London - The average person spends 24 hours of their life sneezing, typically doing it twice a day.
Yet for something so common, most of us know remarkable little about sneezing.
And often, what we think we know turns out to be a myth.
So what is the truth about this most explosive of habits?
BLESS YOU! IT MUST BE TIME FOR BED
In Victorian times, women were advised that sneezing at the conclusion of sex could prevent conception. That must have been bad news for the small number of people who sneeze during orgasm, or even just when thinking of sex.
A study by Dr Mahmood Bhutta, an ear, nose and throat specialist at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, found 18 patients experiencing sex-related sneezes, including a middle-aged patient who spluttered with every saucy thought.
Scientists are unsure why sex and sneezing are linked. According to one theory, if people get out of breath during sex, their airways can become dry — making their noses more prone to irritations and sneezes.
WHY TO WE SNORT IF WE HAVE A COLD?
Cold and flu viruses reproduce in the nose and back of the throat where they cause the lining of the nose to swell. This fools the brain into thinking there’s a foreign object in the nose which must be sneezed out.
It’s also the cold’s way of spreading. The sneeze sprays a revolting gas cloud of mucus into the air. A typical sneeze has 40 000 droplets.
“Sneezing and coughing is the main way that cold and flu viruses spread,” says Professor John Oxford, one of the UK’s leading flu experts. “They are not spread much by breathing on other people.”
SPLUTTERS THAT BREAK SPEED LIMIT
It’s sometimes said that sneezes shoot out of our noses at 100 mph — while some researchers have claimed top speeds of 220 mph or more.
While sneezes are fast, there’s little evidence they are that speedy. When the TV science show Mythbusters measured sneezes with a high-speed camera, they clocked one at 35 mph and another at 39 mph.
THE ULTIMATE DUSTBUSTER
It’s the body’s way of clearing harmful objects such as dust, soot, smoke and mucus from our noses. When a foreign object lands on the lining of the nasal cavity, nerve endings send a signal to the brain to initiate a sneeze.
DANGER LURKING IN THE OFFICE
Most of the droplets in a sneeze are smaller than the width of a human hair. The larger droplets typically travel 12 ft. The smaller ones are airborne and can spread disease through an aircraft or office within minutes or hours.
CAN A SNEEZE MAKE YOUR EYES POP?
No. though most of us close our eyes involuntarily during a sneeze, some people can keep them open without suffering. Eyes are firmly attached to their sockets and won’t pop out. However, it’s not a good idea to force them open.
According to Peter Rea, consultant ear, nose and throat doctor at the Royal Leicester Infirmary, closing your eyes may prevent air being blown up the duct connecting the nose to the eye.
“If you don’t squeeze your eyes tightly shut you might force air and nasal secretions into the eye, particularly if you pinch your nose,” he says.
IS IT DANGEROUS TO HOLD IN A SNIFFLE?
A survey in 2006 found that 45 percent of us have public sneezes that are quieter than our private ones.
But while many of us are reluctant to let out an explosive sneeze in public, holding them in can be bad for you.
“The principal concern is if you have a problem with your ears,” says Mr Rea. “If you have ears that don’t clear properly, holding a sneeze can force air up the tube which goes from the back of the nose to the ears. You could force air up and rupture your ear drums.”
Bottling up sneezes can also weaken blood vessels in the brain and eyes, pull muscles in the back and even crack a rib.
as ear-splitting as a gunshot
The most explosive sneeze on record is reported to have come from Yi Yang in China. His sneeze was 176 decibels — louder than a gunshot.
SHUSH IT - WITH A FINGER OF YOUR LIP
Alan Wild, at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, says it’s possible to delay a sneeze if it’s on its way. Rubbing your nose, forcing a long deep breath through your nose or pressing on your upper lip can all suppress a sneeze, he says.
SUNSHINE CAN BE A TRIGGER
One in four people sneeze when they go from a dark room into bright sunlight.
One theory is that it’s caused by crossed wires in the brain. The “trigeminal” nerve that connects the nose to the brain is also responsible for feelings in the face, actions such as the dilation of the pupils.
When we move into bright light the signal from the eyes to the brain may become confused as a cue to sneeze.
SPICY FOOD LEADS TO A . . . A . . . ATCHOO!
Some people sneeze after eating curries and other spicy food, a condition called “gustatory rhinitis”.
“When you eat about 70 percent of the flavour comes from the nose,” says Mr Rea. “When you have spicy food the flavours go up the nose and act as irritants, triggering a sneeze.”
Plucking eyebrows can also trigger sneezing — again by stimulating the trigeminal nerve. When the brain detects a sharp pull of the tweezers, it mistakenly thinks there’s a foreign object in the nose and orders a sneeze.
DON’t BLOW NOSE WHILE DRIVING
A study by Halfords found that sneezing — and associated nose-blowing and tissue-searching — is to blame for about 2 500 road accidents every week in the UK. The researchers estimated that if a driver sneezes while at 60 mph, they close their eyes for 50 ft.
Last year Sergeant Major Harry Gurung, 45, was cleared of killing a married couple in a car crash when he suffered a sneezing fit behind the wheel. He told the court how he sneezed four to five times as he overtook a car at 74 mph, clipping its rear and sending it into a deadly spin.
TICKLY NOSES AND FETISHES
For most people a sneeze is a minor irritant, but for some it is much more. There are dedicated chat rooms on the internet for people with sneeze fetishes — who get aroused by the sight of someone sneezing.
GIRL WHO SNEEZED ONE MILLION TIMES
The Guinness World Record holder for sneezing is Donna Griffiths of Worcestershire who, as a schoolgirl, sneezed about one million times over 997 days between 1981 and 1983.
ODD WAY TO CLEAR A BLOCKED NOSE
In March, 51-year-old Steve Easton, from Surrey, was surprised when he sneezed the rubber tip of a toy dart out of his nose after suffering from a blocked nose for 44 years.
Daily Mail