# Is there any way to prevent a sneeze or cough?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 27, 1999, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723 "1999-10-27T02:36:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Kvallulf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kvallulf)
#### Post date: [October 27, 1999, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/1 "1999-10-27T02:36:00Z")
A little background on my topic first. I was in a car accident on the 11th of October. I now have a compression fracture in my spine and a broken sternum. I have found that when I sneeze or cough, I am in extreme pain for the next five to ten minutes.
Cough suppresents only make the cough worse, and the sneezes just come out of no where. Is there a better way than just more drugs? I am tired and woozy enough as it is.
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### Author:  [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)
#### Post date: [October 27, 1999, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/2 "1999-10-27T02:49:00Z")
You can short circuit a sneeze by pressing _hard_ on the area just below your septum (you know, at the top of the, oh heck, this MB’s done this one and the received knowledge has gone off to hang out with my college education,…uh, the snot trough).
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### Author:  [@timmar68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timmar68)
#### Post date: [October 27, 1999, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/3 "1999-10-27T03:34:00Z")
When I feel the urge to sneeze I rub my tongue against the roof of my mouth and I don’t sneeze. Hasn’t failed me yet!
* * *
MaryAnn
More woman than you’ll ever inflate!
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### Author:  [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)
#### Post date: [October 28, 1999, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/4 "1999-10-28T00:47:00Z")
I can stop a sneeze by holding my breath until the desire to sneeze goes away.
* * *
Your Official Cat Goddess since 10/20/99.
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### Author:  [@JoltSucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoltSucker)
#### Post date: [October 28, 1999, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/5 "1999-10-28T12:34:00Z")
To supress a sneeze: mash the tip of your nose - HARD.
To supress a coughing fit: snort warm tap water up your nose. Most coughs are tripped off by gunk hanging off the backside of your uvula (the thing that hangs down in the back of your throat), and flushing your sinuses with water helps knock it loose. Run warm water in the sink, cup your hands to catch some, stick your nose in the pool formed by your hands, and try to breathe in the water through your nose (but don’t actually breath it into your lungs, just sniff good and hard). You may have to do it one nostril at a time, and it will probably sting a little bit the first few times you do it. But it’s a drug free and pretty effective way to stop a coughing fit. The only trouble is that it looks pretty damned wierd if you do it in a public restroom.
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### Author:  [@smarks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smarks)
#### Post date: [November 5, 1999, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/6 "1999-11-05T01:43:00Z")
I find that rubbing super hard and super fast on my… upper lip, where a moustache would be makes a sneeze go away every time.
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### Author:  [@Cory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cory)
#### Post date: [November 14, 1999, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-prevent-a-sneeze-or-cough/4723/7 "1999-11-14T08:03:00Z")
Just plug your nose!