Dangers if you try to hold your sneeze

NEW YORK (WABC) -- If your allergies have you sniffling and sneezing, let that sneeze out, if you don't, it could be dangerous.

Tree allergies are skyrocketing, with grass pollen up there as well.

Whether it's a cold or allergies you know that when it's coming:

"You do feel a little tickle in your nose, yes," said Brayden Hernandez.

But don't try to stop it

"I just go for it I mean if it's gonna come it's gonna come I just let it go," said Vince Vawter.

Let it go because stopping that sneeze may do some damage.

"Occasionally, people will cause some damage to their eardrums, maybe their sinuses, if they stifle a very violent sneeze," said Dr. Rachel Szekely, with Cleveland Clinic.

Studies show that plugging your nostrils and closing your mouth during a sneeze can generate pressures of up to 176 mmhg in the nose.

"So, your nose connects to your Eustachian Tube, which connects to your middle-ear and so, you could also push things through the Eustachian Tube and back into the middle ear. Mucus that's infected and you can get middle ear infections because of that," adds Dr. Szekely.

Case reports link the high pressure created by sneezing to hearing loss, glaucoma, and blood clots in the brain. Doctors say one California woman had a stroke caused by the sudden neck movement of a sneeze. The sneeze reflex is thought to originate inside your nose.

And usually there's a purpose to get rid of the irritating material before it gets to your lungs. But there's a lot we don't understand -like why do you sneeze when you look at the sun?

It's hard to say how dangerous it really it to stifle a sneeze -- the major issues reported are rare and all the top ear nose and throat doctors i asked have never seen major problems-- but regardless- the advice holds true.