Breathing, sneezing, coughing, and blowing your nose probably feel like second nature to you, and you probably don’t give any of these “natural” occurrences much thought. But maybe you should.
It’s actually possible to injure yourself by coughing and sneezing the wrong way, and how you blow your nose can affect how long your illness lasts.
When sneezing and coughing become dangerous
Back injuries are one of the most common “side effects” of sneezes and coughs. Baseball player Sammy Sosa knows this firsthand. In 2004, when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs, two sneezes caused his back to spasm, causing him to need a chair to support himself. The injury, a sprained ligament in his lower back, caused him to miss part of the season.
A strong fit of coughing or sneezing can cause pain (or spasms) in the upper or lower back due to its forceful nature, not only in the entire torso but also in the abdomen. This pressure is so intense that it can actually herniate a weakened spinal disc.
How to “A-Choo” safely
Just before you feel like you’re going to cough or sneeze, take a few seconds to get your back into the correct position. Doing so will protect your back and help keep any existing pain to a minimum.
- Lean back slightly, placing one hand behind your back for support.
- When you sneeze or cough, slightly bend your knees.
- You can also (rather than up) stand up straight against a wall or door to prevent your back from lurching forward when you sneeze or cough.
Blowing your nose: good or bad?
Common sense would tell us that blowing your nose during a cold would help remove some of the disease-causing bacteria or viruses found in the mucus, helping us feel better faster. But it turns out that this may not be entirely true.
According to Dr. Owen Hendley and a team of researchers from the University of Virginia and Aarhus University in Denmark, blowing your nose can cause mucus to back up into your sinus cavities.
Not surprisingly, blowing your nose creates a huge amount of pressure in your nose, more than seven times more pressure than that produced by sneezing or coughing.
The researchers placed an opaque dye in the back nasal cavities of 10 study participants to determine if the liquid would enter the nasal cavities. Three of the volunteers were asked to cough, three were induced to sneeze, and four blew their noses. After measuring fluid motion with a CT scan, Hendley said:
“In those who coughed or sneezed, there was no dye in any of the sinuses. And in the four who blew their noses, there was dye in one or more of the sinuses … with a blow to the nose, given the amount of pressure and how long it lasted, it could move a milliliter of nasal mucus into the sinuses.”
The problem with this, Hendley said, is that “if you do cough up mucus in your sinuses during a cold, which I suspect you will, then it’s not just mucus, but it’s likely to contain bacteria, viruses and may also contain mediators.”
“It seems quite likely that if you blow your nose, then there’s a chance your cold will get worse,” he said.
How to blow your nose correctly
Sometimes, however, the relief from blowing your nose can be enough to risk a potentially longer cold. When you blow your nose, there is a proper technique that can minimize the risk of mucus coming back up your sinuses and reduce the risk of injury.
When you consider that adults blow their noses an average of 45 times a day during the first three days of a cold, proper technique could make all the difference.
- Blow your nose gently. Blowing too hard creates even more pressure that can force infectious mucus into your ears and sinuses.
- Avoid the “both nostrils open” hit. Instead…
- Press a finger over one nostril.
- Gently blow your nose into a tissue through the open nostril.
- Switch your finger to close the opposite nostril and repeat.
- Although you’ll feel more “full” when you wake up (after lying in bed all night), don’t blow your nose right away. It’s best to wait five to 10 minutes after sitting up straight before doing this.
- Drink much liquid. This will make it easier to remove the mucus by blowing gently. Blowing your nose after taking a steamy shower can also help.
- Use paper tissues instead of cloth tissues. A used tissue is a breeding ground for germs, and when you reuse it, you spread them all over your face and hands.
- Just use a tissue once and then throw it away. This minimizes the risk of putting germs back on your face and hands.
- Wash your hands when you’re done, as germs from the nose and tissue will transfer to your fingers while blowing.