Sneezing After Surgery

[member_47421]

Depending on which hospital you go to for surgery the leaflets differ. Some make you frightened about sneezing, others say "try" to avoid it, others say its ok to sneeze when you can't avoid it but keep your mouth open. The advice I got from a very kind and experienced endocrine nurse seemed to work very well, reduced my worry, and helped me when I did need to sneeze. She said:
-for some people the sneeze sensation comes on slowly and there is time to try something to avoid sneezing, such as gently breathing out through the nose(if its not blocked). Even then, sneezing cannot always be avoided.
-for some people, their sneeze typically comes on very suddenly, and there is no way they can avoid it.
-either way, if your sneeze is unavoidable - do not fear it, but ...... do Not try to be quiet, do Not block your nose, and do Not block your mouth: Instead open your mouth and if you can, "vocalize" your sneeze, by saying "ah-ha" or something similar as you sneeze. This will help make sure that most of the air comes freely out through your mouth, rather than getting bottled in, or coming out through the nose. It might mean your sneeze is loud, but better loud than pressurized
Knowing this in the first weeks/months after the op, made me know to avoid sneezing if I could, but when I had to sneeze, I felt a lot less fearful and knew how to do it.
Hope this helps you too.
(God bless you, and all the amazing endocrine nurses, doctors, registrars, consultants and surgeons)

[Carl]

Thanks for posting that, yes the advice around avoiding sneezing was always a difficult one. I can't avoid them, but I do loud vocal sneezes anyway

[plum]

Oh this is interesting!
Thank you.
I remember being extremely worried about the first sneeze.
best regards