Your heart does not stop when you sneeze
March 18th, 2009
One of the myths surrounding a sneeze is that sneezing stops your heart. A sneeze is your nose’s involuntary response to a nasal irritation or allergen. When you sneeze, you increase pressure within your chest and limit venous blood flow back to the heart. Your heart may make up for this by a slight change in its beating rate but the heart and its electrical activity do not stop during a sneeze.