# Why do I sneeze twice in a row when I sneeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012 "2010-10-31T21:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/21 "2010-11-02T05:07:58Z")
My guess would be the sneezer nervicals (technical terms I just made up, could you tell?) and the way they’re set up. Somehow the irritation that set off the first sneeze just doesn’t entirely stop feeling irritated at the end, and the air duct sensors figure that one more blast is needed. I’m a double sneezer, mostly, but it varies, probably based on what caused the sneeze. Can’t always tell, at that. I do manage to cover my nose and mouth. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/22 "2010-11-02T05:22:07Z")
double sneezer, crowd pleaser. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/23 "2010-11-02T05:39:50Z")
I’m a double-sneezer. My mother sneezed in 13’s. Little, tiny ones in fast succession. Very freaky. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/24 "2010-11-02T09:01:50Z")
I think the first sneeze is triggered by some foreign agent (ie dust) and the first sneeze ends up jarring lose/shifting stuff around to trigger a second one which sufficiently removes the irritant. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/25 "2010-11-02T23:18:01Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > My dog would often sneeze when he was barking. \ \ \ Cracked me up every time. I’m told by vet books (although I’ve never asked my vet), that the dog “sneeze” is not the same as ours, and is in fact something we are incapable of. It’s a reverse sneeze, so to to speak, where all the mucus and irritant get blasted _backwards_. Or so I’ve read, so it must be true. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/26 "2010-11-03T15:30:32Z")
I’m often but not invariably a triple sneezer. Less often, two sneezes, and very rarely just one. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/27 "2010-11-03T16:12:11Z")
I’m usually a two-sneezer. Also, my sneezes are powerful. I’m talking full-body orgasm-level powerful. These things are start-in-my-nose-and-travel-down-my-spine-level-as-I-jerk-my-whole-body-around powerful. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/28 "2010-11-03T17:05:39Z")
I double-sneezed almost my entire life. But now, closing in 40, I am single-sneezing with increasing frequency. Have no idea what’s going on. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/29 "2010-11-03T17:46:42Z")
I think it’s a habit. Someone I worked with commented to me “Mark always sneezes three times in a row.” So I decided to force myself to sneeze more or less. Sure enough I was able to stop this. Now it’s random. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/30 "2010-11-04T02:07:32Z")
How in the world can you force yourself to sneeze more? I can’t sneeze on command. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/31 "2010-11-04T03:19:56Z")
> [@Ruby](#): > > How in the world can you force yourself to sneeze more? I can’t sneeze on command. You can, you simply try to hold in the sneeze as you do. So you get “half a sneeze” (is there really such a thing as “half a sneeze”😕) but anyway you’ll have to sneeze again. ---
**Author:** ![Larvarg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Larvarg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larvarg)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/32 "2014-03-30T22:02:25Z")
I looked all over for an answer, and here’s what I found, [ul] [li]a bunch of hokey pokey crap[/li][li]some logical hypotheses[/li][li] and a lot of people saying that no one knows[/li][/ul] I have an interesting situation though, I sneeze, cough, and even yawn twice most of the time. I can’t remember the last time I sneezed only once, and I’ve been sick for the pay few weeks. My second sneeze comes out much stronger than the first, and it seems like I put my whole heart and soul into that sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/33 "2014-03-30T22:33:13Z")
The answer is as plain as the nose on your face: once for each nostril. Seriously- no idea, but I never sneeze once or twice. Always half a dozen or so spread out over several minutes. My father-in-law always used to sneeze about a dozen times, one right after another. ARGH: ZOMBIE! ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/34 "2014-03-30T23:02:19Z")
As there isn’t an answer yet, I’ll add a small and entirely anecdotal data point: I worked with a guy who sneezed 14 times. Since we both wondered if it was maybe just mental, we decided that he would honestly not count, and I would. We did that quite faithfully for 2 weeks, and he sneezed quite a lot (we were in dusty spaces quite often). He _always_ sneezed 14 times. So… ok, we can’t rule out that there is some mental thing going on. But it’s definitely not that he was counting and just willed himself to sneeze 14 times. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/35 "2014-03-31T00:37:04Z")
> [@Larvarg](#): > > I looked all over for an answer, and here’s what I found, > [ul] > [li]a bunch of hokey pokey crap[/li][li]some logical hypotheses[/li][li] and a lot of people saying that no one knows[/li][/ul] > > I have an interesting situation though, I sneeze, cough, and even yawn twice most of the time. I can’t remember the last time I sneezed only once, and I’ve been sick for the pay few weeks. My second sneeze comes out much stronger than the first, and it seems like I put my whole heart and soul into that sneeze. Hey, it’s your first post! I hope :dubious: that first on the list is not referring to this thread or parts of it. I’ll read “pokey” and “no one knows” as intentional puns. My personal oldest zombie…And some people I was talking to are BANNED now. Hmm. Their posts seemed so normal. ::As said the neighbor of the just apprehended serial killer.:: ---
**Author:** ![urban1a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47c2d/32.png) [@urban1a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/urban1a)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/36 "2014-03-31T00:59:41Z")
I also am a three-sneezer. Eveyone who knows me knows that if I sneeze to wait until the third one to ‘god bless’. Bob ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/37 "2014-03-31T01:44:04Z")
My sneezes come in six-packs. The half dozen…completes me.😉 ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/38 "2014-03-31T02:03:31Z")
I sometimes sneeze when I’m very hungry–as in, I am finding myself slightly nauseous from hunger. In that case, it tends to be two or three, usually with a cough in there too. Allergy sneezes, on the other hand, are what my dad calls the “drunken sneezes”. Many, many sneezes, with profanity and stumbling around like I’m drunk. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/39 "2014-03-31T02:10:01Z")
I am a double sneezer. Always. I prefer to not hold anything back. Some people like to quiet them down. I like to let it all hang out. And shout it out. Sometimes it is one syllable, other times two syllables. Of course it is better without an audience. If there are people around I will cover my mouth. Otherwise, no. It is kinda orgasmic. Tends to create a lot of nose mucus. And is always followed with a blowing of the nose. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012/40 "2014-03-31T02:20:44Z")
Cause once is not enough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-sneeze-twice-in-a-row-when-i-sneeze/559012.md?page=3)