Use caution not to sneeze with your mouth shut while holding your nose closed, as an unfortunate man found out the hard way and ruptured the back of his throat while doing the manoeuvre. Doctors warn that trying to contain a forceful sneeze by clamping your mouth shut and pinching your nose in not a very good idea as published in BMJ Case Reports.
A 34 year old man has rupture the back of his throat while trying to contain a forceful sneezing by applying this manoeuvre, leaving him in a considerable amount of pain, barely able to swallow and talk. He explains that he developed a popping sensations in his neck that swelled up immediately after trying to contain the sneeze. Later on it became incredibly painful to swallow and almost completely lost his voice, he then went to seek medical attention.
The E.R. doctors were surprised by his symptoms as spontaneous rupture of the back of the throat is rare and generally is caused by trauma, vomiting, heavy coughing or retching. When he was examined by doctors the popping and cracking noise which extended all the way down from his neck down into his ribcage, which suggested that air bubbles had worked their way into the deep tissues and muscles of his chest, and was confirmed by a computed tomography scan. He was admitted to the hospital due to the risks of serious complications developing where he was then tube fed and given antibiotics by intravenous until the pain and swelling subsided.
After 7 days of hospitalization he was well enough to be discharged and given the advice never to block both nostrils while sneezing again in the future. It can lead to numerous complications such as pseudomediastinum, rupture of a cerebral aneurysm, or perforation of the tympanic membrane. Halting a sneeze via blocking the mouth and nostrils is a very dangerous manoeuvre, and should be avoided.
