# Pain from sneezing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903 "2001-01-26T19:34:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/1 "2001-01-26T19:34:47Z")
I’ve been sick for the past week, and for the past 2 days, I’ve been having sneezing fits. Very often, when I sneeze (especially if I sneeze a few times in a row), I get a burning pain in my shoulders and elbows. Also, sometimes for a few seconds after the sneeze, my skin gets super-sensitive, as if I’d been lit on fire. I’ve polled my friends and family, and about 1/3 of them have experienced this…the other 2/3’s don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. Does anyone know causes this pain? Does anyone else go through this? Is there a way to make it stop? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/2 "2001-01-26T21:53:29Z")
I get the same thing from time to time. I always assumed that the force of the sneeze compressed a nerve bundle, kind of like hitting your funnybone. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/3 "2001-01-26T23:45:25Z")
[Kindergarten Cop]It might be a tumor.[/Kindergarten Cop] ---
**Author:** ![Peta\_Tzunami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@Peta\_Tzunami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peta_Tzunami)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/4 "2001-01-27T00:12:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by phouka \* > \*\*[Kindergarten Cop]It might be a tumor.[/Kindergarten Cop] \*\* “It’s not a tumor.” And I, too, have some very painful sneezing fits. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/5 "2001-01-27T01:29:28Z")
I sometimes get a pain in my chest when I sneeze. It feels like what I assume a heart attack feels like. I asked my doctor about it. He didn’t go into detail but he did say it had nothing to do with my heart. ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/6 "2001-01-27T02:00:00Z")
Hmmm, no pain upon sneezing but I do get a pain in my heart (that’s what it feels like, anyway) just from breathing sometimes. Being stabbed with a red-hot dagger couldn’t hurt any worse. Thankfully, as long as I don’t breathe for a few moments, it usually goes away. I did check with a doctor once. He said it was “growing pains.” Perhaps I should have been flattered that he didn’t realize I stopped growing 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/7 "2001-01-27T03:12:42Z")
I get this pretty much every time I am about to, currently am, or recently was sick. I sneeze and every joint in my body (including where my ribs connect to my sternum) feels like it just came apart. My skin tingles. It usually passes quickly, though. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pain-from-sneezing/51903/8 "2001-01-27T03:17:57Z")
sneezing or coughing, I get something like this. Like someone hit you in the stomach with a train or something.