No, your heart does not stop when you sneeze. When you sneeze, the intrathoracic pressure in your body momentarily increases, which decreases the blood flow back to the heart. The heart compensates for this by momentarily changing its regular heartbeat to adjust.
However, the heart’s electrical activity does not stop during the sneeze. A tickling sensation in the nerve endings triggers a message to your brain that signals it to rid itself of something irritating the lining of your nose.
You first take a deep breath and hold it, which tightens your chest muscles. The pressure of air in your lungs increases as you close your eyes, press your tongue against the roof of your mouth, and suddenly release your breath fast through your nose.
So where did people originate the myth that your heart stops when you sneeze? The changing pressure in your chest due to sneezing also changes your blood flow, which may change the rhythm of your heartbeat. This sensation of having the heart “skip a beat” could lead people to believe that the heart actually comes to a stop during a sneeze.
When there is a prolonged delay before the heart’s next beat, that beat becomes more forceful and more noticeable, perhaps as a funny sensation in the throat or upper chest.
In some cultures, people often frown upon loud sneezing. As a result, many try to suppress their sneezing reflex. While holding back a sneeze doesn’t stop the heart, it can have harmful consequences.
When we hold in a sneeze, the pressure within the chest can increase by five to twenty times. This retained pressure can damage the chest cavity, eyes, ears, or throat. Therefore, if you need to sneeze, it’s best just to let it out.
Content for this question contributed by Thomas Parsons, resident of Tonawanda, Erie County, New York, USA
