one day I held my breath when the sneeze came out and yeah, it was a hiccup sound.
But doing that for 5-6 times in a row was really hard, still it worked. Sometimes people didn't even notice.

Grandson: Is there a wrong way of doing sneezes? He is 12 years old, should he go to medical school? Haha.

I said, I don't know. I sneeze my way which is comfortable for me and you can sneeze any way you like. Just don't spread germs.

He walked away scratching his head, why on earth would a 12 year old boy ask a question like this?

Ok, he does atchoos, I do hickups. My wife do IFFs and granddaughter does HRUFF.
Can't explain it better, it's so funny.

So with crap story comes a question: Is it harmful to suppress your sneezes or do I have to let all out.
Talking high blood pressure and family brain stroke problems.

Sorry for the rubbish post, but I need to know, haha.

 

[Kyriakos]

Afaik, sneezing is part of the self-regulation of the respiratory system. For example, it often leads to phlegm being forced out through the mouth and allows for better breathing from the nostrils.
Kids can make an effort to reduce the sound - and some do end up with it sounding like a hiccup. I can't say if that causes problems, but if it is very forced, it might?
Outright suppressing the sneeze, intuitively doesn't sound like a good idea at all, the same with suppressing any other somatic self-regulation.

 

[gozpel]

My dear Kyriakos, you will be here when I'm here, haha. Which is not often, but you're here. Always.

It's no real deal, it's about the suppressing the sneeze, could it do something to my high blood pressure or the hereditary line of my families strokes.
My family lives old and good, and suddenly got a stroke, quite a few of them. But they were in the 70-90's anyways.
But still, that was the cause of death. I don't know how they sneezed, except my dad, he did atchoos and died at 80.

I'm trying to find an answer for this curious grandson of mine and he always think I know everything. I know a lot, but not everything.
So what answer would you give him?

 

[Kyriakos]

If I had to give an answer, I would cheat and look at wiki

 

[gozpel]

Yep, WIKI is always the answer for your life problems and other problems too, written by people that never encountered these problems, haha.

But someone out there knows the answer, not google so much today, maybe tomorrow.

 

[amadeus]

I imagine wikihow has a fully illustrated guide. They always do.

 

[EgonSpengler]

When you're on the subway or a city bus, make sure you sneeze into the hand you're hanging onto the pole with, and then put that hand back on the pole, because if you use your other hand you'd need to take your eyes off your phone for a second.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Obligatory

 

[Valka D'Ur]

It is healthier to sneeze when you need to (just do it in the most sanitary way possible, never at anyone else, never on food, never on anything you plan to touch because that's disgusting, and make sure you aren't facing your computer). Suppressing it can cause pain and other problems that a doctor could likely explain better than anyone here.

It's a good idea to keep kleenex around to mop up anything needing to be mopped up.

 

[Kaitzilla]

Is it true your eyes pop out of your head if you sneeze with them open?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I've read that they can, but have no idea if it's true. I've never cared to test it.

BTW, manners extend to your pets. I make sure I don't sneeze on the cat (though she doesn't give me the same consideration, I don't get upset about it; we've lived together for the past 15 years so are well-used to each other's germs by now).

 

[Birdjaguar]

Often walking out a door into bright sunlight will make you sneeze.

According to one author, “a sneeze is an expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth.” Without any covering at all, a sneeze can project droplets at a speed of up to 100 miles per hour for a distance of as much as 26 feet (8 meters) due to the pressure in the windpipe. While the sneeze only last for as long as 150 milliseconds, the droplets can stay suspended in the air for up to 10 minutes.

In either case, covered or uncovered, the pressure developed during the sneeze can be around 1 psi (51.7 mmHg) in the windpipe. Another author measured the pressure developed in the mouth/pharynx during a sneeze as about 135 mmHg (2.6 psi) reached in about 0.1s. In contrast, a person exhaling hard during strenuous activity has a windpipe pressure of about 0.03 psi (1.55 mmHg). If you try to hold the sneeze back, the pressure inside the respiratory system can increase to a level of about 5 to 24 times the sneeze pressure. In rare instances, this pressure level can have detrimental side effects including:

• Ruptured eardrum
• Middle ear infection
• Damaged blood vessels in the eyes, nose, or eardrums
• Diaphragm injury
• Aneurysm
• Throat damage
• Broken ribs

Best not to stop a sneeze, just direct it.

 

[Hygro]

I've had 1, 2, 3 syllable sneezes at different times in my life. These sneezes have varied in tone and pitch, nose-focus and mouth focus. Seems to be affected by what the sneeze is hoping to accomplish.

 

[Farm Boy]

Ho-ah-choos come from the toes.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Ho-ah-choos come from the toes.

Jimmy Choos come from the store.

 

[Farm Boy]

I had no idea what that was.

Something new everyday.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Jimmy Choos come from the store.

Choo-choos come from the railyards.

 

[Hygro]

Ho-ah-choos come from the toes.

Those are fierce. Ah-jih-hoohs are my common 3 syllable ones. My dad does them, and for years I was like God that's weird. I'd probably only heard 2-3 other people ever do them, maybe. Then one day they were my sneezes.

 

[Remorseless1]

How to sneeze correctly?

Through your nose.

 

[Synobun]

I have always sneezed with my eyes open and my mouth closed. No consequences, except it does make my back hurt.