Jan. 5, 2008

Think Sex, Sneeze More?

Sexual Thoughts, Orgasms Are Among the "Unusual Triggers of Sneezing," Doctors Report

  •  (AP / CBS)

(WebMD)  Sure, you sneeze when you've got a cold. But some sneezes may happen just by thinking about sex or having an orgasm, British doctors report.

Mahmood Bhutta, a specialist in ear-nose-and-throat surgery at England's Wexham Park Hospital, writes of a colleague who once had a patient who "described uncontrollable fits of sneezing" immediately after having any sexual thought.

That patient, who was a middle-aged man, had no other symptoms. He said he'd had those sneezing fits immediately after thinking sexual thoughts throughout his adult life.

Bhutta and his colleague decided to do a little research, and they figured that since the condition might be embarrassing, it might not get reported - except in Internet chat rooms.

So the researchers googled "sex, sneeze, OR sneezing" twice in 2007, and came up with reports by 17 people - men and women - who reported sneezing right after thinking sexual thoughts, and reports by three people of sneezing after orgasm.

Long before the Internet - back in the 19th century - there were reports of rare people who sneezed when sexually excited, but "there was no credible reason given for the phenomenon," Bhutta's team writes.

Bhutta's paper doesn't settle why some people sneeze when they think sexual thoughts or when they have an orgasm. But the researchers suggest that sexual thoughts or orgasm might trigger the body's subconscious nervous system, which could lead to sneezing in some people.

The report appears in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Add a Comment See all 11 Comments
by tonyr433-2009 December 26, 2008 11:31 PM EST
Although this seems quite amusing, I think there just may be a reason for finding out why this strange phenomenon occurs. I''ve always sneezed three times in a row. I''ve often wondered why that is.
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by xxunknown December 26, 2008 4:12 PM EST
This is strange.. because my senior year in college, i''''d lived alone because my room mate graduated before me. And I started masttterbbating a lot. I mean I''''m talking some pretty serious fits of bliss. And I had a sneezing fit that lasted a whole day afterwards. AND, I''''d went to the emergency room because I thought something crawled in my ear. During final exams I''''d been diagnosed with schizophrenia. I didn''''t tell anybody.. I was terrified. Didn''''t study? Took all my exams by guesswork. Graduated.. with a 2.2.
Posted by william7721
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Dude thats the funniest post I have read in a while. He he he. Achoo.
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by harp1963 December 25, 2008 6:24 PM EST
So glad I''m not British.
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by caldwellptr December 25, 2008 4:01 PM EST
I usually sneeze three or four times in a row.
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by wl7bzh December 25, 2008 12:32 PM EST
Don''t play with your nose.
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by mainedoggie December 25, 2008 1:52 AM EST
what a load of bunk.

"researchers" googled *** and sneezing?

Please. Next story.
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by notmudrose1 December 24, 2008 10:55 PM EST
now we know why bush always has that goofy smile. cheney has his nose up bush''s azz.
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by notmudrose1 December 24, 2008 10:52 PM EST
my dog watched a viagra commercial on tv and started sneezing.
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by notmudrose1 December 24, 2008 10:50 PM EST
my dog sneezes when it looks in the mirror!
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by docpeter1953 December 24, 2008 9:12 PM EST
That explains everything. Dang it, I just thought I had really bad hayfever for the past 30 years or so. My nose is calloused over from wiping it all the time. Oh well, guess the callouses will have to stay there, and I will keep on sneezing.
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by kc629 December 24, 2008 6:44 PM EST
WOW! if this were true my fiance would be much happier!
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