# Is stifling a sneeze harmful? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 1, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451 "2025-01-01T18:42:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/1 "2025-01-01T18:42:48Z")
I usually let er rip but if in polite company I might stifle a sneeze by pressing my tongue upwards. This clamps the pressure inside. I have been told a long time ago that this was harmful. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/2 "2025-01-01T18:51:37Z")
Serious complications of sneeze-stifling [are rare](https://www.entandallergy.com/blog/2022/april/how-bad-is-it-really-to-hold-in-a-sneeze-/) (though there are case reports of things like laryngeal or eardrum rupture). If you’re worried about it, go ahead and sneeze - but if at all possible have a tissue handy (or your hand if nothing else is handy) and sneeze into that, rather than spraying potential pathogens onto those around you or the salad bar. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/3 "2025-01-01T21:31:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > if at all possible have a tissue handy (or your hand if nothing else is handy) and sneeze into that I think modern etiquette is to sneeze into your elbow; on the grounds that you go around touching other things (and sometimes people) with your hands, but you don’t generally do so with the inside of your elbow. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/4 "2025-01-01T21:46:07Z")
The deadly effects of suppressing a sneeze was gospel truth when I was a kid. So was swallowing your gum and farting in the bathtub. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/5 "2025-01-01T22:29:15Z")
And og help the poor soul who goes for a swim within an hour of having eaten. mmm ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/6 "2025-01-01T22:33:06Z")
A couple times I sneezed so hard while keeping my mouth closed that I split my lower lip. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/7 "2025-01-02T14:58:39Z")
I sneeze very loud. I ‘let er rip’. My wife thinks there is something wrong with me. She covers her ears. I think she’s being a tad bit over dramatic. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/8 "2025-01-02T15:00:35Z")
And from the archives: > **[Will suppressing a sneeze give you a brain aneurysm?](https://www.straightdope.com/21343449/will-suppressing-a-sneeze-give-you-a-brain-aneurysm)** ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/9 "2025-01-02T15:23:43Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I sneeze very loud. I ‘let er rip’. My wife thinks there is something wrong with me. She covers her ears. I think she’s being a tad bit over dramatic. I think I just lost another irony meter. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/10 "2025-01-02T21:57:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I think I just lost another irony meter. You beat me to it. I have been stifling my sneezes for a long as I can remember, partly prompted by my annoyance with loud sneezers. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/11 "2025-01-02T23:30:56Z")
No firsthand knowledge, but the concept of the stifled-sneeze-induced shart comes to mind ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-stifling-a-sneeze-harmful/1012451/12 "2025-01-03T00:42:26Z")
When I sneeze, it’s usually multiple times in a row, especially after eating. Sometimes as many as nine or ten times.