A neurologist has surfaced with three tips for significantly minimizing the chances of dementia, strokes, and even brain hemorrhaging, which we are perilously close to every time we sneeze.
Dr Baibing Chen from the University of Michigan shared this information with his Instagram followers, explaining that these health catastrophes could be brought on by seemingly harmless everyday actions.
According to netizens, however, one of the risks is even perpetrated by healthcare professionals like chiropractors.
At the top of the list are massage guns
Image credits: TikTok / Dr. Bing
In an Instagram post earlier this year, the brain and spinal cord doctor said, “As a neurologist, these are three things I would not do.”
- A Michigan neurologist warns against using massage guns on the neck due to stroke risk.
- Loud music, he says, can lead to hearing loss and increase dementia risk.
- Commenters expressed concern over chiropractors using massage guns on patients.
Topping his list of commonly self-imposed cardinal threats to life is the use of a massage gun on the neck—because of the vertebral and carotid arteries located there being “relatively superficial.”
“They supply blood to the brain [and] are vulnerable to damage from the repetitive sheer forces of the massage gun.
Image credits: Unsplash+
“This can increase the risk of arterial dissection which is a tear in the artery wall, especially in those who may already have weaker vessel walls, leading to blood clots, […] blocking blood flow, and triggering a stroke,” he said
Another hazard brought on by massage guns is that they are capable of loosening plaques in the arteries, which are likely to travel to the brain, deprive it of blood, and cause a stroke.
Hearing loss could result in the onset of dementia
@doctor.bing 3 more things I don’t do as a neurologist. #brain#neurology#brainhealth#neurologist#doctor#neuroscience♬ original sound – Dr. Bing, MD MPH
“I don’t blast music in my ears,” he said of the second common infraction perpetrated by zoned-out teens and fitness enthusiasts alike.
He goes on to say that loud music causes hearing loss, which, by extension, places a strain on the brain as it draws on the resources used for thinking and memory in its bid to overcome the auditory impediment and process noise.
“Mild hearing loss doubles the risk of dementia while severe hearing loss increases it by five fold,” the medical professional explained.
Image credits: Freepik
He explains that noises above 85 decibels (which is on par with city traffic) can cause deafness over time, and noises equating to 100 decibels (similar to those of live concerts and earbuds) can trigger permanent damage to the hearing in 15 minutes.
For those who already have hearing loss, he advises using hearing aids to fight the risk of dementia.
Sneezing the wrong way can prove fatal
Image credits: Unsplash / Planet Volumes
The third thing Doctor.bing (per his Instagram handle) does not do, is hold his sneezes in. His reason: “Sneezing generates high internal pressure”—higher than that of a car’s tire.
“Holding it in forces this pressure into delicate areas and may,” like loud music, “lead to ruptured eardrums, torn throat tissues and even air leaking into the chest.”
“In rare cases the sudden spike in pressure can rupture blood vessels in the brain leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage,” which is a life-threatening condition where blood seeps between the brain and its protective membranes.
Image credits: Unsplash / Tomasz Gawłowski
He goes on to say that this risk is higher in individuals prone to aneurysms and weakened arteries.
The best course of action is to let the sneeze out and cover one’s mouth and nose with one’s hands.
Some commenters recall their chiropractors using massage guns on their necks
Image credits: Freepik
Netizens weighed in, mainly focusing on Doctor.Bing’s first point. A few claimed the machine was used on their necks by a chiropractor.
“Just be careful about your neck with a chiropractor,” warned one person in response to these accounts.
“My husband is an ICU specialist and has seen a number of young people who suffered catastrophic neck injuries from their treatment.”
“I don’t let my chiropractor touch my neck!!!” echoed a netizen in the know.
According to another neurologist, horse riding is just as dangerous
Image credits: Unsplash+
Another netizen weighed in on the hearing loss tip, claiming it has them petrified.
“The hearing loss has me scared. [I am] not even 30 and already struggling with hearing loss from constantly blaring music as a teenager.”
Image credits: Freepik
Image credits: Harvard
But according to another neurologist in the comment thread, these practices are only a few of the perils humans expose themselves to.
“1. I would never smoke,” they wrote before echoing the spiraling negativity towards chiropractors, writing: “2. I wouldn’t use [a] chiropractor on my neck 3. I wouldn’t ride a horse.”
Netizens find the revelations eerie
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