# Can you hurt yourself with one ecstatic nose-blowing episode (not coke, the kind with Kleenex)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428 "2013-03-31T14:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/1 "2013-03-31T14:28:07Z")
See subject. It’s usually a major, life-enhancing event when feeling miserable and muttering curses and drowning in snot from an allergy, not with a cold, where the feeling of misery is different. It’s one of those full-force breathe-outs until the air tank is exhausted, a pause while holding the nose closed for a mouth-drawn refill, repeat process, do it for a third time so your Kleenex is now useless, and you think your brains might come out–but you so want to do it just one more time–and then you worry something might bust, and think of posting this thread, which you do with an IPad on your belly while lying backwards on the couch to let gravity drain your snot back into your brains. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/2 "2013-03-31T16:38:37Z")
Get well soon.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/3 "2013-03-31T17:29:30Z")
Thank you. I’m allergic to my own fucking dog, after I sleep with my face on his belly. Which I will not stop doing, thanks for the advice… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/4 "2013-03-31T18:27:27Z")
Well, he wasn’t blowing his nose, but Sammy Sosa once injured himself by [sneezing](http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1804239). So I guess in theory you could. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/5 "2013-03-31T19:01:48Z")
I’ve heard of people rupturing sinuses by blowing up balloons through their noses. The Supreme Court isn’t the only folks poking around in uncharted waters. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/6 "2013-03-31T19:39:14Z")
Though there is something quite satisfying with that blow when the ears finally do that _POP_ and you can HEAR again after living muffled for a week with plugged eustachian tubes… ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/7 "2013-03-31T19:55:14Z")
Blowing hard can push the snot up into the sinuses, where the pressure of it sitting there will cause you pain, and it’s being packed in there and not being able to drain can lead to it festering. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/8 "2013-03-31T21:29:24Z")
Blowing blows it backward?! I can’t see how…? Festering Snot. Band name. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/9 "2013-03-31T22:43:25Z")
[The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold - The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/health/10real.html?_r=0). Also google about for some illustrations of how the sinuses are laid out. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/10 "2013-04-01T00:33:00Z")
I’ve sneezed my nose bloody on a few occasions, does that count? (Also, leaves one hell of mess if your nose is bleeding AND you can’t stop sneezing) ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/11 "2013-04-01T01:07:58Z")
Many years ago, my father ruptured a blood vessel in his nose by blowing too hard. Mom had to get him to the ER where it was packed; it was the only way to stop the bleeding. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/12 "2013-04-01T05:14:03Z")
Keerful! Don’t let [this](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4k75lLgCoY/UBoXydYzH9I/AAAAAAAABJ0/HjaWqwjxzAg/s1600/MM8.jpg) happen to you! ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/13 "2013-04-01T11:34:02Z")
I once lost my sense of smell after a lengthy cold with considerable nose blowing. It lasted for 2-3 months IIRC. Bad enough that I went to the doctor and had a Cat-scan or MRI or some such thing. They didn’t find anything and eventually it came back. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/14 "2013-04-01T15:29:29Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > See subject. It’s usually a major, life-enhancing event when feeling miserable and muttering curses and drowning in snot from an allergy, not with a cold, where the feeling of misery is different. > > It’s one of those full-force breathe-outs until the air tank is exhausted, a pause while holding the nose closed for a mouth-drawn refill, repeat process, do it for a third time so your Kleenex is now useless, and you think your brains might come out–but you so want to do it just one more time–and then you worry something might bust, and think of posting this thread, which you do with an IPad on your belly while lying backwards on the couch to let gravity drain your snot back into your brains. Applying maximum pressure could force mucus further into your sinuses. So in that sense, yes, you could hurt yourself. Too late; it’s been mentioned already. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/15 "2013-04-01T15:53:41Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Keerful! Don’t let [this](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4k75lLgCoY/UBoXydYzH9I/AAAAAAAABJ0/HjaWqwjxzAg/s1600/MM8.jpg) happen to you! Snart. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/16 "2013-04-01T16:05:36Z")
One can cause a pneumothorax from a vigorous nose blow. It’s rare, but, requires quick intervention when it does happen. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-hurt-yourself-with-one-ecstatic-nose-blowing-episode-not-coke-the-kind-with-kleenex/654428/17 "2013-04-01T16:14:48Z")
Air bubble in the thorax? Oy, something more to worry about.