A new running injury to worry about?

Spring is here, and with it comes allergy season — and, apparently, a little-known rise in the risk of athletic injuries. The Canadian Press has a hilarious article on sneezing injuries, following Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero’s recent sternutatory abdominal strain. This is serious stuff (or, as the writer inevitably put it, “nothing to sneeze at”):

“When you sneeze, it’s that thrust of a movement that can throw a rib off and you usually feel it in your back as opposed to your abdomen,” says Cindy Hughes, a certified athletic therapist and manager of the Sport Injury Clinic at York University in Toronto…

“You just have that explosive movement and all of a sudden: bam, it’s going to hit you.”

The take-home message, from University of Toronto sports medicine doctor Doug Richards: learn to ward off sneezes by pressing your finger against your upper lip. But don’t stifle the sneeze once it begins, since that causes even higher pressure.