CINCINNATI (Liz Bonis) -- If you noticed you are sneezing a bit more due to allergies, a word of caution Thursday from health care providers about stifling that sneeze.
We stopped out at Great American Ball Park to share more in our Health Alert. It seems likes just about anywhere you are with the grass or the trees that will trigger a sneeze. This research suggest you don't stifle it.
Providers at the Cleveland Clinic say it appears you can do some damage to your body when you try to stifle that sneeze. I know I have done it, where you hold your breath or hold your nose, but if it's a real strong sneeze experts in this report found you can really damage your eardrums. And maybe even your sinuses.
You see sneezing is a protective mechanism. That mans you sneeze to get stuff out of your nose that probably shouldn't get into your sinuses or your lungs. Your body sneezes it out, which is a good thing, but often also when you sneeze you have droplets that travel at a rate of 100 miles per hour. And you don't let those out by stifling a sneeze. That's why it can cause ear damage and perhaps up the odds of an ear infection.
It is not true, experts say, that stifling a sneeze will not harm other parts of the body. But it's not meant to be kept inside it.
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