Sneezing: Causes and Precautions

Sneezing is a process by which the body removes the unwanted things that tickle or irritate your nose. Whenever something in the nose tickles, the message is sent to the part of the brain that controls sneezing and this message from the brain is then passed to the muscle which in turn causes sneezing.

Muscles that are involved in this process are that of stomach, chest, diaphragm and the muscle at the back of the throat. Also the eye muscle because you close the eyes when you sneeze.

Causes

Anything that irritates your nostrils would make you sneeze. Some common things are some dust particle, cold air or pepper or some spice. When one gets a cold sneezing increase as the virus that has entered the nose makes a home there causing more of irritation.

Many people sneeze due to some allergies. Allergies could be from pollens, animal dander and also some people are sensitive to sunlight and they sneeze when they move out in sunlight. Sneezing due to sunlight is termed as photic sneeze.

Myth

There is a myth that heart stops working when we sneeze which is wrong. Whenever we sneeze a pressure is developed inside the chest which changes the heart beat and it seems that heart has stopped working.

Precautions

Some people are allergic to pollens. So as soon as the fall starts follow some simple things like always close the windows of your home and offices and sit in the air conditioner. Always take bath when you return from outside.

When you are sneezing from cold you should take make a homemade tea by mixing honey and lemon in water. Boil this water for sometime. Take the residue in sips three to four times in a day. This would help a lot. Avoid eating cold things rather eat hot things. Drink plenty of soups. Avoid heavy foods like meat, fish etc.

Do not lie flat on the bed and keep a pillow under you head this would reduce sneezing as the nasal airways would be cleared by this.