I’m going to sneeze. Ah…ah…ah…Gone.
Has this happened to you? You’re going to sneeze…then you don’t?
Why does this happen? what’s going on?
Better than managing to sneeze in the wrong direction, ie. inhaling with much rapidity.
I have to time my breaths when I get the urge to sneeze to make sure I’ll be on an exhale, 'cause an inhale-sneeze is very very painful to the lungs.
It might be the air you intake dislodging whatever is making you need to sneeze, or nostril flaring?
An inhale-sneeze? Is that possible?
But I think you pretty much nailed it in your final sentence.
I’ve also avoided sneezes by pinching the bridge of my nose (right about where it meets the skull) rather hard. Don’t know what this does to whatever it is making me sneeze, but it works sometimes.
Yeah, that works for me too.
But rather than avoiding a sneeze it’s probably better to just let it out. When you feel a sneeze coming on and it just won’t come out look at a light. Works every time. (learned that one from my mother)
Yes, I have managed to sneeze by inhale twice, just by not having my breaths coordinated. The sneeze wouldn’t wait, and I was on an inhale…it may not have been a ‘sneeze’ per se, but it was a VERY fast VERY deep lungful, and it hurt an awful lot for a good while.
The bridge pinching works for me too. Not the cartilage, that makes me sneeze sometimes. Works for my dogs too. Too bad wearing glasses makes it a little tough to up and pinch the bridge when necessary.
Yeah, you can hurt yourself by suppressing a violent sneeze. I only use the Vulcan nose pinch if I’m in the car and don’t want to be peering through snot for the rest of the drive.
That thing about looking at a light to bring out an elusive sneeze: Some people might think that’s bizarre, but being the devoted Straight Dope column readers that we are (right?), Cecil backs you up on this one. Why do some people sneeze when going out into bright light?
Another aside:
Did you know that sneezing is the second most pleasurable body sensation…I have no idea what the first is:D
I find that sticking something sharp like a cocktail stick into the skin under your nostril, or your septum, causes uncontrollable sneezing for several minutes.
Or a wedding ring, I suspect…
I’ve tried plenty but find it impossible to hold them in. It usually just makes it even worse. Somebody told me that looking at a bright light when you want to sneeze would stop you, so for years whenever I felt one coming, I would stare at a bright light, trying to hold it in but it never worked. I just found out recently that it’s supposed to make you sneeze.:wally
Ya know what, Bookie Monster, you might just have recognised a trend that I hadn’t noticed before…
I don’t think that’s what the OP is talking about. I get that too-you feel like you’re going to sneeze, and you’re ready and you wait-and you never sneeze. What’s up with that? (I HATE that feeling!)
What, no quote from “Gregory’s Girl” about the speed at which snot comes out your nose when you sneeze?
Excuse me while I go off and look up the actual number
Your dog is Mr. Peabody?
Anyway, can you really damage yourself if you suppress big sneezes? I do this quite a bit. And in June, I had this awful pain in my rib area for about two weeks, after doing nothing that I could think of that would account for it. Could a sneeze have dislodged (or even broken) something?
I’ve certainly felt a sharp pain in my ribs as well as what feels like a pulled muscle in my neck. And Unca Cecil says:
Will suppressing a sneeze give you a brain aneurysm?
You might also want to check some related sneeze columns:
If you burp, fart, and sneeze at the same time, will you die?
Why do I sneeze after every orgasm?
If you hold your eyelids open while sneezing, will your eyes pop out?
and the always topical Is there such a thing as a sneeze fetish? (love the illustration)