On Romance and Psychosomatic Sneezing
March 27, 2013 10:07 AM Subscribe
"It’s pretty safe to say that a decent chunk of the population experiences sex-related sneezes."
In 2008, Dr. Mahmood Bhutta and Dr. Harold Maxwell published the 'first credible exploration of arousal-based sneezing' in the article Sneezing induced by sexual ideation or orgasm: an under-reported phenomenon. The research was originally spurred when a patient's unusual symptoms led him to an internet search, leading the researchers to note that people might use online forums to seek medical advice due to feelings of embarrassment at bringing up the matter with medical professionals.
In 2008, Dr. Mahmood Bhutta and Dr. Harold Maxwell published the 'first credible exploration of arousal-based sneezing' in the article Sneezing induced by sexual ideation or orgasm: an under-reported phenomenon. The research was originally spurred when a patient's unusual symptoms led him to an internet search, leading the researchers to note that people might use online forums to seek medical advice due to feelings of embarrassment at bringing up the matter with medical professionals.
I (a late-20s male) have experienced this! I had thought about posting a question about it on AskMe but never thought it was a big deal. Without getting into the details, having an orgasm under a certain set of circumstances almost always makes me sneeze immediately afterwards, sometimes multiple times.
posted by Sexy, Sexy Anonymity at 10:18 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by Sexy, Sexy Anonymity at 10:18 AM on March 27, 2013
I'm pretty sure it is the indecent chunk of the population that experiences this.
posted by srboisvert at 10:21 AM on March 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 10:21 AM on March 27, 2013 [4 favorites]
*raises hand*
I will advise not mentioning this symptom to your partners because it's a dead fucking giveaway, like a red-faced Asian who's been drinking. :D
I've never really thought of it as anything to talk about or ask a doctor about (?!), but when I consider something sexually arousing, I'll almost always sneeze before any actual genital arousal occurs. And it only happens once (rarely twice, right in a row). Once I get the sneeze over, everything else progresses "normally."
I could get into the details of when I do/don't sneeze, but it's probably TMI already ...
Also, to no one’s surprise anywhere, the arousal-sneeze mechanism seems to work in reverse (i.e. there’s a fetish for that).
I think that's in Nicholson Baker's novel Vox. It doesn't do anything for me personally, but I suppose if my partner were into it, we'd be in sneeze heaven.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:24 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I will advise not mentioning this symptom to your partners because it's a dead fucking giveaway, like a red-faced Asian who's been drinking. :D
I've never really thought of it as anything to talk about or ask a doctor about (?!), but when I consider something sexually arousing, I'll almost always sneeze before any actual genital arousal occurs. And it only happens once (rarely twice, right in a row). Once I get the sneeze over, everything else progresses "normally."
I could get into the details of when I do/don't sneeze, but it's probably TMI already ...
Also, to no one’s surprise anywhere, the arousal-sneeze mechanism seems to work in reverse (i.e. there’s a fetish for that).
I think that's in Nicholson Baker's novel Vox. It doesn't do anything for me personally, but I suppose if my partner were into it, we'd be in sneeze heaven.
posted by mrgrimm at 10:24 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
As the old joke goes
Patient: Doctor, Doctor, every time I sneeze I have an orgasm.
Doctor: What are you taking for it?
Patient: Pepper!
posted by MuffinMan at 10:28 AM on March 27, 2013 [14 favorites]
Patient: Doctor, Doctor, every time I sneeze I have an orgasm.
Doctor: What are you taking for it?
Patient: Pepper!
posted by MuffinMan at 10:28 AM on March 27, 2013 [14 favorites]
Wow, this explains several odd AskMes of late:
Asking for a friend: what's the easiest way to make oneself sneeze in bed?
posted by Big Nose Matters to human relations (12 answers total)
I bought these Jalapeños from the local farmers' market and they made me sneeze myself to multiple orgasms during the dinner I hosted. Can I sue the farmer who sold me the Jalapeños for aiding in involuntary sexual arousement and for humiliating me?
posted by Seduced By A Jalapeño to human relations (39 answers total)
If a family member and I orgasm simultaneously due to sneezing, does this count as incest?
posted by Twisted Sisters to human relations (85 answers total)
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:29 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Asking for a friend: what's the easiest way to make oneself sneeze in bed?
posted by Big Nose Matters to human relations (12 answers total)
I bought these Jalapeños from the local farmers' market and they made me sneeze myself to multiple orgasms during the dinner I hosted. Can I sue the farmer who sold me the Jalapeños for aiding in involuntary sexual arousement and for humiliating me?
posted by Seduced By A Jalapeño to human relations (39 answers total)
If a family member and I orgasm simultaneously due to sneezing, does this count as incest?
posted by Twisted Sisters to human relations (85 answers total)
posted by Foci for Analysis at 10:29 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Is that hay fever or are you just happy to see me?
posted by xarnop at 10:29 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by xarnop at 10:29 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
Let me just say that if you are a gentleman making merry sport with a lady friend when she sneezes, the sensation is like being in the middle of a handclap. Perhaps it is an acquired taste.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Arousal is nothing to sneeze at. OR IS IT??!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 10:36 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I first thought I'd never encountered such a thing, but then I remembered that I do have a similar tic. It was actually most prominent when I was prepubescent, but even in my late 20's my nose itches when I'm talking to a woman that I'm exceptionally attracted to. Like the bulb of my nose itches, though I don't sneeze.
I'm going to go ahead and assume that every pretty girl I've ever met thought I was a coke fiend and blame everything on that.
posted by cmoj at 10:37 AM on March 27, 2013
I'm going to go ahead and assume that every pretty girl I've ever met thought I was a coke fiend and blame everything on that.
posted by cmoj at 10:37 AM on March 27, 2013
When we talked about this video, many of us mentioned that these look like "O-faces".
posted by chavenet at 10:41 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by chavenet at 10:41 AM on March 27, 2013
If you wonder if you suffer from this, you're doing one or both of them wrong.
posted by klarck at 10:43 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by klarck at 10:43 AM on March 27, 2013
> I'm pretty sure it is the indecent chunk of the population that experiences this.
Bunch of harlots! We should make the wear scarlet face masks or something.
posted by Panjandrum at 10:43 AM on March 27, 2013
Bunch of harlots! We should make the wear scarlet face masks or something.
posted by Panjandrum at 10:43 AM on March 27, 2013
Has there been any studies done on sex-related farting? Is that a thing or it just me?
TMI?
posted by bondcliff at 10:45 AM on March 27, 2013
TMI?
posted by bondcliff at 10:45 AM on March 27, 2013
I always sneeze once or twice if I happen to roll over on my stomach and inadvertently crush my obligatory morning erection in the course of swatting my alarm clock.
After two sneezes I'm well and truly awake, unfortunately.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:53 AM on March 27, 2013
After two sneezes I'm well and truly awake, unfortunately.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 10:53 AM on March 27, 2013
Has there been any studies done on sex-related farting?
I don't know, if there's one problem that won't be solved by more beanplating..
posted by fight or flight at 10:57 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I don't know, if there's one problem that won't be solved by more beanplating..
posted by fight or flight at 10:57 AM on March 27, 2013 [2 favorites]
I've sneezed twice just reading this thread.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:00 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:00 AM on March 27, 2013
I get a sharp stabbing pain in the tip of my nose, like a pin being stuck in, when I see the yellow produced by an original IBM CGA card on an original IBM 5153 display. It's entirely repeatable, and I've never experienced it under any other circumstances. It does not cause or depend on sexual arousal (I mean. CGA. Come on.)
Is this related? Is this as far as I'm going to get from synaesthesia? If so, I feel mildly short-changed.
posted by Devonian at 11:11 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is this related? Is this as far as I'm going to get from synaesthesia? If so, I feel mildly short-changed.
posted by Devonian at 11:11 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Devonian, that might be some kind of photic sneeze reflex. A significant number of people experience this sneeze reflex when looking at the sun or other bright light (myself included).
posted by Kabanos at 11:21 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by Kabanos at 11:21 AM on March 27, 2013
I should add a disclaimer: The sun makes me hot, but it does not make me hot.
posted by Kabanos at 11:23 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Kabanos at 11:23 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Interesting. The other night I was hanging out with some friends including a woman I like but haven't told yet. She had a sneezing fit to end all sneezing fits, maybe 10 huge ones in a row. Maybe I should feel encouraged.
posted by scalefree at 11:25 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by scalefree at 11:25 AM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I love sneezing! It falls into the 'gasm' category for me.
Eyegasm - from rubbing my eyes
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
None of these make me tingle down there but there is some kind of something going on. A different kind of tingle.
posted by mokeydraws at 11:31 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Eyegasm - from rubbing my eyes
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
None of these make me tingle down there but there is some kind of something going on. A different kind of tingle.
posted by mokeydraws at 11:31 AM on March 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
Ha! I was just going to mention that, Kabanos! One of my company's authors is a geneticist, and as we walked out into the sun from a dimly-lit convention center, I sneezed. She pointed out that it's genetic, and the second I saw this post, I was thinking "hmm, how can I make a joke out of this that involves the photic sneeze reflex AND sexy sex?"
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:40 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:40 AM on March 27, 2013
I get the photic sneeze response anyway, and that doesn't seem related to anything but perceived brightness. The CGA nasal prick experience is entirely different, although it's intriguing to wonder if it's got a connected underlying mechanism.
posted by Devonian at 11:43 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by Devonian at 11:43 AM on March 27, 2013
I think the sneeze/orgasm convergence was played with in John Irving's Setting Free the Bears.
posted by neutralmojo at 11:53 AM on March 27, 2013
posted by neutralmojo at 11:53 AM on March 27, 2013
Eyegasm - from rubbing my eyes
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
Foodgasm: from eating something yummy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:14 PM on March 27, 2013
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
Foodgasm: from eating something yummy.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:14 PM on March 27, 2013
Oh, this is exactly what happens to me! Interesting to see it's not terribly uncommon. Though saying it happens in response to sexual arousal is not entirely accurate in my case. It doesn't happen just from getting "turned on", but specifically when I'm deeply engaged with an infatuation fantasy, which may be sexual or merely "romantic". Always two sneezes and no more after that. I've had the suspicion for a while that it came from the same kind of neuron-crossing that produces things like bright-light sneezing - very cool to see that there's some new research being done.
posted by lirien at 12:40 PM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by lirien at 12:40 PM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
getting over a deluded infatuation
Oh, see, now, that's an unfortunately redundant and self-chastising phrase. Yes, love can make fools of us all, but let's admit just a little how very grand it can be, and give ourselves permission to at least think of Neverland now and then.
posted by Twang at 2:27 PM on March 27, 2013
Oh, see, now, that's an unfortunately redundant and self-chastising phrase. Yes, love can make fools of us all, but let's admit just a little how very grand it can be, and give ourselves permission to at least think of Neverland now and then.
posted by Twang at 2:27 PM on March 27, 2013
Orgasmgasm: from having a really good orgasm.
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 3:52 PM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Doroteo Arango II at 3:52 PM on March 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Never got this, and I sneeze a lot alas. I am an a-grade photic sneezer, and I was unreasonably excited when my little daughter revealed that she, too, is one. It was compensation for her not being left handed.
posted by smoke at 5:26 PM on March 27, 2013
posted by smoke at 5:26 PM on March 27, 2013
I have had pee-gasms. Needed to pee so bad that upon doing so, it feels orgasmic
posted by couchdive at 7:54 PM on March 27, 2013
posted by couchdive at 7:54 PM on March 27, 2013
I also wonder whether the anime "sneeze when someone else is talking about you" thing is related to this. Probably not, right?
posted by subdee at 8:06 PM on March 27, 2013
posted by subdee at 8:06 PM on March 27, 2013
Ha! I was just going to mention that, Kabanos! One of my company's authors is a geneticist, and as we walked out into the sun from a dimly-lit convention center, I sneezed. She pointed out that it's genetic, and the second I saw this post, I was thinking "hmm, how can I make a joke out of this that involves the photic sneeze reflex AND sexy sex?"--bitter-girl.com
Yes, I was surprised by the lack of mention of sunshine sneezes in the first link, since the second link mentions that it is the most common sneeze response. I occasionally get them (especially if I go from a very dark to a very bright place) and I cracked up when I first discovered that one of my sons does this too.
posted by eye of newt at 9:50 PM on March 27, 2013
Yes, I was surprised by the lack of mention of sunshine sneezes in the first link, since the second link mentions that it is the most common sneeze response. I occasionally get them (especially if I go from a very dark to a very bright place) and I cracked up when I first discovered that one of my sons does this too.
posted by eye of newt at 9:50 PM on March 27, 2013
I experience this constantly. The measure of how horny I am is the number of sneezes that occurs.
posted by scunning at 10:12 PM on March 27, 2013
posted by scunning at 10:12 PM on March 27, 2013
Sexy, Sexy Anonymity: "I (a late-20s male) have experienced this! I had thought about posting a question about it on AskMe but never thought it was a big deal. Without getting into the details, having an orgasm under a certain set of circumstances almost always makes me sneeze immediately afterwards, sometimes multiple times."
You know, if that anonymity is really all that sexy, you should have a collapsed sinus by now.
posted by Samizdata at 7:11 AM on March 28, 2013
You know, if that anonymity is really all that sexy, you should have a collapsed sinus by now.
posted by Samizdata at 7:11 AM on March 28, 2013
jenfullmoon: "Eyegasm - from rubbing my eyes
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
Foodgasm: from eating something yummy."
Geekgasm: From discovering a clever hack or fixing that one damn problem that has been pissing you off for days.
(I refuse to say getting an iAnything counts.)
posted by Samizdata at 7:15 AM on March 28, 2013
Eargasm - from using a q-tip just right
Braingasm - from various weird things ranging from puppies to Bob Ross painting clouds... I don't know.
Foodgasm: from eating something yummy."
Geekgasm: From discovering a clever hack or fixing that one damn problem that has been pissing you off for days.
(I refuse to say getting an iAnything counts.)
posted by Samizdata at 7:15 AM on March 28, 2013
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