There’s a theory that if you sneeze six or seven times in a row, the sensation can be like a mild orgasm. Hypothesized parasympathetic summation as a trigger for sneezing. Image: JRSM 2008. It’s the wrong way around, but still suggests a connection between the two.

@DJAJSantini The longest sneezing fit ever recorded is that of Donna Griffiths (UK) who sneezed from Jan 1981 ’til Sept 1983, the 978th day.

The results showed that more than 95% of the normal persons sneezed and blew the nose less than 4 times a day, on average. It is concluded that it is normal to sneeze and blow the nose less than 4 times daily while a higher number can be a sign of rhinitis.

No one knows for sure, and scientific estimates vary widely. The most conservative estimators put the velocity of a sneeze at 100 mph. Then again, the JFK Health World Museum in Barrington, Ill., pegs the speed of a sneeze at 630 mph.

“Pressure released from a sneeze is extremely unlikely to cause an eyeball to pop out even if your eyes are open.” Increased pressure from straining builds up in the blood vessels, not the eyes or muscles surrounding the eyes.

Something to Sneeze At. Men and women blink at the same rate, too. The instigation of the eyeblink is even faster than the blink itself. The human eye’s reflex elicited by an air puff is 30 to 50 milliseconds, better than one-twentieth of a second.

While we haven’t come across reported deaths of people dying by holding in their sneezes, technically it’s not impossible to die from holding in a sneeze. Some injuries from holding in a sneeze can be very serious, such as ruptured brain aneurysms, ruptured throat, and collapsed lungs.

Although many superstitions associate sneezing with danger or even death, sneezing is just a natural reflex, much like itching and tearing. Most of the rumors about sneezing are not true.

According to the UAMS’ Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, your heart doesn’t exactly stop. When you sneeze, the intrathoracic pressure in your body momentarily increases. This will decrease the blood flow back to the heart.

Why do people say, “God bless you,” after someone sneezes? One of the symptoms of the plague was coughing and sneezing, and it is believed that Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) suggested saying “God bless you” after a person sneezed in hopes that this prayer would protect them from an otherwise certain death.

Conclusion. Sneezing is great for you. Your body is protecting you and keeping you healthy by expelling bacteria and viruses. Especially relevant, sneezes travel at over 100 miles per hour and can send over 100,000 germs into the air.

How to Stop Sneezing

1. Learn triggers.
2. Treat allergies.
3. Environmental protection.
4. Avoid light.
5. Eat smaller meals.
6. Say ‘pickles’
7. Blow your nose.
8. Pinch your nose.

Drinking chamomile tea. Similarly to vitamin C, chamomile has anti-histamine effects. To help prevent sneezing, a person can drink a cup of chamomile tea daily to help reduce the total amount of histamine in the body.

Almost anything that irritates your nose can make you sneeze. Sneezing, also called sternutation, is usually triggered by particles of dust, pollen, animal dander, and the like. It’s also a way for your body to expel unwanted germs, which can irritate your nasal passages and make you want to sneeze.

Ways to trigger sneezing

1. Use a tissue. Roll the corner of a tissue into a point, and place it in one nostril.
2. Tickle with a feather.
3. Look at the light.
4. Sniff strong perfume.
5. Tweeze a nostril hair.
6. Eat dark chocolate.
7. Tilt the head back.
8. Smell spices.

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw used tissues in the trash. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow, not your hands.

The sneeze center sends out a signal to tightly close your throat, eyes and mouth. Your chest muscles contract and compress your lungs while your throat muscles relax. All of that means air, saliva and mucus is forced out of your nose and mouth. AAAAAHHHH-CHOOOO.

Whether you hold a sneeze by pinching your nose or closing your mouth, stifling a sneeze is not a good idea, according to UAMS audiologist Dr. Alison Catlett Woodall.

Which has certainly been done, by one of the guys on Mythbusters and countless others. “It is certainly possible to keep your eyes open if you try while you are sneezing … but it requires working against the reflex,” says co-author Vreeman, assistant professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.