Sneezing can be one of the most annoying and natural things that happen to us almost everyday. From the noises people make doing it, to how frequent they do it, it’s annoying. Today in class when a girl sneezed, it made me question why do we do this?
Sneezing is a response by the body when the respiratory epithelium lining of the nose becomes irritated. Inflammatory cells release histamine and eosinophils chemicals in the nasal mucosa. The release of the chemicals is triggered by filtered particles, physical irritants like perfumes, and respiratory infections. The prior itching you feel before a sneeze is due to the stimulation of nerve endings. Inside the brain, a reflex is caused by the nerve ending simulations. The air part of the sneeze is caused when the head and back muscles experience nerve impulses going up and down the sensory nerves.
The velocity of the airflow is then caused by the built up pressure in the chest when the vocal chords are closed. When the chords open, the air is able to get up the respiratory track and take what is irritating the body out with it.
There are some ways to stop it from happening, like looking at a light, or putting your finger under your nose. But is it really safe to do? Dr. Joseph Donzelli says ” A sneeze can propel air at speeds up to 100 mph, so an individual should never physically try to stop a sneeze.” If you stop your sneeze before you feel the pressure building up, you won’t harm yourself. There is also a medical way to stop sneezing. Antihistamines stop the production of histamines, which is the first step in sneezing. These can be by prescription or over the counter.
Even though sneezing might be an extremely annoying thing to the person sneezing, and everyone around, it is an important action done by our body.
This was a great post! It was really interesting to learn what actually happens in your body when you sneeze. It’s actually kind of scary how quickly germs can spread via sneezing. I stumbled upon a fascinating study that goes in depth explaining how sneeze particles can travel throughout an airplane. A (not so) fun fact according to this website; the flu is the number one contracted airborne infection. This is the same theory behind the movie Contagion (we watched the trailer to that in class the other day). Its so terrifying how easily viruses can spread just via sneezing or coughing! Hopefully one day there will be some kind of way to prevent airborne illnesses.
I am surprised that you said looking at the light stops you from sneezing. For me it is actually the complete opposite. I would like to learn more about this phenomenon. It is very interesting that you said we should never try to stop a sneeze. I think some people stop more sneezes than they let actually sneeze. We should be informed about this issue if it could be critical to our health.