A man tore his windpipe while attempting to hold in a sneeze, according to medical authorities, which is the first known incidence of its sort. The incident occurred when the man developed hay fever while driving his car. Instead of putting his finger behind his nose or sneezing wildly, he compressed his nose and closed his mouth. According to a story in Live Science, this bizarre sneeze control technique had the opposite effect: the force of the suppressed sneeze produced a tiny, two-by-two-millimetre hole in his windpipe. The man’s airway closure caused pressure to build up, resulting in a 20-times-stronger sneeze, causing severe harm.
The pressure was so high in this case that the man’s windpipe tore, measuring 0.08 by 0.08 inches. Furthermore, the man proceeded to seek medical assistance since he was in excruciating pain and his neck had swollen on both sides. When the medics checked him, they noticed a mild crackling sound. However, the individual had no difficulty breathing, speaking, or swallowing. An X-ray revealed that the guy had surgical emphysema, a condition in which air becomes trapped under the skin’s deepest tissue layers. A CT scan revealed that the rip was between his neck’s third and fourth vertebrae. Furthermore, air had accumulated between his lungs and his chest. Medical experts believed that the injury was caused by a “rapid build-up of pressure in the trachea while sneezing with a pinched nose and closed mouth.”
Doctors also stated that he did not need surgery. He was held in the hospital for two days, however, to ensure that his vital signs, particularly oxygen levels, remained steady. Doctors gave him pain relievers and hay fever medication upon discharge and instructed him to avoid physically demanding tasks for two weeks. Five weeks later, a CT scan revealed that the tear had completely healed. Several doctors stated that the case should be seen as a warning to others. “Everyone should be advised not to stifle sneezes by pinching the nose while keeping the mouth closed as it can result in tracheal (windpipe) perforation,” the authors wrote in the journal BMJ Case Reports.
According to the physicians, injuring one’s windpipe is highly rare but not impossible. There have been relatively few documented cases, and when they do occur, it is usually as a result of physical trauma or injuries received during surgery, such as removal of the thyroid gland or insertion of a tube into the windpipe. Depending on the location of the rip and whether the patient’s vital signs are stable, surgery is usually required to repair the damage, they noted.
