We’re Told “Avoid Sneezing” but Never How

[Scarletville]

My hay fever is so severe even on a fluticasone furoate nasal spray and 180mg fexofenadine tablets that since my June surgery was cancelled due to covid restrictions I don’t feel safe rebooking till the season is over. Without medication last year I sneezed so much that I could not move my external obliques at all without pain for a week, it felt like I had torn them. It’s literally impossible even medicated to go a single day without sneezing multiple times during the season.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Scarletville.

[Alephy]

Well I guess sneezing is a personal thing too, but I think bjj exerts a lot more pressure than any sneezing I can recall (by a lot) 🙂 or at least this is my experience. Incidentally also non grappling martial arts which involve the abdomen (kind of internal) often produce a lot of pressure when against an opponent (also my little experience here:)

[drtowfigh]

Sneezing, coughing, vomiting exert a lot of abdominal pressure—-much much more than any sports.

I recommend prevention. If you absolutely have to cough or sneeze, I teach my patients to engage the abdominal wall (such in your abdomen) first. i feel that this tends to reduce the amount pressure transferred to the abdomen and pelvis.

[Alephy]

I am not sure that this “not sneezing” advice makes sense! On the one hand they (the experts, not the pseudo ones) seem to agree that you can do sports with an hernia; on the other some (probably the same pseudo doctors) claim sneezing is bad for your hernia. Any activity puts some pressure on your body, and so also the hernia: I would argue though that for that to have an impact the hernia needs to be massive! The body is stronger than we may think, even with an hernia.
At the very least I never noticed any pain or discomfort with mine, and I am super allergic so I sneeze all the time:(
If you do feel your hernia when sneezing, I am wondering that it may still not mean that it is necessarily getting bigger or more problematic?

And if the idea is it is bad in that long term after many years of sneezing, I would argue that you can counter that with….sports:)

[Spartan]

For me, sneezing comes from an excess of mucous usually. So if I feel my nasal & throat passages are becoming clogged, I eat some part of a serrano pepper(one of the hottest peppers). Right after w/o doing anything else I spit my now melting mucous out into spitoon or sink, and continue for a while til it is all out.

For me it is not sneezing, as it is holding the sneeze, that is painful in my hernia area which you can and will do if you do not hang in there and spit it all out. Once the mucous in my nasal-pharangeal area is low, then I have know problem with sneezing or holding back a sneeze instinctually.

[pinto]

Sounds like you’re well on your way. The Pinch. I’ve tried a variant: intake air counter to expelling it. Kinda like a jet landing. Either way we wont be joining the sneeze clubs I’ve come across.

[ajm222]

I’ve actually gotten really good at avoiding a sneeze by pinching my nose. Just pinching both of my nostrils together, if I do it quick enough, and then just focus on not sneezing, tends to work for me the vast majority of the time. Seems to stop whatever that tickle is that then starts the cascading events that lead to the sneeze.